I sat with my back to the wall. They sat with their backs to the window. I smiled. The lady smiled. So I smiled again. This time, the man smiled and showed me how bad his teeth were. He then went a step ahead. He began to talk: "So it's been how many months now? 6?"
"No, 9."
"Oh okay. So let's see your ratings."
"Sure."
"Hmm let's see, 4 in this, 4 in that, but a 3.4 here."
I explained why and how that 3.4 became my property.
He said I had slipped.
I said those ratings were brought down.
"So the others are not based on project data?"
"They are."
"So what about the 3.4?"
I took a deep breath, put my hands on the table, and told him yet again that that particular rating was brought down because the project manager asked my team leader to do so.
He then meditated on the rating. He stared at it, brought his hand to his mouth, said "hmm," and then put his hand back onto the table. That done, he pretended to look as if he was all set to plan the Indian budget, put his hand on the arm of the chair, and said:
"So your overall rating comes to 3.9. That rounds up to 3, which is quite good for a newcomer."
I thought it made no sense. So I smiled and said,"Okay."
The lady then smiled, showed me how yellow her 32 white horses were, and asked me: "Have you anything to say?"
I said no, I have nothing to say.
"Any feedback?"
"Yes," I said, and let my tongue lash the manager who wrote 3.4 on my form: "She makes life horrible, thinks no end of herself, and doesn't like to have transparency in her dealings at all."
"Okay," they said, "We'll look into it. Anything else?"
I said no, smiled, opened the door, and began to walk to my desk.
All my Maths teachers always rounded a number such as 4.5 or 3.7 or 2.8 to the next closest number. So 4.5 would be rounded up to 5, 3.7 would make way for 4, and 2.8 would step aside for 3.
Hence, as I switched on my monitor, I realized that 3.9 actually did round up to 4.
By the time the logon screen came up, I was close to concluding that yes, my teachers were highly educated and so had to be right.
As I entered my password, I was sure that that man and that lady were wrong.
And the moment I sat on my chair, my head realized what had happened: I was fooled into accepting a rating of 3 when it actually should have been 4.
Had I to walk back and teach them how to round off numbers, they would have made me sit for another three hours and explained:
Now I did not want to hear all that. Besides, my ears were tired too. So I did what my head thought best: I logged off, switched off my monitor, told everyone I was depressed, and went home.
"No, 9."
"Oh okay. So let's see your ratings."
"Sure."
"Hmm let's see, 4 in this, 4 in that, but a 3.4 here."
I explained why and how that 3.4 became my property.
He said I had slipped.
I said those ratings were brought down.
"So the others are not based on project data?"
"They are."
"So what about the 3.4?"
I took a deep breath, put my hands on the table, and told him yet again that that particular rating was brought down because the project manager asked my team leader to do so.
He then meditated on the rating. He stared at it, brought his hand to his mouth, said "hmm," and then put his hand back onto the table. That done, he pretended to look as if he was all set to plan the Indian budget, put his hand on the arm of the chair, and said:
"So your overall rating comes to 3.9. That rounds up to 3, which is quite good for a newcomer."
I thought it made no sense. So I smiled and said,"Okay."
The lady then smiled, showed me how yellow her 32 white horses were, and asked me: "Have you anything to say?"
I said no, I have nothing to say.
"Any feedback?"
"Yes," I said, and let my tongue lash the manager who wrote 3.4 on my form: "She makes life horrible, thinks no end of herself, and doesn't like to have transparency in her dealings at all."
"Okay," they said, "We'll look into it. Anything else?"
I said no, smiled, opened the door, and began to walk to my desk.
All my Maths teachers always rounded a number such as 4.5 or 3.7 or 2.8 to the next closest number. So 4.5 would be rounded up to 5, 3.7 would make way for 4, and 2.8 would step aside for 3.
Hence, as I switched on my monitor, I realized that 3.9 actually did round up to 4.
By the time the logon screen came up, I was close to concluding that yes, my teachers were highly educated and so had to be right.
As I entered my password, I was sure that that man and that lady were wrong.
And the moment I sat on my chair, my head realized what had happened: I was fooled into accepting a rating of 3 when it actually should have been 4.
Had I to walk back and teach them how to round off numbers, they would have made me sit for another three hours and explained:
- How the organization works.
- Why is it important to consider all aspects when rating an individual
- How crucial it is to adapt the rating system to reflect the true spirit of the organization.
- And how that spirit necessitates a judicious rounding of numbers!
Now I did not want to hear all that. Besides, my ears were tired too. So I did what my head thought best: I logged off, switched off my monitor, told everyone I was depressed, and went home.
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