View Full Version : can you dispute a review?
i am months away from my yearly review but the mid-year check in was not good. last year i got a 3 on the 1-5 scale which i was not thrilled about but at least you still get a raise. this year i am heading for a 2, it crushes me honestly. i am taking the total fall for some issues in my mind, and am figuring out what to do next to address them and look good. just staying silent first of all is not doing my job but also doesn't help me look better. i have regular meetings with my supervisor and the last one i asked more questions about how i am rated and what i need to do. i am going to continue that every meeting and be prepared to show improvements in all areas (to show that it inaccurate in the most professional way possible) as one example the supervisors have all agreed that i overspent a portion of my budget by $3K and i keep saying those numbers are black, not red. they now agree i instead saved $3K instead of overspending but i want to ask it the mistake that i overspent was part of my low review so far. another area is our snack recording and cost for wasted snack which is a huge budget issue. i had to sign a document saying i understood i would get a write up in my file if my snack waste was above a certain level, so i did and showed her my records of the entire school year showing i was in the acceptable range.
right now i am just trying to be perfect in all the paperwork, not ask for any leeway regardless of the reason. today that is a crunch because i need to sign and scan back a document. i want to do an e-signature so i don't spend an hour driving to a site where i can do that and back to the dentist, but i don;t think that is a good idea. the last 2 days have been intense, including police at the school, still not a good idea to ask for a couple hours of flex on this paperwork. i checked in with a colleague who i would go to if i ever needed to ask a question and she is feeling she will get a 2 this year as well, and we have both been asked to visit other sites of people who are frankly more popular to the administration. She went and i now can try to go since i have an assistant.
i think if i wait until my final review to argue my rating it is going to look crappy, if i ask at the bimonthly meetings how i am doing and show improvement then i may be able to head off the lowest review at the end of the year. if i can show that i have responded to every issue i just wonder if there is any chance of disputing a low review.
If I were you I'd be job hunting. This is too much for me put up with. I would also stop caring about the reviews, knowing I can only do so much and whatever admin puts on paper is their choice for whatever reason. And keep job hunting ... It's not worth the stress.
thanks tammy, i am spending spring break on a job hunt. i am also taking a day off to go to a workshop on restorative justice as a way to build my career in another direction. i think in addition to already advocating for the work i do, i will stick close to my hours and not go over. they don't get that much of my time for a poor review
I also would be looking for a new job. You've been telling us for years what your supervisors have been giving you for feedback, and its clear to me that what you want to focus on is not something they really care about, and what they want you to focus on is not something you put a high priority on either. Its really not a match.
If I were you I'd be job hunting. It's not worth the stress. Agreed!
There are a few companies around here who drill it into all employees that they are 1)worthless 2) not worthy of any job so 3) should be very thankful this company lets them work at all and 5) be warned - we will threaten to fire you on a daily basis so that 6)all employees are worn down to the nub, anxious, and 7)always waiting for the shoe to drop.
ApatheticNoMore
3-13-15, 12:21pm
Yes look for work, if you keep getting bad reviews it is better to look for other work now. I don't want to read how you are meditating and emotionally struggling your way through unemployment (not that that's not a fine way to deal with unemployment if one happens to be unemployed but ...). Not to scare you, no reason you should go through every day in stark terror of unemployment now or something, that's not going to help anything, and that level of fear besides not being helpful may be out of proportion to realities on the ground anyway (again hard for me to say - they may just as well plan to keep you on forever and ever while never giving you any praise :\). I'm just saying it should be enough to motivate you, not scare you, better to look for a job while you have a job (I have no idea what the job prospects are in your field of course).
I think what you also have working against you is it is hard to change people's first impressions. If they have a bad first impression is it hard to change their minds now. It's not fair. And I'm not saying don't do the best you can while you are there and talk up your positives, but it may be too hard to change their bias.
