Laughing Through Appraisals: Unveiling the Paradox of Performance Appraisals
I remember a world-famous entrepreneur and the owner of a Fortune 100 company (name withheld for security reasons) saying in an interview: “Entrepreneurial success depends on your ability to hire more talented people than you and make them work in teams.” With such utopian modus operands of successful organizations, the obvious conclusion that any fool can come up with is there are more talents in the lower ranks than in the higher ranks, and the intensity of talents increase as you slip down the corporate hierarchy.
This can also mean the more talented you are the lower your rank would be in the corporate ladder. So, at the end of the year when the appraisal takes place, the appraisee is more talented and resourceful than the appraiser. This inverted funnel of talents is the root of the problem that many companies are overwhelmed with. The result is, the relatively stupid person who is your appraiser makes you accountable for his or her shortcomings and bulldozes the money that rightfully belongs to you.
In this monstrous process of the destruction of one’s self-esteem with the pebbles of others’ drawbacks thrown at you mercilessly, the employee starts bleeding, and a war is raged between the employer and the employee. In a nutshell, this is performance appraisal or performance review which makes the employee feel like Napoleon Bonaparte on the last day of the Battle of Waterloo.
A strange sense of complacency grips the employee with disgust in all the lobes of his or her brain that they desperately try to justify with all their virtues and vices. The employees have to console themselves with the hard-earned wisdom that capabilities are not directly proportional to monetary growth and fulfilment of desires. This uncanny wisdom earned at the expense of employees’ own loss becomes the inspiration for another coming year. And for some who cannot suppress their expectations take recourse to gullible ways of increasing their earnings through appraisals.
Despite the good intent of the theorists of the performance appraisal process to bolster the organizational will with appreciation and monetary incentives, the performance review seems to put a brake on the positivity of the employees’ psyche. They are made to believe they are not as good as they think of themselves and they are forced to pay the penance of their sins against productivity that they have committed throughout the year, lest their good deeds, virtues, and sacrifices.
Building Immunity is Important
As you become more experienced in the rigmarole of the whole process of the performance appraisal, the degree of your mental injury reduces as you start building mental antibodies. Albeit the process is very scientific to woo the employees, inflate their expectations, and break their hearts. They are expected to document the achievements and strengths that they exhibited in the bygone year that their bosses or appraisers are expected to squeeze into negligible trivia. To the unprepared employee, this may seem like hammering the last nails of their own coffins.
Sotto Voce
Irrespective of all your achievements, your appraiser of the performance appraisal process takes care of the main objectives of the process. They are:
- Make your contribution to the organization look negligible.
- Get your signed confession about the crimes you committed against productivity at all levels.
- Justify your low salary with irrevocable decrees of irrationality.
Nevertheless, no matter what kind of discomfort you are subjected to, I, Norman, my friend Ozi, and my colleagues are with you. Subscribe to our newsletter to laugh at our digital comics published daily for mental strength as you get to know that you are not alone. Click here to check out our online office cartoons. Write to us at comics@normanandozi.com for us to throw light on subjects often overlooked.
See ya!
Sincerely Yours,
Norman & Ozi
The Art of Crafting Hilarious Memes for the Workplace
Memes transcend mere humour; they’re cultural artifacts woven into the fabric of our digital society. They’re mirrors reflecting societal trends, shared experiences, and emotions in a fun and engaging way. Memes are the social glue binding generations, bridging gaps, and shaping conversations on politics, entertainment, and daily life. And similarly, they extend to the bustling world of deadlines, meetings, and coffee breaks as well!
Here are 5 ways you can exercise your meme muscles to craft hilarious and artful memes for the workplace:
1) Evoke strong emotions
Anyone who has ever held down a full time job knows how tiring it can be to work with weird
colleagues, demanding clients, impossible expectations, inadequate pay, and unreasonable
bosses. It isn’t challenging to unite masses through their mutual feelings of frustration. Make
your memes with a cocktail of such happy, bitter-sweet, and infuriating references and your
memes are sure to build a fandom!
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2) Make memes that your colleagues cannot help but share
The first factor that takes a meme from “meh” to “ROFL” is mass relatability. Catch trends. Jenifer Anniston is pregnant? Relate the sensational news to maternity leaves. There seems to be a writer’s strike uprising? Suggest the content team to join in. Make sure that your content is of the type that goes viral and attracts traffic, likes, and links.
3) Research, Research, Research!
Luckily, when it comes to memes, you can skip on research papers. Research for the purpose of corporate memes is literally just the constant observation of your corporate surroundings. The next time your colleagues have an ongoing beef for days, use the phenomenon as an inspiration for your memes. This also ensures that you’re being absolutely original!
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4) Walk the fine line between being sarcastic and rude!
One simply cannot advise a meme creator to ensure that he offends none. Memes are an artform that are always borderline rude if not downright offensive. If you cannot be wholesome with your corporate memes, just ensure that you don’t directly insult any of your coworkers. The best direction to take is to choose a common enemy as the subject/victim of your meme. For example, all your coworkers will laugh in unison at a meme about your most annoying client!
