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The experience of seeing an employee train as a non-stipendary minister in the Church of England and its successful outcome, prompts the author to ask if this form of ministry could be considered to serve Catholic communities.
Some years ago, when I was responsible for my employer's business in the West of England, one of my middle level managers, Tom, (not his real name), came to see me. He wanted to make more use of his experience, abilities, energy and drive. The Company operated a performance assessment scheme, whereby every manager's performance was assessed every year. It was not a secretive scheme in that everybody's performance was discussed with them, and they saw and signed a copy of the written record. Tom therefore knew where he stood with the company - he was assessed as performing very competently in a difficult role but, at the same time, performing to the limit of his abilities. In other words further promotion for Tom was not foreseen.
We began by talking about his assessment. Tom confirmed that he accepted it and, in any case, was not interested in promotion as this would mean moving from an operational job to a Head Office role and this would not, he told me, suit him as he regarded himself as a `hands on' person.
He then talked about himself and his family. Tom was in his late forties, happily married, his children had finished their education and were started on their careers, and his wife had recently gone back to work. Tom felt he was on top of his job (and I agreed) and now free of most of his parental duties. He felt that he had unused potential and wanted to do something about it.
Tom had sorted out a difficult depot for me. It was now operating satisfactorily and Tom had returned it to profitability. Much as I did not want him to move, I felt that the Company and I `owed him one'....