It's that time of the year again

For reasons that escape me Friday was quiet and I took advantage of the lull to make a start on entering my mid year results in to the Neat & Tidy Piano Movers Staff Appraisal System. This is not something I like doing and I think and hope that the main reason for this dislike is the scars I still carry from the  approach used by Dante's Nine Circles of Hell.

Now that might sound like sour grapes, but criticism of Dante's approach to staff appraisal is rife, even amongst it's high performers.  It was only a few days ago, when talking to Judge Dread, that I learnt they had decided on a new vein of madness. Their normal approach is big stick/small carrot with bonuses reserved for a single echelon of top performers. Apparently, this year the bonus awards did not take place and instead everyone got a 1.5% pay rise. I am somewhat befuddled by the message this conveys. After all, how would you feel if you slogged your guts out and got the same as the guy who cruised through the last twelve months, or the one who you constantly had to clean up after?*

Don't get me wrong, Dante's Nine Circles of Hell has some fine people and some truly remarkable intellectual capital but my personal view is that their Corporate Direction is questionable and their approach to management is best described as fucked up!

It is fair to say that I learnt a lot whilst working there. They gave me a fantastic CV but I am so glad I took the plunge and left for pastures new. I may not like entering my half year results but, based on my experiences at the beginning of April this year, it is now worth the time and trouble.

Moving away from a gentle** gripe about my former employer, the working day eventually came to a close and 30% and I headed over to Littleton to preview tomorrow's auction lots. We were interested in a framed oil that looked like it had potential from the poor quality photo on the auction house website. The visit demonstrated that it was a rather nice, signed, turn of the century oil of a cottage in Marston Green near Solihull. A chat with the Auctioneer told us that there was no reserve and his estimate was in the region of eighty pounds…

… it looks like we will be popping in tomorrow morning on our way to Stratford.

---

* mind you, my personal experience was that for years I slogged my guts out delivering quality solutions and got no recognition whatsoever. I then moved to a different team where I knew next to nothing, applied the same principles, and was identified as a talented individual with a brand new approach … go figure?
** Oh, believe me, I could be so much more graphic!