I'm with Trustysteed here.
I've done this stuff many times over with different corporations over the years and my conclusion is that it's mostly bollocks for most people most of the time.
I'm 47, I'm pretty damn good at what I do, I work hard, am almost always enthusiatic, I can travel wherever whenever at short notice and work in difficult circumstances with minimal support. There are not many people in the organisation that can do the same.
I have no desire for promotion or extra responsibility, I enjoy what I do and wish it to remain that way, I think that's in everybodies (mine and the companies) interest. I'm also painfully aware that the things that would help me and my colleagues be more effective (to achieve the companies goals) are not the things I/we are gonna gonna get.
Oh, and by the way, where was the bonus, the pay rise for meeting targets and having the best results ever... nowhere, that's where. Why? Because next year's looking a bit tight on the economy front. Well that'sjust great, we do everything asked for and more and they still have a reason to give us zip.
I do know that the company will find more ways to have me sitting at a computer writing interminable reports, wrestling with goddam awful software systems like 'Salesfarce', various purchasing systems, the next new expense system, the booking a resource system, the online learning and management system, the ordering a paperclip system and the returning to the office after having had a dump form.
Ever wondered why people are so cynical and demotivated by corporate appraisals? Maybe because they're such empty vessels. If they were such a good thing surely we would all be enthused by them.
Yeterday an email with a Fcucking great attachment arrived in my mailbox welcoming me to the start of 2010s appraisal system, it's gonna drain the lifeblood of people over the next 6 months with demotivate drivel... Jesus wept... he really did, he was fcucking unconsolable...