Meeting with Phil

We just concluded our annual review process. It is this time of the year when employees' performances are reviewed, and merit increases and bonus payments are recommended. I support probably the largest business unit in the enterprise, with about half the population of non-executives in what the corporate world would refer to as "headquarters." We call it, National Functions. And the business unit is IT, or Information Technology.

The head honcho of IT is Phil. He's a tough, no-nonsense executive who gets what he wants, and gets things done, as well. He drives his organization hard, but rewards them fairly handsomely, too. He's a stickler for excellent performance (more like exceptional), and it shows how his organization differentiates the best, the good, and the mediocre. This is that time.

As his consultant, I met with him this afternoon and presented an executive summary of his organization's merit increase and bonus payout spend and distribution. He wasn't new to this process. I have met with him in past years, at around the same time, on basically the same topic. He is familiar with it and knows exactly what to look for. Having gone through this with him, I also know what to expect and what questions he might ask.

With me at the meeting was his VP of HR, David. He's new, and this was his first time going through this process, and this meeting. Before we met with Phil, I sat down with him separately earlier in the day, and walked him through the report, and what we might expect in the afternoon meeting.

The meeting with Phil was quick. There wasn't really much to talk about. Everything was straight-forward. He saw he had some money left in his budget, and he wanted it reallocated to high performers. I assured him of it, and ended the meeting with a compliment. "Excellent, as always."

That was my cue. I got up, and left both gentlemen to talk about other business. In the meantime, I had work to do.