So I had my yearly assessment with my department manager. I’m a software engineer at a fairly large company. My coworkers are all amazingly smart(everyone’s either from waseda or toudai) and I do feel like I’m the dumbest one there. I keep on getting B’s (i think the lowest rank is D) for my yearly evaluation and I haven’t gone up with regards to ranks. My department manager then implied that I’m gonna get sacked if I don’t improve. I do my tasks okay but it’s not A+ level I suppose. It doesn’t help that I feel like my boss and teammates thinks I’m an idiot.
TLDR So my question is can they really fire me for constantly getting a B rank in my evaluation and not climbing the ranks? I’m scared and thinking of looking for a new job already. I do love my work now so as much as possible I wanna stay.
28 comments
Can you get fired? Sure if they have cause to do so.
Poor performance that is regularly >documented< over time and not improved upon can be just cause to fire someone.
Granted I don’t know about your specific company and their performance policies but I feel like B evaluations are unlikely to lead to that extreme of a result and your manager is just BS’ing you. At least not without other actions taken first. However I mean do try to improve but honestly it just sounds like you need a little confidence in yourself. So what if everyone graduated from waseda. You’re just as capable, you got the job.
I would quit job that has rankings…
If you’re Seishain (正社員), they can’t fire you without showing they took significant steps to help you improve first. Also, if the lowest rank is D, I wouldn’t think regular B ratings qualify as “poor performance.”
Just remember, (semi-)annual reviews are just the means by which companies justify not giving bonuses or pay raises. If you’re happy at your current position/rank and pay, just keep showing up.
Your manager is just trying to light a fire under you. Maybe not the best form of motivation, but you did state that your work wasn’t top notch. Maybe they are trying a more direct approach following more subtle, positive motivational techniques. Don’t let fear become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Get feedback about your performance not only from your direct manager but 1 level higher as well. Also, set targets that are achievable for you, you might have set your targets too high yourself, or have been pressured to do so.
Mate, graduated from tier 16 university in Africa, never been to any of those “sophisticated” universities including the ones you mentioned above, now I’m leading a team of those “smart” people who graduated from Keio and spent shit load of money on American universities. Doesn’t matter where they graduated from, science is the same everywhere; only people make the difference.
Firing is hard, but if your evaluations are legitimately not good then they can do other things like move you to a different department, switch you to a completely different job, or even move you across the country, etc.
If you are an official employee they would have to create 3 PIPs that you clearly didn’t achieve. Performance Improvement Plans are given with a 3 month deadline. So until you are given a PIP you should be fine. Unless they are opting for a more traditional “bully you until you quit.”
A lot of managers and supervisors like to use scare tactics to force staff to work harder. But for a permanent employee they cannot legally fire you without a lengthy process of giving you a documented opportunity and support to improve as well as reports of complaints or problems against you.
I’ve had managers like that and I found that getting past their stone cold exterior is to get them one on one, compliment them on how well they do their job and ask for advice how you can improve on yours so you can be like them.
It’s annoying and not really dignified, but it usually works.
I did that for a year and a half. Now I’m the general manager for a different department and don’t work with him anymore.
I’m not sure about your company, but I used to work at a Japanese company where almost everyone is evaluated as average except for those (usually 2 ~3 people) who are selected for a promotion.
So being evaluated as B isn’t that bad, and may not reflect actual evaluation. You aren’t sure about others evaluations? Those who are from waseda or toudai may even get a B evaluation.
Do your best and don’t be hard on yourself.
I’m in a big tech company, evaluated 2 times a year. I always get A or S, also rise every time . This month was my last rise , manager told me I reach limit on my rank so for more money they need to change my rank (R3 , R4, M. Etc). Saying that I think B is not bad. Will be like no rise/ same
Bonus only. I won’t worry.
No, they must show proof of long-term underperformance so devastating that it hurts business, as well as evidence of providing opportunities for improvement, e.g. training.
They’re trying to scare you into quitting for roundabout downsizing.
It’s more productive to address the problem, and seek solutions.
Arrange a meeting with your boss to tell them how you’re feeling, and request their assessment.
Tell them you would like to set out an action plan to put yourself on track.
It sounds like you are stuck in a loop of self fulfilling prophecies.
Your colleagues are considered “smart” so they are being given motivating tasks and proper support to accomplish them properly, making them more likely to succeed and get good grades while you receive the worst tasks without support making you unlikely to succeed.
It does seem like your manager is giving a gentle nudge to start looking for a new job.
