“Don’t lower your expectations to meet your performance. Raise your level of performance to meet your expectations. Expect the best of yourself, and then do what is necessary to make it a reality.” [Ralph Marston]
Performance Graph
It’s the time of the year again that people are scrambling to complete their End Year Performance Review (EYPR) Individual Performance Contract (IPC). Sometime six months ago, people were scrambling to complete the Mid Year Performance Review (MYPR) portion of the IPC.
This is my first time doing the EYPR part. It was also my first time doing the MYPR portion, previously. It looks simple enough that I only need to write down things that I’ve done as per work assignment. However when we were required to explain it more in detail using the R.I.C.E. formula (Results, Impact, Challenges, Effort), that’s where I found it to be… quite taxing.
It’s about finding the right balance between stating what you have done, what you wish you have done, the end results, the expected results, how you could improve yourself, what you have done wrong, etc. Cynics view these exercises as the chance for people to sing a praise on their own efforts in order to achieve high IPC points (which will affect your salary increment).
Can I just simply write down things that I’ve done without having to think much on how to make it look as if it was something great? It’s not that what I’ve done is of significant value to the corporation or not, that’s not the whole point. I just don’t like to write down things that involved what I did.
But it is required so that the management knows how to rank your achievement vis-a-vis others in the division. Couple it with the rumoured force-ranking approach, people are trying their best to make the IPC as a big deal. I don’t give a rat, but I will fill it nevertheless with what I think I’ve done for the company.
Hopefully I am not ranked in the Marginal 3 (M3) group so that I can get salary increment. Heh.