I've had an appraisal at work at the end of my 6 month probation and have been told my employer isn't satisfied with my performance and has extended my probation for a further 3 months. At the appraisal, my manager has said what I'm not doing, can I ask for this in writing, as well as my appraisal notes? Or is my appraisal notes all they have to give me?
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Yes, asking to get it in writing would be a smart move. You should also probably start looking for other opportunities in case they try and pull this trick again in three months.– AffableAmblerCommented Jan 15, 2021 at 2:19
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1 Answer
Feel free to ask for it in writing; feel free to also start looking for another job (because the current one's probably not the one for you.)
For your immediate question? Yeah, there's no harm in asking for the notes in writing.
That said? There are three possibilities here:
- A) Your performance has been substandard due to expectations you could meet, but have been choosing not to.
- B) Your performance has been substandard due to expectations you're not able to meet.
- C) Your performance has been just fine, but the company is doing a bit of dirty pool.
I'm assuming that this isn't (A). I mean, if that's the case, you just have to decide: do you want to straighten up and fly right?
But assuming this isn't you purposely working in a substandard way? Then you should really think about finding another job. Because if your employer expects more than you're able to deliver, why would another 3 months help? Even if you do get through the probationary period... so what? You've got the rest of your career to go - do you think your regular performance evaluations will go swimmingly from that point on? Maybe they expect too much, maybe they expect things that aren't your strengths, maybe it's just a bad fit - any way you slice it, it's probably a good idea to start looking elsewhere.
... and if the company is playing dirty pool, purposely under-rating you as a way of saving in salaries and future raises/bonuses? Then, yeah, that's also a good reason to get out.
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2"Because if your employer expects more than you're able to deliver, why would another 3 months help?" Good point. The purpose of the probation period is to determine if the employee is competent enough to handle the job. Waiting until the end of the probation to give actionable feedback on how to get off probation doesn't make any sense unless their goal is to save money by keeping the probation going as long as possible. Commented Jan 15, 2021 at 3:31
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3I agree you should probably be looking elsewhere, and the lack of written feedback up to now is a red flag but there are at least a couple more possibilities - D) Your performance initially wasn't good enough but over the last X weeks it has improved to a level that they want to keep you. The extra time is to confirm this is "the real you" and what to expect going forward. E) They screwed up by not giving you the feedback earlier so are doing it now in the hope you will improve and they can keep you on. Commented Jan 15, 2021 at 9:14