Appraisal HELL

Appraisal HELL!

It’s that time of year again. What time, you may ask? It’s time for me to start writing performance appraisals for my staff. I really despise appraisal time. If it were up to me, I would give everyone a decent review and substantial pay increases. Everyone would be happy and I would have peace of mind. Unfortunately, in trying to be a decent manager, I am obligated to give everyone an honest assessment of their performance over the year. Honesty is not something people really appreciate. Really, I only have one evaluation in particular that I am dreading. My problem child.

This particular employee started as an administrative assistant. She was hard-working, fairly competent, efficient and in general quite pleasant. So when a more challenging position became available, I encouraged her to apply. I ended up hiring her for the position. I found out that she was only a few hours short of getting her bachelor’s degree. So I encouraged her to enroll at a local college to complete her degree. I always try to encourage my staff to take advantage of company benefits. She did that. In general, she does her job proficiently. She is not a real go getter…she does not go over and above on a regular basis. So last year, I gave her an average evaluation. She does her job in a sufficient manner. Well, she was PISSED. That’s fine…everyone is entitled to their feelings. Lord knows I was pissed when I got passed over for a promotion last year.

Unfortunately, she proceeded to engage in a lot of childish behavior. First she wrote an inflammatory response and basically said that she felt like I had something personal against her. She stopped speaking to me. Every day I would come to work and say “good morning (name withheld).” And she would just scowl or completely ignore me. At one point I gave her an assignment and she basically said she could not do it and she didn’t even want to try. I actually had to take her off site and speak to her about her behavior. It was ridiculous. I mean, what kind of person simply stops speaking to their BOSS?? Wft?  

To her credit, she has filled in to some degree since Smokey left. Still, I have made sure that she is not overextended…I always have a temp. The editors and the NY production staff are always available for backup in a pinch. Anyhow, I know if I give her the review that I believe she deserves, all hell is gonna break loose. Argh.