So you are a star performer, who cares?

When making judgment about our peers or those below us, it is important to consider a number of things.

Monday, February 11, 2013
Lewis Ndichu

When making judgment about our peers or those below us, it is important to consider a number of things. It is,  for instance, wrong for a manager to give more attention to one or a few employees and ignore the others because they are not as talented as his favourite workers.The rationale for our judgment may come in different forms, ethnicity, gender and shared collage.This may be true, false or just a perception. If we are to examine the possibilities, what are the likely circumstances? It is easy for a boss to get stuck with a subordinate, who was seen as a genius and promoted, butwho, two or more years down the line, is just an average worker.Despite this, the boss follows the particular employee’s advise even when it is untenable. This is why it is useful to re-evaluate yourself often to avoid getting stuck with such kinds of workers. You could both be in a fool’s paradise. Being a star employee is good, but it is important to evaluate yourself all the time. Otherwise, you could be living an illusion based on the past performance. Eventually, you may find it difficult to concentrate on your work when your past glory fades because you think you are being recognised as a star maliciously.  In situations, where there is false or driven belief by personal dislike, self evaluation is crucial before attacking co-workers. Many of the people, who complain are those whose star status has faded. They complain about everything as away to reassure themselves of the past glory without working to restore it. Having got used to the coveted status, they get ‘spoilt’, especially if they were unjustifiably promoted. With time, they get fixated with the status and pose a workplace disharmony when they do not review their work-life and performance.It could also be just an impression because of your own opinion which could be based on emotional values, literacy, maturity or other irrationalities. This may appear simple, but it affects some people’s work output to the extent that it becomes destructive.When you are a star employee you receive many unwarranted remarks, some of which can be personal. Ultimately, this helps you to re-evaluate yourself, particularly your emotional literacy. Ask yourself why you get upsets when someone else gets praised. If it is difficult for you to come up with a plan to improve performance, discuss it with your supervisor and, together, find a way out of the deadlock.