Which, in my opinion you should, but…
They can’t fire you, or rather, it’s very hard for a company to fire someone on a permanent contract, so , if it comes to that they would offer you money to quit on your own. There was a post recently from someone who settled for 7 months worth of pay.
Given the above, do look for other jobs, companies that treat their employees better, companies with better culture, maybe some evolution in your plan for your career, but don’t just give in. If you play your cards right, you can get both a new, nicer, better-paying job and a handsome payout from your company.
I also have a problem with this performance rating system on a large company(5k members). Always got Cs last year because I was not able to improve. Even my boss threaten to lower my salary maybe just to fire me or just to make me move to another department.
But when I think about why you can’t improve in the current environment, It might just you’re not the problem one but the working environment isn’t fit enough for you. I do a lot of thinking back on why I got a lot of Cs and decided to change my situation by trying to find another job and environment that suit me better for my future.
Is this a Japanese company with a well known panda mascot? Don’t worry then, management is required to give 80% of their team Bs. They’re only allowed to hand out 1~2 As or higher a term.
A lot of companies give out “standard” rankings to most employees, and only a select select few (usually managers)get above that. You might want to see if you work for a company like that.
i am not sure what B means in your company, but I am sure that they cannot fire you just because of your performance if you’re a seishain. however, that does not mean that they cannot make your life difficult or uncomfortable.
if you believe that you cannot meet their expectations, or the work environment is toxic, I suggest that you find a job/company that is a better fit for you. regardless of what you decide, your school should never be a factor in your decision-making process.
I’m not a lawyer, but I’m pretty sure if you’re a 正社員 then it pretty hard to just fire you without a significant violation of some sort.
I think that a bigger concern is the unhealthy lens that you’re viewing your work through. Unless your boss/teammates have told you to your face that they think you’re an idiot, this idea is a complete mirage born from your own insecurities.
And even if it was the case that they did think you were an idiot, dwelling on that idea does you no good.
I’m a self-taught software engineer. So I’m not stranger to the imposter syndrome that pops up when sitting with a bunch of CS majors, but the easiest way to overcome that is to read.
I read a minimum of a books a month on topics related to software engineering. I’ve done this since 2015 when I first went pro. Doing this alone will put you ahead of any waseda or toudai graduate in terms of raw knowledge on the subject.
Taking that knowledge and sharing it with your teammates and boss in a way that can help them will probably make you a +++A employee within the year. In today’s world, just a little bit more extra effort can take you to the top of your industry so fast. Because most people are just doing the bare minimum.
Sometimes companies limit the number of high ratings they give if high ratings are linked to promotion or pay. Since they don’t want to promote or give everyone a raise, middle managers are told, basically, ‘You have one A+ rating and three A’s to assign to your team. Everyone else gets B or under.’
B isn’t bad.
I believe it means you are working at exact level with what expected from you.
They will not fire you. Especially the lowest grade is D, in that case what will they do to D performer? Kill them?
Keep calm and do your best. You will gain more and more skill with time and experience. 🙌🏼
I’m not sure how the ranking in your company work but if it’s just A, B, C,.. and A is the highest I don’t even think B is a low evaluation. It just looks like a way to keep you at your current rank. Those above will be people that will be up for promotion. This is what my previous company did not sure about yours.
If you want to stay, just try your best until they fire you. Every week is a week of skills added (I assume if others around you are so smart)
You are probably overthinking it. I also thought I was a lousy front-end dev and going to get fired, until I left that company and saw the work of other people with many more years of experience…
First things first, your company seems to have ABCD ranking for the semiannual evaluation. I assume that A is “super awesome”, B is “you’re doing well, but no improvement”, C is “you can do better, can you?” and D is “please stop smearing snot on the keyboard”.
Therefore, B is just sitting there and it’s not necessarily a bad result. Many employees choose the path of boring but stable sitting duck strategy and it isn’t bad. That is, unless your company is one of those super aggressive places where if you’re not up you’re out.
Threatening someone with firing if they are doing alright and not bad is a very very toxic thing to do and you have either a really bad manager or a really bad company. Try to think what to do with it.
And no, they can’t fire you directly, but it’s not that companies don’t fire in Japan, they do.
going to waseda doesn’t mean much
B ranking is miles away from getting fired. If they want to fire you they will give you the lowest rating arbitrarily. Don’t sweat it.
You may need to get curious about how to improve. Ask specifically where you went wrong, what you could have done better. Is there a comparable assignment with a todai/ waseda -grad? What was their strategy?
Without proper feedback, no one can be expected to improve.