Thursday, August 28, 2008

Feedback Loop

The following post is a brag only thinly disguised as introspection. If that bothers you, you're welcome to leave now.

Oh, and you're not my friend anymore.




I'm not ashamed to admit that the reason I've kept a blog going for more than three years now and I've never kept a journal for more than three weeks is that I like the feedback. The positive feedback, that is. People who think I'm stupid can go kick a goat. But the good stuff--man, I'm a compliment junkie.

With this in mind, the job I've had now since May is ideal for me. If I'm a feedback whore then this is the best pimp I've ever had. Once a day they send me a report saying how many hours I've worked, how fast I'm working, and how accurately I'm doing my job compared to my coworkers. A similar report is sent out on a weekly basis and another one on a monthly basis. Also, several times a week I get back audited reports telling me whether I was right or wrong on specific ratings I've made. And on top of all that, there's another weekly report that tells me what percentage of the time I'm agreeing with the consensus ratings of my coworkers, and if I'm in the top ten percent of everyone for this report then they give me an Amazon.com gift certificate. Do you know how much I love Amazon.com gift certificates? More than I love my mom. (Sorry, Mom, don't take it personally.)

As I'm sure you can imagine, if all these reports were telling me that I'm doing a crappy job, this would be devastating. I wouldn't be writing this post because I'd be busy crying under my desk. But let's face it; I'm good at what I do. So good, in fact, that a couple weeks ago I got the best feedback of all--they offered me a supervisory position which means (a) more money, (b) more feedback, (c) I've finally broken through that stupid paradox of never being able to get a supervisory position because I don't have supervisory experience, and (d) more money. The more money thing is especially good because after moving and spending a month on vacation, we have none.

This also means that now I give other people that oh-so-vital feedback. Sadly, sometimes I have to give the devastating kind. But I try to do it in a kind and gentle way. And it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside to know that when I get to give positive feedback, I'm making someone's day. Finally, I get to be the pimp. (Or am I the trick? I'm going to have to go think about this metaphor for a while.)

14 comments:

Samantha said...

My suggestion: Don't think about it too hard. No doubt you'll get so caught up in it you'll forget to go to work.

unexpected absenteeism at work = bad feedback

That could be a devastating blow to the ego.

B.G. Christensen said...

Too late. I already missed work because I was busy Googling you.

Julie said...

congrats. more money is the best.

svoid said...

That's awesome! Congratulations.

B.G. Christensen said...

Thanks!

Th. said...

.

I had a job once where I always got good feedback, but the supervisory position paid less. Which was sucky.

B.G. Christensen said...

I'm glad you quit.

B.G. Christensen said...

Or got fired. Either way.

Samantha said...

In the future I will try to provide less of a distraction--which should be fairly easy considering how imaginary I am.

B.G. Christensen said...

You can rest assured I won't be Googling you anymore now that everyone and their dog is doing it. (Just yesterday I saw a dog typing into a search engine "who is samantha stevens favorite canine?")

Th. said...

.

Quit, thank you.

Desi said...

I need a job like that so I can quit my job and be home with my girls more...where did you find such a thing?

robin marie said...

i love it! feedback whore. what a great term. congrats on moving up! what exactly is your job?

B.G. Christensen said...

Th.: You're welcome.

Brozy: Thanks! I just misspelled your name "Broxy." Would you consider changing?

Desi: It really is perfect for parents who need to work their schedules around their children. FoxyJ just happened to notice this job on a library jobs list in Seattle. It never would have occurred to me to look for such a thing.

Two Forks: Thanks. The next post will be dedicated to answering your question.