Assignment task:
Story:
Shawn was very unhappy. He had just discovered that raises had been handed out to several other mechanics in the maintenance shop of the Flyaway Aviation Co., a regional commuter airline. As soon as his shift ended, he stormed into the office of his boss, Myra Maxwell, the shop supervisor.
"What happened to my annual raise?" Shawn demanded. "Let's get one thing straight," said Myra. "There is no such thing as an annual pay raise at Flyaway."
"That's the first I've heard about it," said Shawn. "I got one last year when everyone got theirs. Now I find that everyone else just got a raise this year, and I didn't. Why was I passed over?"
"Not everyone got a raise," said Myra. "Raises were given only to those mechanics who I considered were doing outstanding work in the shop."
"Since when has my work not been outstanding?" asked Shawn.
"For a long time," said Myra. "I did speak to you about it at your last performance-appraisal interview. I suggested then that your work warranted improvement."
"But I didn't think that it had anything to do with my annual merit increase," said Shawn. "I work as hard as anyone else out in the shop."
"I don't think you do," said Myra. "Several times I've noticed you taking a break when the shop was jammed up. And when things are slow,
I never see you pitch in with some of the standby, shop-cleanup work I've set aside for off-peak times."
"You never made that clear to me," said Shawn. "I have always thought that shop-cleanup work was voluntary around here. And I don't see anything wrong in taking a break from time to time."
"Then that makes two things you don't seem to know much about," said Myra. "Both affect your performance, and that's enough to keep your work from being considered outstanding."
"That's downright unfair!" said Shawn. "I think that you have discriminated against me in not giving me my annual raise, and these are only excuses you're giving me now."
QUESTIONS:
A. Do you agree or disagree with Shawn? Why?
B. What could have been wrong with the way Myra has conducted Shawn's appraisal interviews in the past?
C. What should Myra do in the future to avoid confrontations like these?