Boss: Where is my work?
Employee: Boss, ‘sitima setu sirigongwa na gari!’
When you are rated as an under performer in the office smells trouble. At any moment you may be receiving your last check or according to your contract, go home without pay. I heard that the doctors are going on strike again. Now, the teachers have munched their share already but the doctors are smelling a rat within the circles of government over their demands…I rate them under performers!
Lets get back to individual under performers in different career fields. Who is an underperformer? Well, every career has its expectations at the end of the day. For instance as a writer, I look forward to keep a steady source of articles or news stories to my editor every minute and maintain creativity in every piece. A photographer not only has to bring in pictures to the news room but also has to produce compelling pictures that are ‘news worth’.
In your work place, in most cases duties are automatic and each member of staff has to report to his or her position and deliver to their full potential. In other work places, the supervisor or senior member has the mandate to assign each and every member in their cluster a task to play during that particular day and keeps checking after a few hours to see the progress or demand results at the end of the day.
As much as you think you are delivering, someone else somewhere thinks you are a jerk, lazy and stupid and wonders how you even got yourself hired in the first place! Forget the papers you have here, its what you got to offer at the end of the day. Lucky you if your office has a mechanism through which they measure quality and performance of their employees because it sets a clear target that is achievable for every one in that department.
One thing I can attest to, many managers, seniors or directors to whom an employee directly reports, never appreciate work done no matter how hard or perfect they work. An employee might have put his or her best in the task and feels good about it but at the end of the day the boss thinks they have done a shoddy job. I believe they just do not want to impress their juniors by accepting the fact that their work is good. Some employers feel that if they push and toss their juniors, they will be able to be assured of the best and nothing but the best work.
It is true that there are weak employees and surely their performance is wanting and they need to be awaken by verbal and several warning letters to have them open their eyes. If the employee is full of excuses in defensive as to why they did not do or complete a particular task assigned. Unless there is a good reason beyond doubt that made him or her to fail completing his work, he should be reprimanded and eventually fired if they do not wake up.
You should love what you do and enjoy every part of the work assigned for the day or else you will be underrated. For your career to grow, find something you are good at and make a niche with it. Let the office/department have a reason to have you with them and be the kind of a geek the office cannot do without. That way, your boss will smile with you and say hi every morning he passes your desk. If you do not enjoy your work, quit, forget the money!
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