How to deal with a problem employee

Anonymous

January 25,2023 at 3:13AM UTC

Welcome to Fairygodboss!

We’re the largest online career community helping women achieve their career goals. Gain access to articles, jobs, events, and a supportive network of women and allies. Membership is free, always.

How to deal with a problem employee

I’m new at management. My team & I got along ok before. The former manager let them do whatever they wanted for years. He would work extra to cover for them. I put up with the “we do what we want” at first. I know, I shouldn't have. Things started to get out of control when 1 employee (a lead) decided to push the boundary to the max. Then others started to follow. I had talked to her multiple times, and she toned down for a week and went back to her old way. Not sure if this is relevant or not but she’s being paid very well - way way above max pay at other companies for the same job. We also have really good benefits too (think tech company benefits). I talked to other employees, they all understood and are doing good.

Whenever she didn’t get her way, she’d blow up, made snarky comments and said rude things. She was angry at me for a long time because she didn’t get her way. I tried for the longest time to work things out with her. She basically told me to deal with it because she was not going to change. She tried to get me in trouble with HR and got written up. She couldn’t understand why they didn’t write me up.

I don’t know what else to do. My hope now is wait until she leaves or gets fired. She thinks (and told me so) that I made her life difficult. I think she’s digging her own grave due to her stubbornness. The whole dept is on edge and very tense. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Why women love us:

Daily articles on career topics
Jobs at companies dedicated to hiring more women
Advice and support from an authentic community
Events that help you level up in your career
Free membership, always

23 comments

Share your insight

Join an authentic community that helps women support each other at work. Share your professional experience or ask for advice — you can even post anonymously.

