Meanwhile, the company's gone through a rebranding exercise - we're no longer called Network Hardware Resale, but Curvature. The old name had to go as we're shifting our position from primarily being a reseller of refurbished and legacy network hardware to a solution-based IT company that also buys and sells refurbished and legacy network hardware. My job, as Services Administrator, is to work on the solution side of things, i.e. our trump card, our lifetime warranty and professional services programme.
Anyway, last week at the launch party, I got talking to a few people and was reliably informed that in Europe, we've been falling behind the projected figures for the sales of this programme over the last 2 quarters; and I think my bad review may owe more to this fact than to my actual performance, or lack of it -- if the figures don't pick up, and soon, they might decide to ditch me when my contract expires on December 1st, or perhaps even sooner. The review then, could be a first step in building the case against me, necessary under Dutch employment law.
BTW, the new name, Curvature? They spent 18 months and countless millions working with a 'leading global rebranding marketing company in LA' to come up with it; all the while stressing that our major push over the next few years will be to break into the eastern European market. You would think then, that these global rebranding experts would have tested out the name in that geographical area, wouldn't you? But it transpired they only tested it out on a panel of 400 people in the US, who apparently like that it stands for 'a measurement of change'. Too bad, then, that when it's pronounced in a Slavic accent, that meaning changes to "Whore Tours"...