5) Make sure that your memes look professional!
Do not use fonts that are so pretty that they’re almost illegible! This is one of the most common rookie mistakes that takes extremely well thought out ideas and jokes to the grave. Luckily for you, memes are very hard to mess up. Just make sure that speech bubbles and sketches are well distanced, visible and legible and you’re good to go!
The office is one place that never runs out of subject material for memes. Observe your immediate surroundings, follow trends, and make relatable and detailed references! For inspiration, check out our memes about Project Manager Norman and his unconventional pet owl Ozi right here. And don’t forget to have fun. That’s the best part about making memes for the workplace!
Frequently Asked Questions About Crafting Workplace Memes
Why are memes effective in the workplace?
Memes use humor to make messages relatable and memorable, helping employees engage better and reducing workplace stress
Can workplace memes improve employee engagement?
Yes! Sharing lighthearted memes fosters team bonding, boosts morale, and creates a positive work culture.
Are workplace memes good for corporate communication?
When used carefully, yes. Memes can simplify complex messages and make internal communication fun and relatable.
How do workplace memes compare with office cartoons?
Memes are quick and viral, while cartoons like Norman & Ozi provide structured storytelling. Both boost humor at work.
Can I share workplace memes on LinkedIn?
Absolutely! Just keep them professional, lighthearted, and relevant to workplace culture or industry trends.
Can Norman & Ozi help me turn my workplace issue into a funny cartoon or meme?
Absolutely! That’s what Norman & Ozi love doing. If you’re stuck in endless meetings, drowning in emails, or dealing with “Reply All” disasters—email us your scenario. Norman & Ozi will transform your headache into hilarious office humor.
Can I share Norman & Ozi cartoons with my colleagues?
Please do! In fact, that’s the point. Forward them in your team chat, add them to your slides, or stick one on the notice board. Sharing Norman & Ozi is a certified way to boost laughs and beat workplace stress.
Fun at Work – The Tactics and Secrets
Ahoy there, my fellow corporate comrades and people sitting behind the glass doors! Today, I am going to spill the beans on the ultimate secret to surviving the nine-to-five grind – how to be the office clown without getting sent to the HR’s cabin! So, grab your coffee mugs and prepare to laugh your way through the workday, because fun is the only way to Nirvana to cut through the drab monotony of the world.
For the somber and serious people out there with nervous disorders in the facial muscles and who rarely laugh, let me tell you, not for all, work is a holiday. For many, it is a drab and humourless affair that we are often tied a noose around our necks and asked to do with tight deadlines and quality departments looming large on us. Despite the monotonous morphology of work, we have to do it for a living. So, here, a little office humor and laughter can make your day by softening the muscles of frowned faces. So, grab your coffee mugs and get prepared to laugh!
Water cooler gossips – Unwiring the weary souls
Let’s talk about the water cooler first where gossips originate, top secrets are divulged, and rumors are spread. Albeit it is the right place to unleash your comedic genius. When someone murmurs saying, again, I have a meeting with the boss later in the day. It is the right time to spill the pun and say, “Good luck – hope PowerPoint works in your favor!”
Breaking the Boardroom Boredom
Another significant place to break the boredom by cracking jokes is when you address the elephant in the boardroom meetings! Everyone pretends to be interested while secretly daydreaming about escaping to a tropical island. This is the perfect venue to inject some humor into these soul-sucking sessions by strategically using metaphors while saving your back too. When your boss is droning on quarterly reports, a remark like “Listening to this presentation is like trying to teach a cat to tap dance – entertaining, yet futile” can make people loosen their jaws a bit.
Unlocking the Cubicle Conundrum
Now, let’s dive into the delicate art of cubicle banter. Remember, timing is everything. When your co-worker is stressing over a deadline, stroll by their desk and whisper, “They say stress is just confusion leaving the brain. So, you’re just getting smarter by the minute!” It’s like offering a mental spa day without the hefty price tag.
Ice breakers in the break room
Now, let’s talk about the sacred territory of the break room. If your office is anything like mine, it’s a battleground for coveted microwave minutes. So, the next time you find yourself in a microwave standoff, unleash your inner stand-up comedian. Say, “You know you’re an adult when you get excited about a clean microwave. It’s like winning the lottery but with leftovers!”
Teaming up for laughter
Lastly, team-building activities – are a necessary evil of corporate life. Whether it’s a trust fall or a ropes course, approach it with the enthusiasm of a cat being forced into a bath. When the team-building facilitator suggests a trust fall, respond with, “I trust everyone here… to watch me plummet to the ground like a deflated balloon. Let’s do this!” It’s a sure-fire way to break the ice and probably a few bones.
In conclusion, my fellow office jesters, remember that office humor is the secret weapon in the battle against workplace monotony. So, go forth and sprinkle your workplace with humor and laughter like glitter at a unicorn party. And if anyone questions your methods, just throw on a clown wig and tell them you’re conducting a morale-boosting experiment. After all, who can resist the charm of a corporate jester? Happy joking, my friends! Have and make them have fun!
Sincerely Yours,
Norman & Ozi
