Containing Honesty
Submitted by Malcolm on Fri, 07/03/2009 - 19:35.
As my latest blog will explain, a close colleague of mine has just left my work.
As I have also explained, I don't think he was performing as required and, consequently, his face wasn't fitting in fully.
I suspect that I may be asked for an opinion at work next week, albeit informally. I am determined to refrain however, even though my AS perspective might temp me to do otherwise and be honest by saying what I actually feel.
I am certainly not going to state my true views or feelings on the matter, what actually happened or what my impression (positive and negative) of him was.
Its best that I stay out of it and play a politically straight and not committed bat!
Containing honesty
I think you were wise Malcolm. If you have to make a comment I think in general its best to say something which is either positive but genuine or relatively neutral . Examples include :
* I found him pretty approachable (if that was true)
* My sense is that he has found a better fit in his new role
If drawn into a conversation in which you are clearly going to have to make judgements about your colleague keep in problem solving mode rather than personal judgement mode :
E.g. 'it's clear from the evaluations that person x's performance against criterion y was
below our targets - what could we have done to address this ? Do we think this is a recruitment , induction or ongoing support issue? How can we learn from this to handle a similar situation more effectively in future?
Face not Fitting
The key thing about this person was that he face was just not fitting!!
I know that is wrong to a degree - and I don't feel he was really given a proper chance - but the impression clearly was that he was not shaping up and I think the company took a "strategic" decision.
I think my personal feelings are largely irrelevant. If I were to say that I was disappointed, sorry to see him go etc, I think I will be associating myself with someone who was seen as a poor performer. That doesn't really do me any good.
Its political of course, which I hate. But I gain nothing from a personal perspective from referring to him now or trying to ascertain the reasons why he was moved on. If my AS means I feel he was treated less than fairly it doesn't really achieve much.
My best approach is to simply stay out of the fray and not associate myself with the issue. Past experience here suggests that I need to "play the game".