Speaker 1: Hey Mary, did you get a chance to read your evaluation yet? I did. Do you want to go ahead and discuss it now? Sure, let's go over it now. Okay, let's go to the conference room. Okay. Okay Mary, before we get started, as I said in the evaluation, I think that you can be an excellent fit for this position if we can address the areas that I have outlined in the evaluation.

Speaker 2: Well, I appreciate that, but I don't agree with your evaluation at all.

Speaker 1: Okay. Specifically, what areas of the evaluation do you not agree with?

Speaker 2: Well, first of all, you say, let's see, she needs to strive to deal with the public in a more courteous and professional manner.

Speaker 1: Mary, I understand that you have a lot of traffic in your position and that a lot of the people you deal with on a daily basis are stressed out, but it's imperative to your job that you be able to deal with those people respectfully and in a professional manner. In fact, that's the very first essential function on your job description is the ability to deal with the public concerning sensitive matters.

Speaker 2: A lot of those people just like to complain. I am sure I am not the only one who's had a complaint filed against me.

Speaker 1: As I noted in your evaluation, it's not just been one complaint. You've had multiple complaints. In fact, I've logged 13 separate complaints against you in the past year.

Speaker 2: Those two.

Speaker 1: That's not the point. You need to be able to deal with everyone respectfully and professionally. I always help everyone. I know that some of our customers are difficult to deal with and they are only going to continue to get more difficult to deal with if you're unwilling to help them. I need you to be able to help anyone who walks through that door. Please make an effort to treat everyone with respect. We're depending on you for that. Now, let's talk about your productivity. I do understand that you have a heavy workload. But, in the last year, I feel like I have had to continually remind you about certain tasks.

Speaker 2: Most of the time, I complete things well before they're due.

Speaker 1: Most of the time you do, I agree. But there are certain tasks, like your monthly reports, that are continually late. And those monthly reports are very important, not only to me, but to the rest of the university. That's how we show the university the productivity from our department. And they need to be done in a timely manner.

Speaker 2: I can't just drop everything to do those reports. And besides, I've talked to the other employees and they have way more leniency in the time frame to get those done.

Speaker 1: Mary, I've been instructed by my supervisor to get those reports in on time. And that's going to be our goal. If you have other tasks that you're performing that are preventing you from being able to do those monthly reports, then you need to come talk to me and we will look at your task list and prioritize what you need to do so that those are completed in a timely fashion. I want you to contact the training manager here at the university because I think there could be some training opportunities that will help you increase your productivity. I want you to contact him and schedule some training related to productivity and related to customer service skills.

Speaker 2: I don't see how training is going to help. Nobody could get my job done.

Speaker 1: You never know. I want you to contact him and schedule the training. It may be something as simple as some computer tips that will help you be more productive. I think that your attendance has a lot to do with your productivity. When you're not here, it's impossible for you to get your work done. You know that's because of my diabetes. I can't help that. I'm not referring to those absences that are related to your FMLA. In the last year, I've logged at least 16 unscheduled absences that are not related to your FMLA. You know most of those days I missed because my son was sick. Mary, I understand that our children get sick and they can't go to school and someone's got to stay home and take care of them. But you need to proactively make arrangements for situations like that so that you can be at work because we're depending on you to be here every day. If your son has got a chronic or a serious health condition, then you need to contact the human resources department and get family medical leave for his condition. Here's the card for the HR generalist. In the future, if these issues come up, I want you to immediately contact her to get your medical leave started. I also want you to take a brochure for our employee assistance program. It's free. It's completely confidential. And you can call and talk to them about any issues that may be preventing you from doing your best job at work. Just like I said earlier, if you can overcome these obstacles, I think you can be a great asset to our department and I think you can be incredibly successful in your position. But no one can be responsible for your success except you.

Speaker 2: I know. I'm not saying I'm surprised by anything in the evaluation. I'm just saying I don't agree with it. You have the right to agree or disagree with anything you choose on the evaluation.

Speaker 1: However, I'm responsible for this department. I'm responsible for every member of this department. And your performance is a direct reflection of this department. I need you to treat everyone in this department with respect. And being here at work every day is respectful to your coworkers.

Speaker 2: I find it hard to believe that my absences affect the entire department. We are a team and we function as a team.

Speaker 1: And if one member of that team is absent, we cannot function the way that we should. Is there anything else that you feel like we need to discuss? No. You have the right, just like I said, to agree or disagree. You have the right, just like I said, to agree or disagree with this evaluation. But whatever you choose, you have to respond to the evaluation. You will have the opportunity to write a formal rebuttal to the evaluation. But you need to go into the e-job system and respond to your evaluation. And I expect you to have that done by the end of this week. Fine. We'll get together again in about a month. We'll go over these issues and see what improvements you've made.