Why can’t I get a 5 on my review at work?

I work at a company with this same thing and getting a 5 is pretty damn impossible. That being said, have gotten it before in a narrow category here or there. I've heard of managers who were principled to never give a 5. That is dumb, but I would also say if you got a 5 for your overall work, that means you should be getting a promotion.

I did ask what I could do. I was told the company doesn’t give 5s. My department that I run has exceeded sales every year. Come in early. Stay late.

I will ask again what I can do to improve the score but I think I am beating a dead horse.

But today I was asked to go to another department. Which will be a promotion :). The other department just lost a very good employee.

Companies get rid of these reviews. Give your employees 5 s. Only the ones that deserve it of course.

Would tend to agree. If you need a number to encapsulate how you feel about someone it's kind of silly. Since you're writing it anyway that will suffice.

We had a similar system where I worked. One year I worked 80 hr weeks all summer, really stuck my neck out, and landed by far the biggest contract in our history. After that I worked my ass off making sure we met expectations. I “knew” I would get the top scores this time in my review. But, no, I scored the same as always. I eventually figured out my “supervisor” had become irrelevant and incompetent. He had no idea how hard I had been working or how much I had brought in and he had long since burned out and didn’t even care. I complained - got the score raised - and the report was filed somewhere and never looked at by another soul.

But... I was noticed by others and there was no question that I felt rewarded in other ways. Those stupid review forms were just pieces of paper in a file that was never opened.

At both companies I've worked for, 5's are frowned upon.

I did get a 5 on my first ever review, my boss told me she had to go through hell to get HR to approve my review.

That was over 20 years ago when I was young, ambitious and looking to impress. Now I'm satisfied with a 3.xx.

I'm self employed. I just gave myself a 7!!!!!!!!!

Ratings are used by corporate/the execs to justify a) not giving raises/bonuses b) telling you to work harder. Low ratings are used to provide justification for getting rid of people that can't fit in or the higher ups just don't like. You will never top the ratings scale, no matter how hard and diligently you work. I just ignore the ratings at my job, just another asinine thing to remind me I'd rather be at home..

It's called "Stack Ranking". You can thank Jack Welch and Lee Iacoca for this abomination. Good companies are getting rid of it.

Never late and never calls in sick gets you a 3 if you have no other redeeming qualities. If they give you a 5 you're absolutely untouchable when it's time for layoffs. Are you that good?

Yeah I’m that good. As far as my attendance goes I’m not sure how you could get better. Arrive working 3 minutes prior. Stay late when asked. Never called in sick. Never late. Come in on days off. Seriously what else could I do ?

Sounds like they don't actually want to give honest reviews and potentially hurt anyone's feelings

The true 5s are giving the ratings, not receiving them. If you were better than your peers, you would be the boss.

No. His attendance is bad. Really. He actually got in trouble with the higher ups. He’s always late.