marketing (ya dayum self) - 101: the intro
So, it's midyear, which means it's another opportunity to perform a work-related self evaluation. Which basically means you write the business case underlying your performance evaluation score, including your accomplishments, strengths & perceived weaknesses, and then your lazy a$$ boss cuts & pastes it into the actual review, and modifies it slightly depending on how much he likes you. If he loves you, he tweaks it so you sound better than you are, and gives you a phat raise. If he's fine with you, he uses it as is, and gives you the "company standard" percentage. If he hates you, he rips it apart, and tells you to look for your raise in the recycle bin, right underneath the self eval that you just wrote. Sounds like fun, yes?
As an aside, do other companies torture folks like this bi-annually? This is the most BS way to do a performance eval I've ever seen...and I used to be "in management" so I used to give performance evals...but I digress.
So, as I write this, it reminds me again that as I've said before...Globalization happens, and it happens to us all, whether we like it or not.
It's means that as an employee-entrepeneur, I have to do a cost-benefit analysis on my dayum self. And it means that I have to determine the value-proposition that I offer to my current, and potential future employers. It means that I have to consistently offer a greater return to my employer, and knowing that, ensure that I increase the value to my employer, at a rate which exceeds the rate at which the costs associated with me increase. And I have to ensure that the rate of return on me is continuously better than that of my counterparts, both stateside, and overseas. Or else I may be repositioned, and my position may be outsourced. Goodbye job stability, hello portable retirement plans.
Sounds like gibberish, right? Ok, how's about this: it means my massa has to make a profit on me to keep me on my plantation. Or else he'll sell me, or give me away. Hm, seems like things ain't changed all that much, have they?
It means that chances are, I probably won't benefit much from my company's retirement plan (ask Delta employees, or GM employees for that matter). It means that I somehow, someway absorb the costs associated with any benefits I enjoy. I may not see this up front, but that dayum sure doesn't mean that it ain't hitting my pockets in one way, shape, or form.
My employer likes to tell us how good we have it: pitches to me what a good job I have, what a good company they are to work for, and (basically) how fortunate me & my fellow employers are, to work for such a prestigious company. My employer talks about our retirement plan, our savings (401K) plan, our bonuses, tuition reimbursement, etc. - all to paint a gilded picture that leads us up to the door of Our Company. And keeps us chasing that carrot on that stick...
And that, my friends, is hilarious. When I hear it, I (internally) double over with laughter. That, my friends, is such a friggin joke. Because if the market gets tough, you can bet your a$$, my fellow employees & I will be creating grooves in the pavement, quicker than I can say "Hey, I thought I was gonna be here long enough to finally get fully vested in my 401K...?" I admire the higher-paid consultants I work with - they know EXACTLY what they're doing...managing their own dayum risks. Dayum that job stability thang, where can I sign up for that?!
My parents were SO blue-collar, working class, and proud of it. Proud of the fact that they stayed with their companies for umpteen years. My dad didn't live long enough to see the cash he'd invested in his retirement plan. And my mom? Well, NAFTA happened. So, no sooner did she get within site range of her retirement plan, than her company determined labor was cheaper in Mexico. She either had to retire early, or learn spanish. And lo and behold, to move the plant she worked in, the company determined there was a "business need" to restructure their retirement plan. So she got her severance package, and a pittance of her actual retirement benefits she'd worked so hard for. Oh well...globalization happened, yanno?
So, instead of writing the performance self-eval, I'm updating my resume. Instead of being "dedicated to my company", I'm expanding my skillset, to make myself more attractive to the market. Instead of spending my time forging "strong business relationships", I'm networking my a$$ off, to ensure I get the help I need to make moves, when I need to make moves. And instead of getting my head gassed on my Fortune 100, I'm packing up my skills like a nomad, keeping my pack filled with the necessities, and yet keeping that pack light...and keeping my eye out for fresh water, and greener pastures. I love what I do, no doubt...but shyt, I can do it anywhere. I'm making dayum sure of that.