You are an employment counselor that helps people find and keep jobs. Your client, Callie, has been working with you for almost six months. In the last few months, she has found a job and is now checking in with you at a follow-up appointment.

Read the following statements and write a response to each that you feel would be appropriate for you, Callie’s employment counselor, to say. Remember to use basic counseling skills and convey genuineness.

At work I just got my first performance evaluation, and I was very disappointed. My supervisor rated me as unsatisfactory on punctuality. And, since I’m still a probationary employee, that rating could cost me my job.

In the entire evaluation period, I was only late for work one time, and that was an emergency. My mother called that morning to talk about some trouble my brother was in. And I ended up talking to him as well, so I didn’t get off the phone until the time I usually leave for work. I called to let my supervisor know what had happened and that I wouldn’t be on time. And when I got to work, there was no talk about me being late, so I thought there was no problem. But I guess now I’ve found out that family emergencies don’t count as legitimate reasons for being delayed.

1. I don’t know if it’s realistic for me to continue working there. Things are bound to come up so that I’ll probably be late other times. After all, I do have a life outside of work. But my supervisor doesn’t seem to recognize that. I think it’s unfair to penalize me for being human. And I think the way it was done was really underhanded.
2. I know I’m not perfect. Like everybody else, I make mistakes. But when I do something wrong and don’t know it, I deserve to be told right then. A couple of months later I don’t want to be blind-sided with a negative write-up of my behavior. I take pride in my work, and I try to do a good job. And I’m definitely not accustomed to receiving documents that term my efforts unsatisfactory.
3. Getting written up for unsatisfactory performance certainly isn’t something I want to go through again. But I’m not quite sure what to expect if I stay with this job. I don’t know if my punctuality really was unsatisfactory or if maybe giving new employees an unsatisfactory rating on something is a standard practice that allows the organization to get rid of a probationary person they don’t want to keep.
4. I guess it’s possible I’m reacting too strongly. Maybe I need to find out more about how performance ratings are used in the organization. I do like working there, and I would prefer to stay if I could believe that my boss will be fairly evaluating my efforts.