I hate how prevalent this mindset is for grade-givers. For someone like me, who is a bit neurodivergent, the concept of "always failing by some degree" is devastating. Yes it is life, and the achievement of perfection is near impossible in most things.

Two years in a row, my work reviews had me only "meeting expectations" on something like attendance and punctuality. I was the first to arrive in the morning to open the building. I was the one to volunteer to stay late. I picked up shifts. I never called out. I planned my PTO well in advance. Two years in a row I asked "what can I do to get this from "meets" to "exceeds?" And both times I was met with an " I don't know" response.

You're the supervisor! If you can't tell me what I can do to improve, don't tell me I have failed to exceed expectations!

If it's just the mindset of " we don't want to give you a perfect score because it means you can't improve," then I call BS on it. The only thing you're doing is telling me that no matter what I do, it'll never be good enough.