Are you an ideal employee? Do you know the route to success? Are you S.M.A.R.T?
If so, there’s no need to read this satirical take on the world of work and the decline of the contemporary university.
S
M
A
R
T
Charlie, the trainer, wrote the word vertically down the whiteboard.
Dr Oscar Redman looked round the room. There were academics, cleaners, administrators, technicians, gardeners and security staff: a wide range of university personnel were present. The top brass had decided that all employees must attend the Performance Assessment Training Course, in preparation for the implementation of the Annual Review.
Oscar had never had an annual review. Never. Performance assessment? That was what teachers did to schoolchildren, wasn’t it? It was what bullying managers did in businesses to instil terror into their workers. As an academic, it seemed to Oscar highly undignified.
If so, there’s no need to read this satirical take on the world of work and the decline of the contemporary university.
S
M
A
R
T
Charlie, the trainer, wrote the word vertically down the whiteboard.
Dr Oscar Redman looked round the room. There were academics, cleaners, administrators, technicians, gardeners and security staff: a wide range of university personnel were present. The top brass had decided that all employees must attend the Performance Assessment Training Course, in preparation for the implementation of the Annual Review.
Oscar had never had an annual review. Never. Performance assessment? That was what teachers did to schoolchildren, wasn’t it? It was what bullying managers did in businesses to instil terror into their workers. As an academic, it seemed to Oscar highly undignified.