Supervisory Notes – Alice Doe file
Administrative Secretary III
[“SPECIAL” BELOW STANDARD EVALUATION]
1/8/10 (Monday, 9 a.m.) – I met with Alice who laterally transferred into the division from another division in our department. She’s been with the County for three years and received overall competent evaluations each year. We went over the list of expectations and resource materials, and assessed her ability regarding scheduling trainings/conferences, developing training schedules, keeping accurate sign-in rosters, developing flyers, etc. I encouraged her to take notes during our meetings to be retained in the resource binder provided. We reviewed her schedule: 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., 12:30 p.m.-1:30 p.m. lunch break.
1/24/10 (Wednesday, 9 a.m.) – Alice turned in a flyer announcing the “Workplace Violence Prevention” training. She did a good job on formatting, content (covered who/what/when/where.) We went over the distribution process together, and she took notes.
2/9/10 (Friday) – I received a call from Dave Jones (Manager of Comfort Inn); we’d spoken in the past regarding previous conferences. He explained he’d spoken to Alice about the pricing and room reservations for our upcoming conference. He said she seemed confused about what was needed which is why he’d asked so many questions. He’s interested in our business but doesn’t know what’s needed. After providing him with the details, he gave me the pricing information. Afterwards, I spoke with Alice regarding my conversation with Mr. Jones and provided her with the pricing information. She said she didn’t have her notes handy when she called him and apologized for any confusion she caused. We again discussed the need to prepared when making these calls as well as remaining professional.
2/12/10 (Monday, 10:00 a.m.) – Alice called in sick today.
2/13/10 (Tuesday, 9:30 a.m.) – I met with Alice regarding her unscheduled absence yesterday. I explained our department’s expectation that an employee needs to call in at least thirty minutes prior to his/her start time if he/she will be late or not coming to work. She said that wasn’t required of her in her last department and didn’t think she really had to call me by 8:30 a.m. but said she would. I reiterated the expectations, which may differ from her previous supervisors, and she agreed to would call me as required.
3/5– 3/9/10 Alice filled in for Stacy (the downstairs receptionist) and had some difficulties handling the front desk duties. She wasn’t sure how to handle the check-in process and incoming phone calls. She was reluctant to ask for assistance because she knows everyone is busy and didn’t want to bother anyone. I explained that it’s OK to ask for assistance. I suggested that she sit with Stacy for two days to see how she covers the front desk; that may help her on how to handle that desk. She was receptive to this suggestion. I then followed up with Stacy who is very willing to work with Alice.
3/19/10 (Monday) – Alice is very proficient at graphics – she has a good eye for color. Alice redesigned the cover of our upcoming Training Course Brochure to make it more attractive, and I complimented her on it.
4/2//10 (Monday, 10 a.m.) – The Training Course Brochure pages 1-10 that Alice turned in were error-free. However, pages 11-20 had eight spelling, three date/time, and two location errors. I brought those to Alice’s attention. She said she had forgotten to proofread and confirm the information before printing out the brochure. We discussed the importance of making sure the brochure has accurate information, as the entire department relies on it. Alice was receptive to my guidance.
4/16/10 (Monday) – Alice filled in for Stacy (the downstairs receptionist) again as it was Stacy’s flex day and the check-in process went well. I complimented Alice on how she handled this assignment. She explained that sitting with Stacy was very helpful. She said she has difficulty in dealing with angry people on the phone. I recommended she enroll in the upcoming County training “Powerful Telephone Skills” through the online Learning Management System (LMS). Upon completion of the class, Alice will review the handouts with me in her next scheduled supervision and we’ll discuss what she learned and how she can incorporate it into her work.
4/17/10 (Tuesday, 11 a.m.) – At the end of our supervision today, Alice shared with me that she’s going through some personal difficulties. I asked if she needed to take any time off that would provide her support. I also reminded her of the County’s Employee Assistance Program. She appreciated my support and said she would consider utilizing EAP services.
