Wave of Consciousness, "A Voice of Sanity in a World of Conflict"

Her Job Evaluation Zone

by Natalia J. Garland, M.S.W.

This is a fictitious story:
No actual people, places or events are depicted.

[This is No.6 in the Zone fiction series.]

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 worst, 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)