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Hester Wright, the oldest living social worker in the world, was
scheduled to meet with her supervisor in the afternoon. Hester
dreaded it. She closed the door to her office and turned on her
pocket media player. She tried to calm herself by listening to
her favorite piece of music: Piano Concerto No.4, by Beethoven.
She found this piece to evoke such serene and joyful moods in
her. But her private world was interrupted when the supervisor
paged her for their meeting. Hester reluctantly walked
into....Her Job Evaluation Zone.
The supervisor of
the substance abuse clinic, Mary Jane Fulbright, was waiting in
her office. Mary Jane had Hester's personnel file spread across
her desk. Mary Jane sat silently while Hester took a seat on the
other side of the huge desk. "It's that time of year
again," said Mary Jane mechanically, "time for your
annual employee evaluation."
"Hester, these
evaluations are always difficult to do, especially when you
personally like the employee but you have to be an impartial
judge." Hester already knew that she was in trouble. Mary
Jane was trying to insert friendship in order to make the oncoming
bad news more palatable. Sure enough, "This is going to hurt
me worse than it hurts you," continued Mary Jane. "I
really value your past contributions to this clinic, and it
saddens me that your work performance and attitude have
deteriorated so much over the past year."
Mary Jane had an
unnerving way of looking people directly in the eye when making
criticisms. "We work together here as a team. But your job
performance far excels the other counsellors. I gave you a grade
of excellent in all but one category. Hester, this is
inexcusable. You are only required to be average. No less and no
more. Excellence and achievement are old-fashioned ideas. You
are still living back in the year 2015. Your excellent work
makes the other counsellors feel bad. You do not function as a
team member."
Hester wondered if
it would do any good to defend herself. As a matter of principle
and self-respect, she decided to try. "I know we come from
different schools of thought," said Hester, "but I feel
the proof of my effectiveness rests in the fact that many of my
patients go on to live stable lives. My recidivism rate is less
than that of the other counsellors. Isn't that our purpose? To
help our patients?"
"I'm glad you
asked that," retorted Mary Jane. "Your question only
illustrates your narrow-minded view of counselling. We are a
team. In order to be cohesive, we all need to function at an
average level. Without cohesiveness we have no team, and without
a team we have no clinic. We cannot help our patients without
teamwork. Your excellence causes the other counsellors to feel
inferior and this has a negative impact on their work."
"Not only is
your excellent work intolerable, but your attitude is also an
obstruction to teamwork. Let me give you an example. At last
year's staff holiday party, we drew names for gift-giving.
Remember? You gave a nice, thoughtful gift to the employee whose
name you drew. Everyone else gave impersonal gifts: keychains,
paperweights, pen and pencil sets, etc. But not you. No, you
had to give a book of poetry signed by the author. Your caring
outshone everyone else and placed you above our team."
Hester remembered
the holiday party and the awful box of stale cookies she got.
Not even her dog would eat them. Moments like that used to be
disappointing to her, but over the years Hester had learned to
take it in stride. Now the thought of the cookies made her want
to chuckle. She tried to put a serious look back on her face.
The way things were going, she doubted that she would be here for
the next holiday party, anyway. Oh well, that would save her the
trouble of having to dispose of another unwanted gift. That was
classic Hester: always turning her disadvantages into advantages.
Hester wanted to get
it over with. If things were going to get worse, she wanted to
know now so that she could begin making career plans. "What
is my final score?" she asked. Mary Jane looked Hester
straight in the eye again. It was almost hypnotic. "Not so
fast," replied Mary Jane. "There is still the matter of
the one category in which you did not get a grade of excellent.
Your penmanship. I gave you a grade of needs improvement
in penmanship. Your handwriting has deteriorated. Sometimes you
do not cross your t's or dot your i's. I have
difficulty reviewing your chart notes because of this."
"Now, for
your final score. The categories of excellent and
needs improvement are extremes and are each worth zero
points. Therefore, I have no choice but to give you a total of
zero. This means that you will be placed on a 30-day suspension
without pay. When you return to work, you will be expected to
perform at an average level. If you have not reduced the quality
of your work to average within 60 days of being reinstated to
employment, your employment at this clinic will be terminated.
Your suspension begins immediately. I have already arranged for
another counsellor, Joe Blunt, to take over your cases. You may
go to your office and gather your personal things, turn in your
keys, and leave."
Mary Jane withdrew
her stare and began writing in Hester's personnel file. The
evaluation was over. Mary Jane had made her decision, and Hester
knew that to protest was futile. Hester had been given her final
score. This was not a time for a self-defense. This was a time
for self-protection.
While cleaning out
her office, Hester mentally cleaned out her mind. Ever since the
Department of Senior Security had raised the retirement age to 80,
Hester had worried that she would not be able to work for the
clinic that long. She was 77 years old. She could try to find
another job over the next month, but she knew that she could never
be average. She had to be true herself in order to be true to her
patients.
Hester loaded her
things into her old car. She would go home, play with the dog,
and then make something special for dinner since there would be
time to cook. Yes, time. Thirty days of free time. At this
point, Hester did not relish her free time. She wished that she
was already 80 years old and eligible for her pension. Her
thoughts were starting to go in a depressing direction. She shook
herself free from this trance. Hester made a vow to herself that
she would never look back. From now on, she was going to pioneer a
new path to her own final score. (Written 07/05/04)
Until we meet
again....... .......stay sane.
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