Talent Review

Employee Information

Name: Charles Handy

Tenure at Cypress: 6 years
Job Title: Senior Wireless Solutions Designer
Time in Job: 3 years
Email: CHandy@Cypress.com
Office: 213-555-0149
Mobile: 323-956-0136

Manager Comments

Charles has been on this team for over six years, and has consistently demonstrated his
technical prowess since joining. He has provided his expertise on countless projects
recently and is widely seen as an expert on wireless technology. I expect him to be a
key player as our division prepares for the transition to the CyWorks’ standard over the
next several months.
However, Charles has had some notable difficulties working with both clients and his
teammates, and is sometimes reluctant to learn new tools and work processes. His
emails and other written communications (i.e., CyChat), tend to be vague or delayed,
and he seems to struggle when communicating project specifics. He tends to use
excessively technical language when sending emails containing project updates to
clients, leading to several incidents over the past year in which other team members
have been forced to serve as intermediaries between Charles and client contacts. When
confronted with these issues, Charles contends that he “prefers to just talk with
people.” He also has a tendency to be gruff and impatient with people who don’t share
a similar level of expertise in his area. I don’t see him moving beyond his individual
contributor role unless these issues are addressed.
Nevertheless, Charles is a highly meticulous and reliable individual who has yet to make
any substantial errors on client projects. He has consistently been an effective
contributor on this team.
Talent Review
Employee Information

Name: Max Zanthum

Tenure at Cypress: 4 years
Job Title: Audio Technical Specialist
Time in Job: 3 years
Email: MZanthum@Cypress.com
Office: 213-555-0121
Mobile: 213-555-0113

Manager Comments

Max has been on the team for some time now and has typically shown himself to be an
effective employee. He has been placed on a lot of highly demanding projects since
joining the team and is especially good at functioning in high-pressure situations. He’s
been involved in several projects that have placed him on very tight timelines, forcing
him to complete some of his tasks in a far shorter timeframe than usual. Impressively,
he made no major errors on any of these projects (the few errors he made were minor
and were resolved easily during our QC process), much to the relief of us on the team.
He showed some great initiative earlier this year when he volunteered to host a brown
bag lunch session. In it, he taught everyone about "Check It Done" which is a
productivity system that he says has helped him "manage priorities, track activities,
reduce stress, and be a lot more productive." Some great ideas in there and it seems to
be working for him.
However, Max’s people-pleasing nature can lead him to agree to do things that are
unreasonable, such as the time when he acquiesced to a client’s demand for extra
features that were beyond the original scope (and pricing) of the project. Max also
seems reluctant to ask his teammates for help or clarification if he finds himself
overwhelmed. After speaking to him about these issues, he’s been working on being
more assertive and appears to have made significant progress, as evidenced by the
brown bag he volunteered to host.
Max is a highly valued part of the team. His efficient and steady approach to his work is
appreciated, especially in an environment as demanding as ours.
Talent Review
Employee Information

Name: Zara McCarthy

Tenure at Cypress: 1 year
Job Title: Wireless Solutions Designer
Time in Job: 1 year
Email: ZMcCarthy@Cypress.com
Office: 213-555-0173
Mobile: 213-248-0117

Manager Comments

Zara is the newest member of my team and has already established herself as a go-to
resource for people across the department. She is seen as an expert in the area and is
well-liked by both her coworkers and clients. Zara has played a key role on several
difficult projects since joining the team last year and seems to always put forth her best
effort. Most notably, the Cedar Grove project would have never been completed on
schedule without her willingness to go the extra mile. She also tends to have a lot of
innovative ideas about new work processes and novel ways of addressing client
concerns. However, she can be hesitant to voice these ideas directly during team
meetings, often times discussing her ideas with me one-on-one as opposed to
presenting them directly to the team. This can cause the group to spend more time
than needed on team meetings due to missing out on her ideas.
Her client-facing skills are commendable, and I’ve personally seen her keep a cool head
when meeting face-to-face with an extremely difficult and demanding client contact.
She’s exceptionally good at teasing out a client’s ultimate goals for a project, even if
they are unable to describe them in precise technical terms. Unsurprisingly, her
customer reviews are consistently above average.
Zara’s also a great team player, and has volunteered to lend a hand to coworkers who
have needed some help with difficult projects on numerous occasions. Her
consideration for others, combined with her cheerful disposition, make her a pleasure
to work with. I believe that she has the potential for a highly successful career at
Cypress.
Talent Review
Employee Information

Name: Carrie Yung

Tenure at Cypress: 2.5 years
Job Title: Audio Technical Specialist
Time in Job: 2.5 years
Email: CYung@Cypress.com
Office: 213-555-0140
Mobile: 310-824-5698

Manager Comments

Carrie has consistently impressed me with the lengths that she will go to deliver on
project commitments since she has joined our team. She had consistently
demonstrated a willingness to work late or even take on extra duties to ensure that her
clients are satisfied and her teammates feel supported.
Unfortunately, Carrie is often times reluctant to adopt new technologies and work
processes, preferring to stick with established methodologies. While this is somewhat
understandable, it has caused several clients to point out that some of our competitors
are using more advanced tools than we are. I expect some pushback from her over the
next several months as we transition to using CyWorks for the majority of our projects.
Thankfully, Carrie is highly skilled and has a strong work ethic, so she seldom finds
herself in situations that she cannot manage. Her knowledge of signal flow and prior
experience as a theater sound engineer give her a perspective that is unique among
her teammates. She is oftentimes able to quickly establish a strong rapport with client
staff, allowing her to act as a liaison between them and Cypress’ product engineering
personnel, when necessary.
Talent Review
Employee Information

Name: Jordan Aydersan

Tenure at Cypress: 5 years
Job Title: Senior Wireless Solutions Designer
Time in Job: 2 years
Email: JAydersan@Cypress.com
Office: 213-555-0173
Mobile: 213-602-0192

Manager Comments

Jordan is a highly ambitious individual. She has repeatedly been able to devise
solutions to highly unusual problems (e.g., the Manitoba Provincial Amphitheatre) by
implementing customized software tools. She is also exceptionally enthusiastic when it
comes to learning about and implementing the latest technology on her ongoing
projects. She often times works closely with our software engineers and has established
herself as the resident expert on multiple customized pieces of software that are
currently being used on client projects.
Jordan is well-liked by the clients with whom she has worked, who view her as a
brilliant engineer. Her presence is appreciated by her teammates as well, and she has
gone out of her way to provide guidance to some of the more junior team members.
However, she has a tendency to dominate group discussions at times, and can find
herself frequently butting heads with others who may want to implement tried-and-
true methods on large projects.
Overall, Jordan is an exemplary team member, and I believe that she could move into a
people manager position if she continues to develop over the next several years.