appraisal – no trauma this time…
March 3, 2008
It’s that time of the year again… The time when your boss/superior/senior (or Hitler if you are expressive
enough) gains an inordinate amount of power over you… Yes, this power comes from their ability/authority to affect your performance appraisal and through that your future and the current/future company… In addition there is the matter of moolah… Will you stand in that ration queue or will that queue be of a posh night club depends on ‘the Boss’…
Academics who study career strategies call it “ingratiating.” To the rest of us, it’s just “brown-nosing.” You know the tactics:
-
Take copious notes whenever the boss opens his or her mouth
-
Volunteer for office grunt work
-
e-mail managers in the wee hours to prove your tireless industry
-
fawn without mercy at every opportunity
Colleagues may roll their eyes and marvel that the boss can’t see the obvious manipulation, but forget them. It works.
Brown-nosing succeeds because the manager sees what your colleagues don’t see. Where they perceive insincerity, the boss notes only energy, enthusiasm, and drive.