5/2/10 (Wednesday, 3 p.m.) – I met with Alice to review her responsibilities regarding the summer interns we’ve hired. I let her know we would have two interns, one from June 4 to July 13, and the other from July 16 through August 31. She wanted to know if she was going to get paid for supervising the interns as she felt it was outside the scope of her responsibilities. I reviewed her job description with her and explained that these duties were within her scope of responsibilities. She said it had been awhile since she directly supervised any interns and wasn’t sure how to approach it. I provided her with the training schedule I had prepared for the interns who worked in our department last year. While this schedule was used last year, I told her I wanted her to make it her own so if it needed to be revised and/or enhanced in any way, I was open to and welcomed her feedback. I asked her to provide me her comments in our next supervision which she agreed to do. I also recommended that she take the upcoming County “Introduction to Supervision” course since its being offered before our first intern starts his assignment next month.
5/17/10 (Thursday, 10 a.m.) – Alice and I met to review the training schedule for our summer interns. She also said the Intro to Supervision course was really helpful in enhancing the schedule. She told me she feels more confident and actually looking forward to the new responsibility. She provided me with thoughtful feedback both regarding the course as well as the training schedule and I complimented her on her extra efforts. I approved the revised training plan and advised her that if we found it to be effective, we would use it for future intern hires as well.
5/31/10 (Thursday, 10 a.m.) – I went over distribution of flyers with Alice again, as she couldn’t find her notes from the first time we discussed it. She doesn’t appear to be organized with her notes so I provided her several suggestions. She was receptive to the constructive feedback I provided.
6/12/10 (Tuesday, 10 a.m.) – Alice had reviewed the training catalog and requested to take the following courses: Intermediate GroupWise and MS Project Introduction. After reviewing the course descriptions, I told her I would approve the GroupWise course as it was applicable to her position, especially in sending group emails, reminder emails, and setting up numerous meetings. However, I could not approve the MS Project course at this time but would reconsider later this year. Alice was disappointed that I did not approve both courses and mentioned that she never had any problems signing up for courses with her previous supervisors. I again explained why I could not approve the MS Project class that included operational and staffing needs and would reconsider her request later this year.
6/29/10 (Friday, 10 a.m.) – Cindy (the upstairs receptionist) explained that she had asked Alice for the rosters for training classes being held today. Alice rushed past her and said she was busy looking for something. When Alice finished what she was doing, she returned to the reception area and told Cindy that she couldn’t find the rosters but would continue looking for them. She apologized to Cindy for not having the information readily available. I located the rosters for Cindy as they were needed for the instructors. I then met with Alice about this situation and explained that she should have provided the rosters to Cindy before she left work yesterday, as we previously discussed. We reviewed this expectation during her initial training as well as in previous supervision meetings. She apologized for not being organized and said she struggles with her time management. I suggested she create a daily “To Do” List and provided her with a copy of what I use as a suggestion.
7/12/10 (Thursday) – Alice left me a message at 7:00 a.m. to say her son was sick today and she wouldn’t be in today or tomorrow, 7/13. I called her at home at 9:00 a.m. and did not get any answer. I left her a message expressing my concern regarding her son’s illness. I also requested that she bring in a doctor’s note for this unscheduled absence. I told her to call me immediately and provided both my County extension and cell phone. Alice returned my phone call at 12:00 p.m. and said she couldn’t come in and would meet with me on Monday.
7/16/10 (Monday, 10 a.m.) – I met with Alice to discuss her unscheduled absence. She said she did not take her son to the doctor last Thursday since he wasn’t that ill. I explained that 1) it’s crucial that she be reliable; it makes a big impact when she’s not here and, 2) that her failure to comply with my request to provide the doctor’s note was insubordinate and will not be tolerated. She initially became upset because she felt I was calling her a liar (that she/son weren’t really sick) then calmed down and said she realized what I was saying.
7/31/10 (Tuesday, 10 a.m.) – Meredith (Division Manager) called me to say that Alice was very helpful to her when they attended the budget prep meeting. Meredith needed some last-minute adjustments made to her schedule and Alice was very efficient in making the changes. I let Alice know about Meredith’s appreciation.
