Feeling Undervalued After a Surprise Appraisal Rating – Should I Resign or Stay?

Hi, I am working with one of India's most reputed groups as an admin executive. In my achievement portfolio, I have successfully set up a new office of 2500 sq ft in just one month, streamlined billing and invoicing for North India, managed admin activities for North India, and handled other miscellaneous tasks. When my reporting manager switched jobs, he was asked to rate me for appraisal. I was confident that I would receive at least a "B" rating, which would make me eligible for performance pay. However, to my surprise, he gave me a "C" rating. I feel really humiliated by this. I am considering typing my resignation letter. Please suggest what I should do in this situation.

When it comes to rating performance, these issues often arise, especially if the two parties have not clarified the Key Result Areas (KRAs) on which the job would be evaluated.

As an admin, I am sure you have accomplished wonderful things, but in order to rate your performance, one also needs to assess if you were able to carry out everything that was expected of you. If we excel at one task but neglect another, we can't expect to be praised for our overall job performance.

I do not imply that you are at fault; the only issue is that there was not proper communication of what was expected from you.

You can ask your manager for the reason for the low rating and what you should have done to potentially receive a better rating. Asking always helps, and when we can't find answers ourselves, it is better to ask the relevant person.

Ask your manager, conduct a gap analysis, discuss viewpoints regarding the job, and take note of the KRAs and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of your job role, which would be considered while evaluating your performance.

At least your efforts would ensure that you are proactive about improving your performance and will surely help you deliver exceptional performance in the future.

Hope it helped. 

Try to seek help from your ex-manager. If he is available, only he can judge your past experience and performance and can give you a better response on the plus points and improvement areas.

If that is not possible, what is done is done. Let's focus on a brighter future.

Approaching Your New Manager

Go to your new manager and share your concern with him. Tell him that since you have been rated very low, you wish to improve and learn better this year.

Sit with him and understand from him what he expects from you as an admin.

Ask him to chart out the roles and responsibilities of the admin as per him and what would be the KRAs and KPIs for the job on which you would be evaluated.

Once those are shared with you, keep a note and list them all down and keep an eye on those things.

Regular Check-ins and Feedback

Do a quarterly check with your manager regarding if there is anything that he wishes to change/add/edit in your KRA, make a note, and try to follow accordingly.

Ask your manager on a monthly or bi-monthly basis about your progress report. Tell him that you would appreciate it if he can share your improvement areas so that you would learn your job greatly.

Honestly, this proactive approach will help you in the long run.

All the best. 

Understanding Achievement from Different Perspectives

1. What is a great achievement may not be good enough from his point of view. Check with him what his definition of achievement is. Also, check with your boss's boss—what is their definition of achievement? Is it measurable?

Managing Emotions and Seeking Clarity

2. Please manage your emotions—be rational. Only he knows why he did what he did. The best way to get the answer is to ask him. Ask in a polite tone and tell him that you want to improve and need his help.

Conducting a SWOT Analysis

3. Do a SWOT analysis and look at your weak areas. Encourage others to tell you about your mistakes and weak areas. Improve upon them.

Focusing on Performance Over Pay

4. Never worry about pay and incentives. That is your HR's task. Focus on your task irrespective of money. Keep on improving your performance.

Considering Career Opportunities

5. Do not offer your resignation. If you are really so good, headhunters will approach you with a better job and money.

Ankita has shared it all. Please email your ex-manager with the data on how much work was delivered, where, and on what date. Once he replies, forward it to your current reporting manager and then seek a collated ranking.

Understanding the Error of Recency

The error of recency is common during performance appraisals. Do you have an HR team around? Please do not raise a complaint but seek to understand how such an error can be rectified.

Wishing you all the best!

Regards,

Thanks to all for your valuable inputs. I am focusing on the present and future. I neither asked my ex-manager nor will I ask my new manager to update my ratings. Maybe I was not performing according to his parameters.

Please do not get upset. Performance appraisal is not a confidential process; it is an open and fair practice to exchange dialogue between an employee and their superior. Therefore, if you feel that you should have received a B grade instead of the given C grade, you need to discuss this with your superior officer and resolve it. They may not change your grade based on your points, but they will explain why the C grade was given and highlight any performance deficiencies they noticed. This feedback will help you improve your performance in the future. Never doubt your abilities or think that you are not good enough.

[QUOTE=imok;2054397]Thanks to all for your valuable inputs. But I am focusing on the present and future. Neither did I ask my ex-manager, nor will I ask my new manager to update my ratings. Maybe I was not performing according to his parameters.

Hello Imok, it looks like you are going into a shell. By doing so, maybe you are prone to repeat the same mistakes all over again? Please give this some thought. Unless you ask the right person (which would be your ex or current boss), how would you know what was expected of you in the first place? Like Ankita mentioned, there does seem to be a mismatch between what was expected of you and what you thought was expected of you earlier.

The reason this was suggested was, to the extent I understand, not to revise your ratings but to ensure you get the right feedback to make corrections and ensure your rating this year matches your enhanced performance. I suggest you take (Cite Contribution)'s suggestion and follow it as soon as possible.

All the best.

Regards, TS

Feedback is very essential in such cases. It may also bring out biases if the previous boss had any against you. Or you may come across some factor that prompted him to give you negative ratings, which essentially was not related to your job at all! Maybe you had hurt his ego sometime knowingly or unknowingly? He may not say that openly, but during the discussion (the best way of interacting), it may come out through his mouth or body language. So do try to find out the reason.

After going through all the comments in response to various pieces of advice from fellow members, I feel you may be a very hardworking, polite but introverted, and honest worker. Apart from this, you also have a significant drawback. You believe that what you know or decide is the only right thing in this world. You are not ready to listen to any advice, and that's why you have received all these ratings. Excessive self-righteousness is a negative trait that can make people dislike you. No matter how good a person may be, acting deaf and dumb, and ignoring the aspirations of seniors invites these types of ratings in appraisals.

Although I don't have any information about you or your boss, since you have not said anything against the boss, I feel this could be the major reason. I request you to try to be more practical, take some time to reflect on yourself, and see if I am correct. If you find that I am right, start listening to others while working in the future. Leaving a job is not a solution; how many times can you shift jobs? Identify the problem, value other people's views, and soon you will find that there is no problem.

Wishing You All The Best