And yea the basic values conflict referenced by herbgeek is a hard one.
i think in addition to already advocating for the work i do, i will stick close to my hours and not go over. they don't get that much of my time for a poor review
I don't think anyone should make work their entire life, and so I'm fine with people defending what hours they will work and not being walked all over. Just carefully about the reasoning here, seems to have a touch of "getting back" or passive agressiveness, which always backfires (well they don't appreciate me no matter what I do, so I'm going to .... yea but that only backfires and hurts oneself). Again I'm fine with asserting your hours.
Teacher Terry
3-13-15, 12:32pm
I am not sure who your employer is but if it is a government or county agency then you certainly have rights in these kinds of thing. Do you have a union? Even without one there are usually procedures written out to define what your rights are. I would look into that.
Job searching sounds like a good idea. It doesn't seem like this has been a good fit for sometime (for you, based on your postings, and for them based on your reviews). Time to find something else.
hmm okay I have been thinking and want to shift the question a little. I realize I get into a question and then feel I need to tell the entire story (I just am a storyteller). I realize that there are so many areas of my day to day job I love, however we all respond more to problems than to just good stuff in posts and life and everywhere. I have great staff this year, I have awesome kids, It makes my day and cuts way down on my depressive episodes to work directly with the kids, I get to walk and go outside and do crafts (all things that help with mood) as part of my job not an extra. And the job market is rough in this field, at least if you want to earn what I do or move up. The OST world is really small. I have looked for jobs on and off for about 8 years, it may not be in my total control. Plus a new job has a new set of its own issues. Soooo,
let's say that for whatever reason I want to work at improving my reviews. Even if I look for another job I still want to work on this. I think I am doing a good job, I think the things I do matter, and I am doing the rest of the job however I need to figure out how to increase the positive ways my program is viewed. I think things have been put in place to track our jobs more fairly this year (we have a monthly accountability tracker where we keep track of all the significant things we do in categories related to our goals). And I do work for a school district so there should be ways to address a review that is unfairly low.
I think the things I do matter,
What I was trying to point out, is right here. What you do MATTERS TO YOU (and likely the kids you work with). What your supervisors care about is 1) keeping to budget 2) filing your reports on time 3) following often silly rules. You do not care about the things your supervisors care about. That is secondary TO YOU to working with kids, getting families on board, and all the parts of the job you find fulfilling. There is a mismatch here. You are never going to get your supervisors on board with what you think is important.
So how would you get better reviews? You'll have to pretend that what they think is important is also what you think is important. This will be hard to do. This will take a lot of your energy that you could spend in more productive ways, to spend pretending you think getting reports in on time is important. Are you sure you really want to do that with your precious energy? To what end, so you stay employed but hate the content of your job?
They're probably lowballing employees to keep from giving raises, thus meeting budget and probably getting themselves a bonus. Herbgeek makes a good point.
And I do work for a school district so there should be ways to address a review that is unfairly low.
It might be helpful to be open to the idea that the review is not unfair, but an accurate assessment of how your supervisor views your performance. And then, assuming it is accurate, focusing on what you can do to improve and meet expectations.
iris lilies
3-13-15, 9:12pm
They're probably lowballing employees to keep from giving raises, thus meeting budget and probably getting themselves a bonus. Herbgeek makes a good point.
unlikely. Bonuses and supervisory autonomy with employee salaries are not the tools of the education system.
Correct me if I'm wrong Zoe, but I believe that although you work in a school running a before and after program you don't actually work for the school district itself. Your job is contracted out by the school district. Am I wrong about this? If so, I don't think you are covered by the same sort of collective bargaining terms of employment and system of evaluation that public school employees are. The truth is that you really don't function in your position in the way your supervisor wants you to. She doesn't appreciate or value your specific strengths or style of directing. It really doesn't matter who is right or wrong (though in a perfect world it would), it is what it is. I think that the time spent refuting your evaluation is wasted time. You can either stay true to yourself and continue to perform your position in the way you belive in and be fullfilled personally and accept the low evaluation of your supervisor...or you can look for another job in a place that values your strengths and priorities. I don't think you should waste time trying to convince someone that their assessment of you is invalid. I hope that you take this in the right way.
