The Apprentice 4 Weekly Performance Review, Episode 4

Her dealings with Toral were mostly appropriate, though it threatened to get personal. She took the pains (and time) to make Toral say in front of everyone exactly what her position was about the costume. Thus, when it came to the boardroom, Toral was on shaky ground. If you’ve ever had to dismiss an employee, you know you have to have your facts right. If you haven’t done so – it requires a lot more than what we saw here and varies by jurisdiction, but we’re dealing with compressed timeframes. Bottom line, you expect to be accused in return and your facts must be unassailable.

So, there were several pluses and minuses for Felisha this week. I’ll settle on a rating of SATISFACTORY… just. The product your team produced was not at all impressive. However, it was a hard week to be the PM in an environment where you don’t have the authority that a true administrator would have. For example, you can’t affect her salary or future assignments, or transfer her elsewhere. And you can’t “make” someone put on a goofy costume.

Jenn M: Jennifer was a key contributor in the design of the costume, though I’m not sure if that’s a plus or a minus. Her presentation was pretty decent, given the week material she had to work with, and she fielded most questions well.

She showed better teamwork skills than the rest of her team by her encouragement for Rebecca, who was getting despondent about the thrashing Toral was taking.

Before the boardroom fiasco removed all doubt of who was going home, Jenn related in a cameo that Toral wasn’t the real reason they lost the task. It’s not the first time she’s stood alone. However, when it came time to name a name for The Donald, Toral had sealed her fate so Jenn had no reason to say otherwise.

Most importantly, Jenn was the only one who wanted the logo shown. However, because the point is so important, it may not be conceded. Yet, Jenn gave in.

Jenn said in her confessional that the other women never take her suggestions seriously. That must be overcome if she intends to lead projects for the Trump organization. It’s her single biggest flaw – she needs to make herself heard.

Jennifer did some good and some bad things this week, but because these last two points are the bigger ones the rating must be, NEEDS WORK.

Marshawn: First up, “Scooper” is a much better character name.

In the presentation, when no one else was inclined to talk about the obvious error of omitting Dairy Queen logos, Marshawn tried to explain the mistake. Of course that wasn’t possible, there was no valid explanation, but at least she stepped up. And in the boardroom, admitting that there was “no excuse” for omitting the logo… well, there wasn’t, so good for being the one to say it.

Like Jennifer, maybe she needs to get her points across better? I’ll monitor that in the next week or two.

But, primarily for keeping the lowest profile during all that counterproductive drama, the rating is GOOD.

Rebecca: Rebecca started well by initiating communication regarding what happened in the last episode. She came up with the character name, “Zip,” that the rest of the team liked. She finished well by finally admitting that the situation with Toral was not a winning one.

Rebecca was in a difficult position this week, but it was of her own making. If you can suffer a poker analogy, she knew when to fold a losing hand. I rate her work this week as SATISFACTORY. I might have gone higher for her, except her horrible decision to keep Toral from harm last week forced this whole disruptive issue in the first place. Also, I never saw her make any attempt to steer Toral into a better position.

Toral: From admitting to the team she didn’t try her best on earlier tasks, to refusing the PM job, to refusing to get into the costume, and to invoke previously-unspoken religious concerns… the firing was defiantly the right move. Toral was thrashed badly in the boardroom, caught being rude and untruthful. Was that boardroom really only seven minutes long?

Did you see her making faces during the presentation? Very unsupportive. How about talking over Carolyn in the boardroom? Not good. I’m not about to requote the whole “Why Toral Lost” article, but I saw a self-deluded, snobbish woman who was far too loose with the truth. Good luck making up with the administrative assistants in your office when you get back!

Well, those are the performance reviews for this week. I’ll be back next week with a fresh review of our remaining candidates’ activities.

Brian lives in Toronto, where he can be reached at uncle_bto@rogers.com. He spent a couple of decades working in middle management at The Prudential, primarily hiding behind the coffee machine to avoid his pointy-haired bosses. He’d like to hear your opinions and promises to respond to all serious email!

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