Coasting Observation

[LoneAspen]

I'm coasting right now, and have been since I had to enter the IT world again, back in 2007.

I like assignments to be challenging and rewarding, but my enthusiasm for the IT field has waned so much the past few years, I just don't find any of them rewarding. It's just a job.

When I first started my career, my brother-in-law told me an interesting story. Goes something like this...

At the start of your career, you're given some Silver Bullets, but you don't know how many. You're free to fire a Silver Bullet at any cause you want to, and if you fire one, you'll probably win. But of course, you could have fired your last one and you wouldn't even know. So before you go in guns blazing and fire a Silver Bullet, make sure it's a cause really worth fighting for, because it might be the last you'll ever win.

I think I fired too many early on being too passionate about trying to do the right thing for customers, the company, fellow employees, etc. While I won a fair number of causes, as time went by, the office politics, bureaucracy, and preference for doing the "right now" thing rather than the "right" thing just made the battles tiresome and not worth the stress.

So, sadly...I stopped caring.

Now, I'm content to show up, do my job, and go home after 8 hours. No more, no less. And, if I'm able to semi retire in a couple years, I'll leave and never look back. I'll leave the door open to do something on my own, run my own business, etc. But God willing, I will NEVER (and I mean NEVER) work in an office, cube, IT, 9-to-5 job ever again.

So I completely relate to coasting. Hadn't heard the term before, but definitely know the feeling.

 

[Tree-dweller]

Well I suppose I have to be grateful that my company doesn't go through the fiction. My last performance review was ... at my prior employer, twelve years ago.

Boy, I miss performance reviews, both giving and getting. Those years with a divisional raise pool of 1 or 2%, to be divvied up among all staff. Nothing like realizing that the difference in raises between an "earnest, hardworking go-getter" and someone phoning-it-in was $15 / payperiod, after taxes. Not exactly a great motivator.

 

[LoneAspen]

Boy, I miss performance reviews, both giving and getting. Those years with a divisional raise pool of 1 or 2%, to be divvied up among all staff. Nothing like realizing that the difference in raises between an "earnest, hardworking go-getter" and someone phoning-it-in was $15 / payperiod, after taxes. Not exactly a great motivator.

Yep - that brings back memories. One of the things I did learn pretty early on in my career is to not rely on salary increases at my current employer to increase my earnings. I also found it more profitable to stay somewhere two to four years, learn all I can, and then shop myself around and jump ship.

My first few years out of college, I was also the "loyal" employee who figured I'd be somewhere for 20 years. I quickly learned there's very little corporate loyalty left, so why should I extend so much loyalty to my employer? I figure I would be loyal two weeks at a time (with every paycheck). That was it. If somebody else was willing to pay more, and I liked the career prospects better somewhere else, I'd jump ship and leave.

Reviews have never meant anything to me. Just another BS slip of paper to file away (or better yet, recycle in the shredder). It's also another reason I never wanted a management position. I knew I couldn't toe the company line and pretend reviews meant anything. I'd be more apt to be honest with people and tell them it was hogwash, and if somebody wanted to advance their career, it's best to look out for oneself, because the company isn't going to do it for you.

We got a new VP of HR where I'm at right now, and he said something recently that shocked me. He doesn't believe in performance reviews. He wants to adopt a completely different method of reviewing people and salary increases throughout the entire year, rather than doing a bunch of BS reviews once a year and filling out paperwork that doesn't mean anything. Good for him! It'll be interesting to see if he can pull it off.

 

[brewer12345]

We got a new VP of HR where I'm at right now, and he said something recently that shocked me. He doesn't believe in performance reviews. He wants to adopt a completely different method of reviewing people and salary increases throughout the entire year, rather than doing a bunch of BS reviews once a year and filling out paperwork that doesn't mean anything. Good for him! It'll be interesting to see if he can pull it off.

That likely means that there will be no salary increases at all.

 

[brewer12345]

I now have to submit just about every document to a group of lawyers for review before it can go to the client. Good-bye schedules and deadlines. But WTF do I care? Its a paycheck.

 

[LoneAspen]

That likely means that there will be no salary increases at all.

That very well could be.

BUT...I'd rather them scrap the broken review process altogether and tell people that up front than string people along making them fill out worthless paperwork and then get something miniscule that's nothing more than an insult.

That's why I always found the typical review process nothing but a bunch of BS. The paperwork is just there to satisfy the lawyers, nothing more. It doesn't help anybody do any career planning or move up in an organization. If you want to move up, you have to take that upon yourself. Keep your skills up to date, keep your ear to the ground, and always be mindful of what's happening in your marketplace. I was always a believer that in order to move up, you had to move out. Another reason reviews mean so little to me.

One interesting side note to all this...in working for a startup, you go in with the knowledge that any financial upside doesn't come from salary increases. While nice, they are icing on the cake. The real payoff comes via liquidity events (assuming somebody has enough of an ownership percentage). So even if they didn't give me anything, it's not unexpected, and I'm not holding out for it.

In fact, I'd rather them pay new incoming talent more to attract them, with the caveat that they're getting FAR fewer options. If that means I have to sacrifice salary increases for the new people, so be it, I'm cool with that. It just means if the company is successful, I'll be the one dancing out the door in two years

 

[In-control]

uhm - Coasting Mode - I like it. I have been coasting for 5 yrs. Sounds like a good bumper sticker - "Chill - coaster driving"

 

[rodi]

Boy, I miss performance reviews, both giving and getting. Those years with a divisional raise pool of 1 or 2%, to be divvied up among all staff. Nothing like realizing that the difference in raises between an "earnest, hardworking go-getter" and someone phoning-it-in was $15 / payperiod, after taxes. Not exactly a great motivator.

a few years back they changed the geographical adjustments for the salary scale - forcing us onto a much lower scale. As a result - we all skewed higher on our pay grade levels and got 0% raises.

A coworker actually asked - "So exactly HOW LITTLE do I have to work to earn my 0% raise. Since working hard seems to lock it in, I'd like to optimize this.".

The whole room laughed... except the director who was the stuckee telling us about the new policy. He knew he had a problem.

When things are bad, weekend work, long hours, ridiculous deadlines... we ask each other that question. The guy who asked it left a few years ago - but he lives on in infamy.

 

[martyp]

I had a couple of coasters as employees. It seemed that once you got up to a certain age (45+ ?) and you realized you weren't going to be promoted to a higher classification then those who stayed coasted. I was OK with coasters in my group as long as they were doing the w*rk that needed to be done. They were low drama employees.

 

[JoeWras]

A coworker actually asked - "So exactly HOW LITTLE do I have to work to earn my 0% raise. Since working hard seems to lock it in, I'd like to optimize this."

Awesome!

 

[target2019]

A coasting thread should have perpetual motion.

A year of coasting got me into the second highest "performance" class, with a raise that approximates last year's inflation. In non-coasting years I received similar upgrades. As the boss explained, the pay channels moved up that much, so I am doing fine. Well, except for that sequestration thing.