Season 2: Appraisals - The fortune cookie episode

Hi Friends,

With the beginning of new year 2012, I am back with Season 2 and the theme is something close to everyone's heart -  Appraisals!!

Hope you have some fun time reading this..

Cheers!

Himanshu

Appraisal Fortune Cookies

Contemporary Management Style - The Socialist

The Socialist

A few years back, in appraisal season, my manager walked to us and asked if we had any issues to share. "Yes" said one of us, "We would like to know who is getting promoted this year". The manager said those who are getting promoted will be informed through mails. I asked shouldn't a promotion, that's considered a reward for past performance and future potential, be announced for everyone's benefit in a fair system. It will help us to know who got it and on what parameters so that we know what we need to do extra and who should be our role models (not that I meant it, my heart was crying  why not me?). With a sigh of wisdom the manager explained - "As a Manager its my duty to take care of aspirations of people who have been waiting for promotion for years, even if they secured an average performance rating over those who received outstanding rating". "Well isn't that promoting mediocrity in the organization" I protested. "Ratings are not everything" the Manager fought back. "You are disregarding your own process of performance measurement. Are you suggesting there is no need to fill up those lengthy forms of goals and achieve them going forward for us." I challenged. A little on back-foot, he explained "As a Manager, my job is to bring everyone on same level". I persisted "Everyone has different potential, and I believe a Manager's job is to bring everyone to the level of their potential, which will vary from individual to individual." He dodged, changed the conversation and eventually left.

A month later the Manager was fired. He came looking for a shoulder to cry upon and coincidentally the first one was mine. "You know they fired me" he opened the conversation. "Why" I asked. 

"There are some wrong individuals who have grown up to decision making positions, who can not separate personal issues with professional and I am the victim" he answered. 

"How the wrong individuals got up there?" I continued to ask. 

"Well they were not ready to handle that position, they are mediocre, got up through their connections despite dismal performance". 

"Well it must have been some manager's idea to bring everyone to the same level. They are the products of a school of thought that you yourself nurtured." I said. "Now don't cry foul". 

"Dude what goes around comes around" I thought.


The Manager is a walking list of "what not be like". Sometime in future I wish to dedicate a character in my comic strip to him because I know I will never run out of stories with him in mind :). 


Having said that the conversation triggers a thought in my mind about how objective managers are when they measure performance. Are they making right choices of parameters while judging performance both in theory (appraisal systems)  and in their minds. That goes a long way in influencing the the employee behavior. Whether the employees prefer sticking to their cubicles from 9 to 9 over getting a quality deliverable out no matter from where. Whether they work to impress the Manager or to help the client solve its problem..Whether they struggle with the process or aim at the purpose.. The choices are not always mutually exclusive by nature, however the focus should be clear in the mind of employee and equally in the mind of a Manager about what to choose when faced with a choice..

Contemporary Management Style - The SUPERMANAGER

Some traits of The SuperManager:
-Somehow, always forgets to mention you in the presentation to higher management, though you were the one  who prepared the presentation burning midnight oil.
-Habitually misses to mark you a copy in the most important mails.
-Manages to convert simple projects into a crisis, and somehow manages to rescue the project from the certain disaster. (why else would you need a superhero if it were not for a crisis?). This coincidence happens almost always.

Some more common traits:
-Most of his mails are sent after 12:00 am
-Very good with Management Jargon 
-Calls you home on weekends for work
-His Communicator Status is always "Busy" if not "In a meeting".

Note: - Characters in this cartoon are not original, they are sourced from Zoozoos for their irresistable appeal!

Open-ing Letter to comrade Corporate Slaves

Hello fellow Corporate Slaves!

I run a comic strip in my tiny office cubicle, as I used to do back in college days. On one hand, it is a simple way of pointing at the idiocy that happens around all of us corporate slaves, day in and day out. When it carries a disclaimer as follows, there are no immediate consequences to be faced for being so direct (I am not sure about my year end appraisal though :)

F The objective of this comic strip is to help break monotony of workplace with use of humor in good faith
F Sarcasm in the cartoon strip is not directed personally
F Any resemblance to real people or situations is entirely a work of reader’s imagination
F If you find any content offensive or repulsively boring, please report.

On the other hand, it brings smile to the victims of corporate whims and infuses a little bit of life in otherwise dull routine (or so am I made to believe by my colleagues). People see the posts on my comic strip and they say Oh Dilbert!. Well, I will not be ungrateful, it was Dilbert, who introduced me to the idea. However every experience we have in office life, is so unique that its not possible for Scott Adams to capture all of that. There is so much inspiration spread around from cubicles to boardrooms that Dilbert alone  is not enough :). With this assumption I decided to share my pain of surviving corporate slavery in a joyful manner through this comic strip blog.

The current theme that is running in my office cubicle is Contemporary Management Styles and so is my opening theme for this blog. Keep following if you find this worthwhile!!