Pat on the Back

It's employee review time at work and I am grateful to say that my own went very well. Areas in which I was challenged to improve on, I did and my supervisor had great comments. In fact, he considers my downfall that I don't take time off. He is correct that I don't require much time away and I had previously seen that as an asset. The company believes otherwise and, in one of those interesting twists that make this life, well, interesting, I have been ordered to find some time off.

As far as the people I supervise, I have a great staff, so their reviews glowed as well. There is, however, a problem child. Parts of the job he does as well as anyone else and other parts of the job don't seem to mean much to him and he falters there. Reaching him to help him shore up those areas has always been challenging and I had to be honest in my review with him. The report to the big boss did not present him in the most flattering of lights.

In my honesty, he had some great things to speak of. But he also has those areas in which he is not strong and shows no compulsion to get stronger. He is one of the younger members of the staff and I wonder if I was ever like that, coming to the conclusion that in areas where I was weak, I word hard to get strong so I have tried to manage him different ways but nothing seems to get through.

It reminds me of my discovery of The Secret. While much can be argued on both sides regarding the book and movie, something there reads true. You learn about things when you're ready. Perhaps he is not ready.

I just hope he gets there before unemployment becomes new normal.