What Does This mean?

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"methodically plodding along" Is this supposed to be a compliment or an insult? I can't even tell anymore!
This comment was used about a nurses aide that I had hired. Did I make a mistake in hiring this person? This women who is about 28 years old begged me for work due to the fact that she is upon an economic dire straits.
I hired her about 3 months ago. The hospital managerial staff where I work often say things and everyone is supposed to read between the lines. Being that this is a critical care unit, I think "being blunt" and "to the point" is highly necessary. What kind of sociopath spits out fancy jargon instead of getting to the point about what needs to be actually done and then struts around all F'n day in an immaculate Armani pant suit saying this and saying that and walking around like they stepped off of mo F'n Valhallah. Can somebody please tell me?

Break it down:

"Methodical" means paying very careful attention to detail and doing things in a precise manner or following a procedure.

"Plodding" means making slow, laborious progress.

"Along" means progressing, usually toward a particular goal.

So, "Methodically plodding along" means nothing more than slowly and carefully proceeding toward a goal in a procedural way.

Where you perceive all that emotional content is a mystery to me.

When people say "plodding," in my experience, it can have a few connotations.

When someone is said to be "plodding along," it's possible that the speaker might believe that the person is going too slowly. This person might be too "methodical" and gets too much into "procedure" in the process of completing tasks.

Or there was a neutral intention, or perhaps even admiration at the thoroughness of the person's work.

All this is context-dependent.

The problem with relying solely upon a dictionary definition is:

1. The definition could be evolving in a linguistic sense

2. The term could be used with varying connotations, or even in an ironical way. Thus, one should take into account the context where the word is being used.

Of course, I rely on dictionary definitions in a paramount sense--but not solely.