My work is fairly technical: data analysis, web development, Oracle reporting and so on. Every year we get a job review on what we did right, wrong, the usual. Up until last year my reviews were pretty solid. Last year my review stressed a concern regarding customer service. Huh? I've always had good customer service but apparently ONE customer complained - not to me - but to my supervisor that I sighed when receiving a request.

A sigh. And that what the supervisor focussed on and what my eventual raise reflected. A sigh of exasperation. The supervisor didn't do much in background checking - was I overloaded that day? Was the request stupid and simplistic? Worse, my review didn't cover any technical aspects of my work. Was my code efficient and accurate? Nope, the supervisor looked at the non-technical side of things. And that's what bugs me - Supervisors who can't understand or do the jobs of their peons.

You'd expect a supervisor of a technical group to be able to sub in for an absent employee. I've worked under both situations: one, where the supervisor could and did sub in for an absent employee, and, two, the current situation where they can't. I prefer the former. It's healthy to be able to talk shop with one's supervisor, to have a highly technical meeting where the supervisor isn't judging things on style of presentation because they can't judge the information. Granted, the downside is when your supervisor thinks they know analyses better then you and insist on micro-managing all of your projects.

No, my ideal supervisor is one who says "You were hired as a Professional to do a job. Do it. I respect your abilities. If you need help, here I am. Put in your 40 hours however is best for you."

But, no, my supervisor spends most of the day going to meetings, responding to emails (because we have to CC: all of our email over as a measure of project status), paper shuffling, and making sure we have presentations and handouts available whenever we call meetings. No technical help or advice.

So this year, I've played the game. I've taken a class in Presentation Skills and will be taking a class in Business writing*. My customer service has been excellent - 'Yes Sir!', "Right away, Ma'am!!" - so I should get a decent raise, maybe 4.0%. Wow! From turkey hash to meatloaf!!

*Business Writing for the Idiot.