[sdiy] SW OT: Electronics workplace advice

[theinmans at mindspring.com]

Your problem may not require a lawyer, only a statistician.  What do
you mean by "average" and "everyone"?

Let's assume that "everyone" is everyone in your department and average 
is a rating of 4 out of 7 (this is assuming average is the midpoint of a 
scale and not a "norm" which is defined as not necessarily the center of
a scale, but what most people score).  All of the ideas below also 
assume that you absolutely know for a fact what everyone is getting and
that someone close to you has not lied straight to your face.

If everyone in your department gets a 4 and no one gets higher and you 
get a 4, you can say with confidence that "I have the highest rating 
earned by anyone in my department."  OR "In performance ratings, I 
consistently placed in the top of my workgroup."  If the rating part of 
your application is narrative, you're done.  You've made you case and 
need say nothing about your math, unless called on to do so.  
Essentially, you are making use of the "normative" data.  If you knew 
that in 1998 the average of the department was a 3 and used that as 
your comparison, you could say "My performance has been consistently 
above that of employees previously in my position."  In fact, if your 
"norm" were 3 and everyone was compared to that and everyone got a 4,
the entire department could be "above average."  We call this the Lake 
Wobegone Effect, a fictional town where all of the children are "above
average."  

If you could access the company's average for all employees, you may
find you are indeed above average.  It would probably take a lawyer to
get those data!

If the rating portion of your application is quantitative with ratings
adding up as part of a total score, and you have the highest rating and
are competing against only others in your same situation, it's a wash,
no loss.  You haven't gained anything from hard work, but you are no
worse off.  If you are competing against others in department where
this ceiling effect does not exist, and the points play a big role, 
you will not get the job, but I have bad news for you:  The point 
system was designed to keep you and people like you from getting the 
job you wanted and even if, by clerical error, you had been awarded 
the job you would never have been truly accepted and probably would 
have ultimately been squeezed out in a painful way sometime right
between the moment when all of your real world skills were fading, but
right before you could claim to have real managerial experience.  Ouch!

On the other hand, if the points for your rating are to be calculated
by you, and you are to fill in the percent of points you estimate you
deserve for performance based on your ratings -- and you know that 
you earned the maximum points POSSIBLE -- you would want to multiply
by 1 because 4 out of 4 should translate into 20 of those 20 
possible performance points.

I hope this helps.  Many people face unfair job evaluations and the
exact kind of situation you are facing.  My own opinion is that by
the time you call a lawyer, you'd better make damn sure the lawsuit
is going to cover a lifetime's worth of wages because there will not
be much left for you at that company and probably any other in your
area.  That is just my cynical view.  I welcome dissenting opinion.
I AM NOT A LAWYER AND DO NOT INTEND THE ABOVE TO BE LEGAL ADVICE.
WHAT DO I KNOW?  NOTHING NOTHING NOTHING... :-0

Peace and Love to All,

Elliot