Probabtion Extended

De Dannan

Hi

I have a question regarding a six month review I had recently

Last week I had my six month review at work. I started at the beginning of July 2011 so I have been there just over 6 months when the review took place. At the end of the review my manager asid that they had decided to extend my probation period by 3 months. He explanied that they wanted to see improvment in some areas in the three months.
I understand they have the right to extend my probabtion but can they do this after the initial 6 months has elapsed? I had considered myself to be past my probabtion period the day the 6 months had passed, was I wrong in this assumption ?
TBH I would have thought that 6 months was more than enough time to access an employee. And no issues about my performance were ever brought up by them in the first 6 months. I just thought it was a little bit unfair for them to turn around after that time and say they are not satisfied, if they werent I should have heard about it long before now surely

Eoin

They can get rid of you quite easily within the first year either way, as unfair dismissal does not kick in until that point (unless it was for discrimination). So whether or not it they followed the letter of the law, you might find it hard to pursue it. A solicitor would be able to give you much more accurate advice on this though.

It's certainly bad management for you to not to have had any reviews, or for this to be a surprise to you.

I would have thought that 6 months was more than enough time to access an employee

It normally is. But maybe they have assessed you, and you really aren't performing well enough.

I think your best bet is to not concentrate on the technicalities of your probationary period, but what you need to do to change their opinion. Sit down with your manager and find out exactly where you're not performing to their expected levels, and put a plan in place to improve. Make sure you know exactly what they're expecting from you and how you can demonstrate you're at the level they want.

As I said, it's likely bad management if this is a surprise to you, but that's even more reason why you need to take control of the situation.

Do you feel you've been doing well?

De Dannan

My review overall was not that bad. Of course there are areas I can improve on and I accepted that
I guess I was just a little disappointed my probation was increased by 3 months. I now feel a little bit insecure in terms of whats going to happen in 3 months and so I am looking at new roles
Maybe I am being totally unreasonable here but its just the way I feel about it

Eoin

Yep, I can understand you're disappointed to have the period extended. But unless they're just stringing you along for some reason, they're giving you a chance to improve.

mikemac1

De Dannan wrote: »

And no issues about my performance were ever brought up by them in the first 6 months. I just thought it was a little bit unfair for them to turn around after that time and say they are not satisfied, if they werent I should have heard about it long before now surely

Poor management and all too common

An employee should be getting constant feedback and know exactly where they stand.
Too many team leaders out there who will smile at you, never discuss anything with you and then five months later give you a terrible review

So you're right, it's a bit unfair but for now concentrate on improving and in six months time you'll have cleared probation and gone over a year

Yeah meet the boss and ask for a detailed plan of what you need to achieve and work off that. It's show you are keen to improve and you're taking it seriously
And many/most people like being put in a situation to help out.
So ask for a follow up meeting

De Dannan

mikemac1 wrote: »

Too many team leaders out there who will smile at you, never discuss anything with you and then five months later give you a terrible review

Thats exactly what happened in this case. The upshot is now i dont know where I stand with this manager. I thought things were fine, now I find out they arent
Anyway I will take the advise and set up a meeting to find out exactly what I need to do in order to meet their expectations in 3 months

Eoin

A large part of management is having difficult conversations. Some managers are "too nice" to do this, and this is often the result. People think everything is going fine, until the manager is forced to be truthful, and it comes out of left field to the employee.

It shouldn't be up to you to sort this out, but it sounds like it is. As you've said you'll do:

1) find out exactly the areas where you're not performing
2) find out what they expect a good result to be
3) agree a plan to address these areas, including regular reviews

This whole thing might not be as bad as it sounds - there might be just a slight doubt at the back of their minds, and you've been given a chance to prove them wrong.

Honey-ec

Same thing happened to me in my last job. Was told in my probationary review that feedback from me from other managers was "good to neutral". But I was then informed that one particular manager had made a complaint about me being "insubordinate" over one particular incident, and did I have anything to say about it? I said yeah, I have no idea what you're talking about and surely if it was something big enough for a manager to complain about, I should have been informed at the time instead of waiting until my review to bring it up. I was told that because this person was on the senior management team, they had "no choice" but to extend my probation about it for three months.

I was absolutely fuming over it, and asked for a meeting with my manager and the manager who had complained, as clearly there was something amiss if I couldn't even think of a single incident that would have been serious to warrant an extension of my probation.

I got the meeting, and it was over an offhand remark I made to the manager in question that he took as a huge slight on his ego (he gave me a huge order with no part numbers on it about two weeks after I started, and I told him I couldn't process it without them). It was a complete and utter joke, but the probation extension stood.

I hated every single minute of that job. I stuck it out for two years, and to this day I still don't know how.

De Dannan

So I had a meeting today with my manager to discuss the issues brought up in the review. I have asked for a regular review of my progress over the 3 month period, every 2 weeks. We also put together a list of what I needed to achieve. I probably should not have to sort this out myself but at least it gives me something more concrete to go on. And I am sure that if I didnt try to sort this out, I would not hear another thing from my manager until the next review was up

mikemac1

That's good, well done

You're showing them you are taking it seriously and you want to be do well