reyes, that may be true. i am open to having down some things wrong. i very much tend towards taking the road of not compromising or adjusting based on what i think is right. so maybe i can try this time to work with the system a little more. i think there are some things that are wrong, but basically yeah, i am focusing on different things than the people who pay me want me to. can i just reasonably do what i am asked to do, track that and speak up on the things they care about, and not shoot myself in the foot this time.
okay isn't there a middle way? A way i can take some of what she is saying and work on it with an open mind and still say things like ' i actually underspent instead of overspent in this category, can you tell me how this affects my job performance?" i guess i just answered my question then.
the reality is that i don't have another job, and i may not get another one in my field making what i make or better. i may end up not being 100 % true to the way i think the job should be done, i may have to pick and choose my issues to stand on, but my day to day with the kids is much better than a lot of jobs. i just feel like there are ways to work over the next few months to at least not appear any worse than i am. overall still WAAAYYY better than being unemployed or a bank teller or earning less than i do. sorry feeling a bit of frustration.
valley, i am employed directly by the school district that uses funds from a federal grant to pay for our programming. i would have access to any of the same resources as any other district employee. i think they put in systems like our accountability tracker this year because there were many concerns that your entire performance was based on the evaluation of one person and there were no double checks in the system or ways they needed to show some evidence for their ratings of employees. that is what got me thinking that there is a middle way if i can make it hard to give me a poor review at least.
Are you under the same contract that the classroom teachers are?
rosarugosa
3-14-15, 6:31am
Zoe Girl: Have you thought about making the shift to the corporate world? I have hired two former teachers over the years, one was pre-school and one taught second grade. They both had a lot of skills that translated well to corporate in the realm of HR. One of these jobs started in the thirties and the other started at about 50K. Just something to think about since I think the pre-school teacher had been making very little money. The teaching background could also readily translate to a corporate training role. You might want to look at positions such as HR Assistant or Training Coordinator. If working with kids is your passion, I'm sure there are volunteer opportunities, so maybe that could be your avocation rather than your vocation. Just a thought.
I do think it's a good idea to be proactive about your anticipated review, especially with non-subjective items such as spending. I think it's more effective to clear up these misunderstandings in advance rather than after the fact. In my world, if something like the overspending was found to be inaccurate after the review was delivered, the review could and would be readily corrected, but at a certain point in the process the actual rating and corresponding monetary implications would be unlikely to change, so a hollow victory for the employee. I wish you good luck with this!
thank you rosa, i would like to think with the improving economy there are opportunities for me. and the correcting things ahead of time is exactly what i am looking for. if my final review says i blew certain budgets they are ways for me to address this in our systems. i do not have a teacher contract and there are no unions for OST work at this time. we did all turn in a salary survey however that had information about our experience and education levels. i am at the top end of education and hopefully they will be dealing with some pay equity. our department is actually working hard on that but it is the district that decides. ahhh you know.
Teacher Terry
3-14-15, 3:02pm
Since you like your job I would stay & continue to get your eval improved. Even without a union you have more rights as a district employee then many people in private do.
It might be helpful to, in advance of your review, send your supervisor highlights from the year, this way preempting any misinformation she may include in your review (such as the budgeted/actual snack expenses).
good point terry, i have worked private and there was nothing for protection unless the situation was extreme. Good idea reyes, i will keep updating as we go especially in those areas we have had a misunderstanding about.
Zoe...under what position are you listed as in your school's system. Are you a full teacher...some other professsional staff...or a paraprofessional (which my daughter in law is listed as even though she has a degree)? Did the school system hire you or the agency with the grant hire you? Just trying to figure out your situation.
i am called a program specialist in the Extended Learning department, i work 235 days, some of us work 207. i was hired by the school system within my department, the grant funding comes from the federal government in my case, is distributed by the state and managed by our department of school district employees. we have a few other grants and they are handled the same way. So we turn in data to them but are not managed directly or employed by them.
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