thoughts on focal results

the past few days, everyone's thoughts were on the focal download. each of us hoping for really good reviews (which equal to really good raises) and painfully waiting for the download day. not everyone of course will get what they want during focal - some will be disappointed, others will be steady (jowell's coined word for "ok lang"), and others will be happy with their focal result. while it can be quite disappointing if the actual increase is not within one's expectations, getting something still isn't a bad thing. why? cause a few years ago, in one focal, only those who were rated "O" and promoted had increases and at one time, people only got 50% of the increase they got during the focal. I distinctly remember the 50% thing because Ice was one of the 50% Focal victims. I managed to secure Ice a good raise & a promo during that time but he got only half of it. We can say "we're not in the same situation like before." hell yeah, but maybe its just not meant to be this time or that somebody else might have done better than us. this is the difficult thing about focal, being able to meet your expectations doesn't guarantee a high rating cause someone may have done a better job.

i finished my focal download this morning. it was good that carl sent the files an hour before the meeting so i was able to look at it and get some perspective. what's the result? it probably is not proper to share it here so i am not going to comment on it. i guess after talking to some people and asking them what their expectations are, i realized that our increases aren't bad in general. i asked my starbux friend and she told me on the average, the annual increase in their company is 10-15% with 15% being very seldom. D said theirs averages 7-10% plus an additional 5% if you get promoted. One collegue told me he would be happy with a 10% increase. Hearing these made me realize that sometimes getting a different perspective on things can help you understand and appreciate things better.

if we want to keep or get that elusive "O" or "EE", we need to formulate our plan of attack now. not getting it now doesn't mean we won't get it next time.