P.E.

Performance Evaluation! Its that time of year when bosses start thinking about how you are doing—not because they particularly like you (though mine does) but because they themselves get a memo or email saying they have to get the staff’s performance evals in to some head office before a certain date and then the stress begins.

I have figured out that performance evaluations are the equivalent to vocational report cards and you are the parent and if you get a bad performance eval then you better rectify it one way of the other or else. I hate the performance evaluation—luckily I have never had to give them because I have seen how the supervisor, whoever they might be has had to sweat them. Historically I have worked in small shops, rarely over ten folks so your supervisor was usually also a close friend and they suffer almost as much as I would as these evaluations of performance were being rendered. In my former position at the independent living center—this was the first time I was exposed to the performance evaluation and was bout twenty years ago when evaluations came into to vogue. We were a very small shop and very close friends and when the boss started she was as inexperienced at giving thee as we staff were as getting them. She even did this intimidation thing some years and eventually gave to task my best friend Kim—who also tried very hard and with due diligence but was very difficult, for me, to take serious in that role. I am also so stupid I am sure Kim felt this insolence and too great restraint not to thump me mightly with his role of power. Then when the dread of impending doom wore off and the director tired of the game they looked to make the process less complicated and less work for management. This was when management started handing you the program evaluation form and then you were expected to be honest and fill out your own eval and the meet with your boss to “discuss” the evaluation and come to sort of agreement.

I think Alyson, my social worker boss, was one of my favorite performance evaluators. We actually did this dance where she would actually type her responses to her evaluation questions as she gave them during the interview and you would sit there and coach her on what to write. As a social worker, Alyson was always trying to be pleasant so the ordeal was not too bad. Actually, it was great everything was done by the time you rolled out of her office, for another year.

This year the email said to take you evaluation and type your responses in a different colored ink and come prepared to discuss(defend?) your responses. For some reason these evaluations always fall on a period of time before my boss is about to head out of the country for one reason or another and she has to execute these evaluations before she can leave; perhaps this is her way of getting the evaluations completed.

I hate performance evaluations. I hate performance evaluation season. I think for the most part my boss hates them too but admin says they have to be done, they are a task to be ticked off to get on with the rest of the work. I know all this and I am almost sure I will most likely survive( vocationally) but the season sure is uncomfortable.