Making the Grade

January is the month that we do performance reviews for our employees. (And the crowd groans…) For as much as our staff do great work and believe deeply in our mission, this little exercise in structure reflection/review always produces anxiety.

To make matters worse, I’ve earned a reputation as a tough rater. Feedback to me is that I score employees lower than they expect, even though the examples I cite and our conversations tend to be positive. Somehow my philosophy of “not everyone should be an overachiever in every category” does not gain momentum.

So, say a brief prayer for all of our staff as we move through the month, and hope that history repeats itself. Most leave the process feeling much better than they did before the review.

As always,

Hard-nosed Shannon

I love it when things like this happen! A family came into the office on Monday to drop off a donation for $525. The children held a pancake breakfast to raise money for the poor and gave the proceeds to Good Shepherd Housing and Family Services. The kids cooked, cleaned and served pancakes to friends and neighbors in return for donations to GSH.

The parents wanted their children to see the project out from start to finish – from invitations to actually dropping off the money at our offices. What a great lesson they learned about helping those less fortunate. I hope to someday teach this important lesson to my little ones as well.