Validation

This is the time of year in retail that we management types get our annual reviews. This years was going to be unusual in that my employer has frozen everyone's salaries. Tough times call for cost containment. I was okay with that news, but not the cut in hours.

In any event, getting a review when you know you're not getting a raise despite your efforts is weird. Stranger still, getting your review the last week on the job. This is the second time for me, I think I blogged about the other occasion two years ago. (Back in the days when my friends complained I didn't write enough!)

Anyway, Monday night, my boss and I did my review. On the sales floor. In a half hour. That was a first. Mind you, in that time, we only had one customer walk into the store, so it wasn't like the customers were hearing what was said.

Not that I would have minded. It basically was a valentine to Suzanne. Yes, there are areas where I need improvement. I look as that as creating interest in my work. If you have nothing to work on in bettering yourself, the job would grow very boring.

I did see snippets of things that weren't supposed to be in my review because my boss had cut and pasted portions. That was pretty funny! I think she had to line out about four things when all was said and done. These comments clearly weren't meant for me.

Many times, I felt like my contributions weren't noticed. I was wrong. In the review, I was commended for:
Excellent customer service
Outstanding product knowledge
Great communication with supervisors and associates
Taking initiative
Being a team player
Having a positive outlook
Taking ownership of the markdowns and the customer classes

Basically, when you run down that list, it's the major components of the new job. Pretty neat that I can take out all the things that even my district manager thinks I excel at and write most of my new job's description.

Apparently, my review was the best in the store, with me having several areas where I exceed expectations. (she told me that I was the only one who had any exceeds). My boss got teary eyed several times when she was reading it to me. She's really taking it hard that I'm not going to be there, to take the bad and put a positive spin on it.

The areas where I didn't do as well, I know they are areas to improve upon and own up to it. She said that they know that I was on the medication, and that and the pain itself plays a HUGE factor in how I perform. It's an interesting thing to finally have it acknowledged that I find those things challenging because of my health issues, that I don't perform as well as my peers due to personal limitations.

I almost take away from it that when you put it down in black and white, I DO make a difference. A big one. So, while it was surreal to get a review when my last day is this week, it is empowering to walk out the door knowing that my contributions were noticed.