The corporation decided to make the SSA program, a minority EO outreach. So rather than finding the best and brightest, they brought in candidates from lesser schools. I tried for two years and gave up. The students were not prepared to do anything, would not reliably show up for work, were not interested in providing any outcome at the end of the summer. I spent hours coaching on setting goals, developing a plan and schedule and monitoring progress, to no avail. I went to HR to understand how I was supposed to write their end of summer appraisal, when they had basically done nothing all summer. My appraisals were pieces of art, carefully scripted to have any subsequent interviewer read between the lines. Hmmm…. Was that a micro-aggression?
Today I would probably have been fired for asking the question.
“My appraisals were pieces of art, carefully scripted to have any subsequent interviewer read between the lines.”
Reminds me of the old reference-check joke:
Q: What do you think of Fred?
A: You’d be lucky to get him to work for you.