As my weekend started, I had no idea I would be sideswiped by adventure.
Cold leftover chicken in the fridge, taking my dog for a walk and an evening of binging on Netflix awaited me at home. A typical Friday night. A dose of routine that I was actually looking forward to enjoying. Typically I would frown at the normal slow crawl of Friday afternoon traffic, but today it stretched out like a welcome mat to me after a long stressful day at work.
My job is not that bad. Most people would love to be employed by one of the largest companies on the globe. The opportunities are endless. From the cool perks to international travel to actually being part of a global phenomenon. This is a sought after employer and just the opportunity to include the company name on a resume is reason enough for most of my co-workers to want to work here. That is why a less than favorable employee review earlier in the day made a mundane evening at home appear like a long awaited vacation.
This particular employee review had the potential for being routine, easy and even favorable, but that is not what happened at all. I needed a long weekend to figure out how to undo everything I did in a short 20 minute timespan.
After ten years, I have proven myself to be a loyal company employee and my ability to work well with others had been a definite asset to my role with this employer. However, my new supervisor, Danny, has been a hard adjustment for me since the day he began. Around the office, others refer to him as “young," “ambitious,” or “hotshot.” From an outsider, those would be fairly accurate. Danny is younger than me by at least 15 years. He is very focused and operates at a level higher than the job description for an entry level manager.
But it is not Danny’s momentum and aspirations that caused me to tune-out during this review. It was a host of other unforeseen things that caused me to miss the entirety of what was said and agreed upon during my 1:00-1:20 time slot earlier in the day. It was in that short amount of time that Danny reviewed my performance and laid out a series of new goals for me. New goals which I agreed to meet. This is where the problem begins. I have no idea what those goals are that I agreed to meet.
I had every intent to take an active part in my review and I had prepared to be proactive in our discussion. As I prepared for those few minutes of one on one time with my supervisor, I was more than willing to meet the quote printed at the top of my self-evaluation form: “Quarterly Employee Reviews: To grow personally and help the company grow.” That was my attitude. I was on board. I was a willing team player.
So what went wrong as I sat down in Danny's cubicle today? Many things, but it all began with the damn cubicle itself.
(Continued Tomorrow)
Quietly making noise,
Fletch