I’ll keep it simple. If you have done a good job through out the year and you are proud of it, there cannot be a reason for you to sit like a lame duck in front of your boss on the appraisal table absolutely surrendered to his/ her mercy.
But people do sit weak on their knees and spine. In most cases you and your boss are employees in the same organisation. Protocols apart, no boss can treat you like a slave until he sees you weak. He has his own pressures regarding appraisal of the entire team and especially with the bell curve dominating the decisions these days, his work is worse than you can think.
Poor fellow, he needs weak soldiers (even if they have done a great job) to sacrifice for those who can defend themselves assertively. If you are weak in communication, you are almost sure to be damned. We all see people in various walks of life getting their way through assertive communication and the vice versa too. It does make sense actually to have strong heads in leadership positions in times of crisis particularly but we don’t need a demotivated efficient employee on the other end as well.
Your performance on the appraisal table is as important as the one you recorded in the appraisal form. One bad day can erode your entire year’s effort leaving you cribbing with the ones like you at the chai ki tapri or starting looking for other jobs in frustration. If you don not work on your assertiveness, this situation will keep repeating wherever you go !
If you have not had a good year, forget good ratings – c’mon obviously. But if you had a defendable or winning performance, you have all the right to be simply demanding. Although that doesn’t mean one tries to arm twist the boss or the organisation or uses unfair methods or demands to get his way through.
Don’t forget the workplace protocols. Throwing attitude will weaken your case, today or tomorrow. If you are good, eventually everything will fall in place. Having patience goes a long way in life – always!!!
Nature has its way of selecting the best genes to be passed forward to the next generation by giving the mating rights to the member of the animal species who wins the fight with fellow males during the mating season. Not all humans are alike. That’s the beauty of humans as a species. But there is no excuse for being unassertive, either submissive or aggressive. As we need to handle teams and large projects, this is exactly the attribute that is required in a potential leader.
No point cribbing against the appraisal process giving you a bad rating even after a year of good performance. With all due respect, Sachin was a great batsman but not an equally great captain. Organisations know this and cannot afford to have a weak leader leading to a whole team failure in future.
So once again, even if you worked great throughout the year but were not able to make it count on the D-day, you will not be eligible for the promotion that you want. Even the senior management doesn’t need you to be a meek goat on the appraisal table. You have all the rights to speak up for yourself, albiet within the requisite protocols. Remember, your boss is already under the humongous pressure of the bell curve – so, don’t blame your boss for a wrong rating in the end !!
All the best! Go and have a great appraisal!!
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