Right, we’re one twelfth of the way through the year already! Overall, it’s been quite a dull month, but then again, most Januarys are like that. It’s usually February before things start to get more exciting, although that’s probably because it’s my birthday, and by then I’ve really settled back into my usual routine after the festive season.
Everyone seems to be ill at the moment – I had a cold (yes, the second one in 6 weeks), and so I was sent home from work. It wasn’t as severe as the one I had 6 weeks ago, though, but like last time, my step-dad Terry has caught it too. And just a minute ago, my Mum came in and said she thinks she’s starting to come down with one too! We haven’t been able to go out much recently, because it’s so cold.
Anyway, away from all the doom and gloom, I had my appraisal at work yesterday. The manager was really pleased with my progress, and he even said he thought my output was second-to-none, and that I have good technical skills. He said that the only thing I really need to develop is my communication skills (ie being able to speak to people in other departments). So, for me, progressing from Adviser to Lead Adviser level is still “some way off” (there are several of these different ranks in our company). But my direct supervisor (who isn’t the same person as my manager!) thinks it could happen sometime in the middle of the year. I will be able to go on courses about communication skills and relationship management, and that will help me. I’ve also asked if I can do a presentation to the rest of the team about how we can use Microsoft Access in our work – I think that will help me to improve my confidence. My colleagues do say that my communication skills are better than they were when I first started – for example, I have been helping to train new staff, which is something that would have filled me with horror even just a couple of years ago.
In order to be promoted here, you have to work at the next level for 6 months before you can actually be promoted to that level. Now, in most companies in the world, you are promoted into a position – but here it’s the other way round; you have to prove yourself consistently for 6 months beforehand. This may seem strange and even unfair to some people, but the rules are the same for everyone in our team/department, regardless of their rank. I get the impression that if it was based on output alone, I’d be at Lead Adviser level already. But in our department, “soft skills” such as liaising with people in other departments are considered important for staff at that level. If I was in a more technically-oriented department,where soft skills aren’t so important, then I probably would already be at Lead Adviser level (even one of my other colleagues, who is already a Lead Adviser and is hoping to be promoted to Consultant level soon, said he thinks if he was in another department, he would already be at Consultant level). But, I really like this team, everyone is very kind, and I’m very happy in my current work, so I have no intention of moving into any other department. Not at least for many, many months or even years.
Whenever they did that, it almost always knocked down all ten pins, so I think they did end up winning. But it was still fun anyway.
From my Mum I got a pair of silver earrings, and my sister Suzanne got me the new Kelly Clarkson CD “Breakaway”.