Case: "I'm Not Getting Any Better Than I Was".

Supervisor Jane was not at all comfortable with the way the performance evaluation meeting with Wilma was going. Wilma was far more uncommunicative than usual; she would speak only when asked something, then answer only briefly. All of Jane's attempts to lighten up the conversation were falling flat.

Except for a brief review 3 months after Wilma's transfer to Jane's unit, this was the first opportunity Jane had had for a thorough review of Wilma's performance. Wilma had initially seemed eager for the meeting, but when they sat down and Jane laid out the completed evaluation forms, Wilma fell silent and seemed to withdraw.

Increasingly frustrated by Wilma's apparent unwillingness to participate, Jane stopped in the middle of trying to make a point and said, "Wilma, something about this

evaluation is bothering you. Out with it."

"Nothing's bothering me," Wilma responded.

"I know you well enough to know that you're upset about something.

Out with it, so we're not just wasting our time here."

Wilma sat silently for a moment. Then she tapped a fingernail on the evaluation form and said, "It's this-my rating." "There's nothing wrong with it," Jane said. "It's comfortably above standard performance and very close to the average of the extremely good group of people we have on this unit."

"It's lower than any score I ever got from my last supervisor. I know I've done at least as well here as I did there, but you've given me my lowest score in 5 years."

"Wilma, this is a good evaluation score."

"I can't agree," said Wilma. "All of you who do these use the same forms and pretty much the same job descriptions, and the evaluations ought to be consistent. Compared with Sue, my last supervisor, aren't you telling me that after all my hard work I'm no better than I used to be? That I'm not getting any better than I was? Or even that my performance is slipping because I had a higher score last year?"

Questions

1. If you were in Jane's position, how would you try to explain the differences in evaluation scores to this employee?
2. What, if anything, do you believe the organization should be doing about its evaluation system
3. How would you explain the differences in evaluation scores to this employee?
4. What, if anything, do you believe the organization should be doing about its evaluation system?