The employee they are defending is Sarah Lim.
About Sarah
Sarah is dependable, hard-working, and trusted
She takes on a lot and is often the person you rely on when things get messy
She is well-liked and has strong team citizenship
She has had a solid year and has stepped up in a difficult environment
They rated her very highly because you value her consistency, effort, attitude, and reliability
The problem
Their rationale is not yet sharp enough for calibration.
They are using language like:
“She’s great”
“I really trust her”
“She works so hard”
“She’s doing the job of two people”
“I don’t want to demotivate her”
“If I rate her lower, she’ll miss out”