Fast_Blue_Scooby

Every year the company I work for have performance reviews where you get feedback from colleagues/customers etc. The feedback is documented and along with your achievements, you get an overall rating which is fed into your pay review.

Now for the last 3 years, I have received a rating of excellent which is one less than the top rating of outstanding. Now this year I honestly thought that the time had come for me to get the top rating. I knew I had loads of excellent feedback from work colleagues and customers. In fact some of our important customers had nominated me not for one award but for two! So my confidence was high. Even in the review, I was told that it had been an outstanding year for me, in fact I would have bet my mortgage that I would have at least gained an excellent rating.

So imagine my surprise for me to find out that I had been given just a rating of good, one less than excellent. Now I know that I can appeal and I have the evidence to support my claim but what has really got my goat, is that someone in my team, has just been promoted. The reason I am surprised is that during the last year, this guy has struggled with most of the technical parts of the work. I have had to help out with most of his work, and despite having to mentor him along with others in the team, his work has always suffered due to him not picking the work up as well as others. In fact the customers have always thanked me for picking up the pieces and getting things done even though I have had my own work to do.

Now this colleague was on the same level as me but now he is a level higher due to this promotion. Before I found out he had got promoted, I was thinking of the best way to describe how he has been struggling technically as I have to give feedback on him. Now I find that his new position is in a chief technical role, which quite frankly I find a joke, especially when he will have had a decent pay rise due to this promotion and I will get a lesser pay rise due to a 'worse' review!!

The question I have is how on earth do I write feedback on this guy when according to the 'well informed' managers who interviewed him, and no nothing of his work at all, think he is the bees knees, technical wise. What gets me about the place I work, is the people who make the decisions know nothing of the real work that is done. I know if I write a truthful representation of this guy's ability, it will be dismissed by the managers as they have promoted him as they think he is technically minded and I will be accused of trying to undermine their decision. I know the customers will not believe what has happened and I know in their eyes, it should be me who got the promotion.

But how on earth do I write the feedback without it sounding like sour grapes?? To me he would have had this feedback from me anyway but with me having to appeal against my lower rating and knowing too well that he will have gained at least an excellent rating, it is going to look bad! One thing I have thought of is to contact our customers and let them kick up a fuss, but what should I do??

Thanks in advance.

midget1500

very tricky situation - i guess one line of attack is to *NOT* help him anymore and let others know how you feel so he doesn't get assistance and falls on his face. it sucks, but all you can do is let the people above see his short comings.

beemerboy

Erm... Leave

If the managers have their heads up their ***** and cannot recognise your true potential, why stay??
Especially if they have earmarked this dude for special treatment, anything you do will fall on deaf ears.

I had a similar position, when i worked for my last company, so i left.
Funnily enough, i am back contracting with them again.(on my terms)

its a waste....move on.

BB