8/14/10 (Tuesday, 9 a.m.) – I asked Alice to call several local hotels to find out conference room rates. I mentioned that if we use a hotel as a training site, we can’t use our caterer. I overheard her telling the hotels that we would be bringing in box lunches, which they said wouldn’t be allowed. When I asked her about this, she said she thought it would be worth a try to inquire about it. I told her it makes us sound unprofessional to do so.
8/27/10 (Monday, 11 a.m.) – I asked Alice how many vans she had reserved to transport the 23 people scheduled for XYZ training on 9/5/10. Alice said, “I don’t know, I have it written down.” I explained that Public Works usually doesn’t have large vans, and that the drivers would need special licenses if we were going to get larger vehicles. Alice had only reserved two eight-person vans, so we called and were able to reserve another van last-minute.
9/5/10 (Wednesday, 9 a.m.) – Alice left the class rosters on Cindy’s desk before she left last night. It was discovered that she had listed the participants for the wrong classes causing confusion for the instructors this morning. I met with her to find out what happened and said she was disorganized yesterday. She worked on the TB Prevention Flyer yesterday so she didn’t have as much time as usual to prepare the rosters. She said she prepared them in a hurry and didn’t proof them. I explained that she needs to be more careful with the rosters as it caused confusion for the instructors and reflected poorly on our department. I told her I didn’t expect this to reoccur.
9/17/10 (Monday, 2 p.m.) – I thanked Alice on her hard work this week – we were up against several deadlines and she put forth a lot of effort in getting everything out in time. Alice said she was more interested in the graphic design aspects of the job rather than the conference logistics planning aspects. I explained that both are very important. I do 60% of the planning work and she does 60% of the design projects – but it’s crucial that she can do both of them well.
10/2/10 (Tuesday, 9:30 a.m.) – Alice came to me in a panic – she couldn’t find the final draft of TB Prevention flyer, and it needed to go to the Copy Center today for printing. We searched her desk area and eventually found it, as well as her original notes regarding distribution of flyers. I showed her my system for organizing my desk, and we discussed how she could better organize her work.
10/16/10 (Tuesday, 9 a.m.) – Alice called me over to look at how she has organized her workspace. She said the hard part for her will be to keep it going. I encouraged her to do so, as it makes life easier for both of us if we need to find something on her desk. There’s a County class offered on enhancing one’s organizational skills that she should take and told her I would enroll her through LMS in the next session.
11/1/10 (Thursday, 2 p.m.) – I told Alice that her annual performance evaluation was coming up in the next month. I explained I had concerns regarding her attendance and performance that would be addressed in her evaluation. I told her I would provide the draft evaluation to her in our next supervision. She could then provide me her comments either verbally and/or in writing within the following ten days. We could then meet to discuss further and I would then prepare the final draft for her review and signature.
11/15/10 (Thursday, 3 p.m.) – I provided Alice with the draft evaluation which included the rating sheet and detailed narrative. I explained why I was rating her overall “improvement needed” and placing her on special 30-day performance evaluations for the next 3 months. She said she would review the draft and provide me her comments by our next meeting. I also provided Alice with the draft Performance Improvement Plan and asked her to review it and provide any comments to me. I explained that the PIP is intended to be a collaborative process between us and I wanted to provide her assistance in being successful in this position. I advised her that I had made a job performance referral for her to the County’s Employee Assistance Program. She appreciated the referral and said she would call today for an appointment.
11/28/10 (Wednesday, 3 p.m.) – I met with Alice regarding her written comments to the draft evaluation. I explained I had considered her comments in good faith and made some revisions. I added the additional examples she had provided which further supported the ratings given. I said I would not remove the information regarding her unscheduled absences. She said she likely wouldn’t sign the evaluation unless that information was removed. I told her not signing the final draft was her choice and I would note “Declined to Sign” on the final draft, date it, give her a copy and then process it as usual for the department. I also advised her she could write a rebuttal to the evaluation which would be attached and filed in her personnel files, both Civil Service and departmental.