I Hate Employee Reviews

The first boss I had at a company that did employee reviews gave me all superior ratings except for one thing my first year. I worked and worked that next year to improve on that one thing. The following year, I still got a low score on just that one thing. I asked my boss about it, and he said, "I can't turn in a review that is perfect, I have to put a lower score on something; and you're just too good in all the other areas." Needless to say, my illusions of employee reviews were shattered for life. You see, I need feedback. I have never had a boss that gave what I consider adequate feedback.

My last boss was lucky to actually do the reviews, even though it was a company policy. She was always about 4 to 6 months late doing them, and I would remind her monthly about it. One year, she just skipped completely. Despite my friendly reminders, she kept putting it off. Finally she said, "This year's reviews are due next month, so I'm just going to skip last year's."

Now it's my turn, and I find myself too busy to do them. I'm already a week passed the deadline, and I'd really rather just not do them. My newest staff member is one of those annoying guys that needs feedback. I never did do his 90 day review, but since these are due now, I'm just going to skip it. He keeps calling me and asking if I have completed his yet. Problem is, he's too good, so I have to find something he could improve on. After all, I can't turn in a perfect review for someone.

I didn't start that last paragraph with the intention of it sounding as hypocritical as it does, but by the last two sentences, I decided to run with it.