23 Comments

Join the conversation

AnonymousJanuary 25,2023 at 5:13AM UTC
If she's making more than she would elsewhere, she's unlikely to leave. If you're the manager, it's presumably your responsibility to fire her. Meet with HR, make sure they understand what's going on and - importantly - what needs to be happening instead. You'll have to be really specific. "TPS reports must be completed in triplicate and attached to each widget during QC. Snarky refuses to complete and attach TPS reports. Reports must be completed and attached per company policy/standard to meet the goals of job duty #3." This is the kind of thing HR will need to help you prepare the documents many companies require before firing someone.
Good luck!
AnonymousJanuary 27,2023 at 2:55PM UTC
Thank you. Yes, I have everything documented.
Joan Williams, Senior Talent Acquisition SpecialistJanuary 25,2023 at 6:43AM UTC
Document document document. If you're looking to transition this person out, work with HR. Does she need to be put on a PIP? Most of all, keep your cool.
Your other reports are looking to you for leadership. Holding her accountable for her actions proves you're a leader.
AnonymousJanuary 27,2023 at 2:55PM UTC
Thank you
AnonymousJanuary 25,2023 at 7:18PM UTC
Document your employee’s insubordination and let her know that participating in a culture of teamwork and mutual respect is a job requirement.
After you’ve documented the conduct shortcomings and given your employee a chance to improve — put her on a formal PIP if required — show her the door if her conduct does not improve.
AnonymousJanuary 27,2023 at 2:56PM UTC
Thank you. I wish it was that easy to show her the door. It’s so hard to come to work. Things are so awkward here
AnonymousJanuary 27,2023 at 6:12PM UTC
While I generally feel that workers have insufficient due process prior to a firing or demotion, your company goes too far in the other direction. Any idea why HR drags these situations out?
AnonymousJanuary 26,2023 at 2:36PM UTC
Please speak to your HR department about the documentation required to terminate her employment. She has already been written up. Was there a performance plan included? Was the phrase warning "termination of your employment" included in the write-up? These things are generally necessary. If you are in an at-will state, that is probably all that is required. If you are in a state with stricter labor laws, HR knows what documentation and the number of warnings are needed. They also know the specifics of any labor contracts if a union is involved.
AnonymousJanuary 27,2023 at 2:52PM UTC
yes, “termination of your employment” was in her write-up. No union involved. Just that our company is very careful when firing employees. It’s ridiculous. We are in an at-will state but HR makes it really hard to let anyone go. We have some employees that showed up to work late, left early without notifying anyone and completely didn’t do any work. They told the managers to F off. Took HR a year to fire them.
She even asked HR about some jobs - she was told she would do a lot more work and for a lot less. She doesn’t know how good she has it here.
AnonymousJanuary 29,2023 at 2:52PM UTC
Assuming you have an annual review process and comp plan that benefits wise matches tech level benefits, I would use that process to encourage your employee to rethink her approach and plans. Start by having conversations and documenting all year about her performance and insubordination and specifically how it does not meet expectations. Document and review steps you plan to address this and the progress you want to see from her to fix it. Then follow up periodically and document those results and if they do or do not meet expectations. Regular check ins that you document will detail actual results and communication. You need solid specific feedback. Depending on your culture, you may want to get your HR partner involved up front so they know you will be delivering a review where the employee dues not meet expectations. Then , if at year end or annual performance review time take your documentation and apply it to the review. Rate as lowly as fairly as possible. If she did deliver an objective, rate accordingly on that objective. However, apply your feedback or ratings on another measure as applicable. Then at comp planning time, her comp will reflect the poor or does not meet ratings for the year while others will be rewarded. A year where her bonus is well below pool, or she does not receive stock or long term incentives should bring the message home.
AnonymousJanuary 29,2023 at 3:06PM UTC
if you allow this one person to run all over you , you lose the respect of the others the morale will tank and things go downhill from there, are you pointing this behavior out at annual reviews? Are you immediately addressing the bad behavior? Are you keeping a paper trail? You should be . It may sound mean but you need to document this behavior this employee is toxic and refuses to follow directions. As far as how much money they make I don’t see how that is relevant if they made less money would the attitude be acceptable? Talk to hr about the process of documentation and pips,
AnonymousJanuary 29,2023 at 3:55PM UTC
Time to put her on a PIP and manage her out. Please talk to HR.
AnonymousJanuary 29,2023 at 5:19PM UTC
She needs to go. I had the same issue and the problems started before my first day. She will not change.
misskelleypJanuary 29,2023 at 6:19PM UTC
She needs to go. Start documenting. Talk to HR about the process in your company, tell them you'd like to manage her out. Follow that process to the letter of the law. Make notes in your calendar or create a new Word or Excel document (on this date/time I asked X to do this and she said Y, and then did Z). And in the meantime, look at the rest of the team and see if any of them would fit to replace her and start cross training them for the move. Once the team sees that you will not allow someone to behave like this you'll get better behavior out of all of them.
AnonymousJanuary 29,2023 at 7:15PM UTC
I’ve been documenting everything. The process is very long and she knows it. She makes things so uncomfortable for the entire team. We used to have team lunches but now we have to wait for her day off to do it. It’d put us in a bind for a little bit if she left but I’d rather go through that than this.
AnonymousJanuary 29,2023 at 6:30PM UTC
Give a person enough rope and they will eventually hang themselves. It sounds like she is already on her way to termination by her own design. Maintain your standards and don't submit to intimidation. Document any incident that occurs with her. Time. Date. Nature of incident (such as insubordination).
AnonymousJanuary 29,2023 at 7:10PM UTC
Thank you! My problem is standing my ground. I hate confrontation and the tensions in the dept. Everyone is on edge. She knows we wouldn’t just show her the door straight away. The process is long and tiresome.
AnonymousJanuary 31,2023 at 8:50PM UTC
It is long and tiresome, but remember this situation didn't get here overnight either. The documentation is for a reason and the talks are also for a reason. You must lay out a plan to help her become successful - it then moves to her for ownership. If she doesn't take ownership then you can document that and basically say goodbye.
AnonymousJanuary 29,2023 at 7:21PM UTC
Put her on a performance plan, let her know its all about her attitude and that you and others of the team have not only gone to HR but also to leadership about this. Give her a zero tolerance write up- time box it, and if she does not stop her gaslighting etc terminate with documentation and cause. She is clearly disrupting and power playing with your team. Time to lead her out the door.
AnonymousJanuary 29,2023 at 7:38PM UTC
My sense is that she's been there longer than you, is possibly older than you and has gotten good reviews during her tenure. Now, someone with no management experience is challenging and changing things that worked well for her in the past. I know it's hard, but she may feel slighted and need to feel respected and given some projects where she can shine. In my experience, people get stuck in roles too long and overstay because they can't afford to leave and start checking out, especially if there's no clear path forward. On the other hand, she could just be a bitter, angry person.
AnonymousJanuary 29,2023 at 8:07PM UTC
Or more likely she has never been held accountable and doesn’t like it.
AnonymousJanuary 29,2023 at 10:10PM UTC
Sure. Or she's burnt out and frustrated. As someone who made the mistake of overstaying at a job that didn't promote and brought in young, inexperienced managers that looked good on paper, I understand the frustration of having to 'prove' yourself to people above you that you had to train. There's a lot of inequities and inequalities at workplaces, and so many managers and people in power have zero emotional intelligence. Honestly, I have seen so many presidents and CEO's that are held up by super smart, criminally underpaid administrative staff that my faith in most company's ability to manage human resources in virtually non-existent.
Kathy LeskiJanuary 30,2023 at 12:39AM UTC
Oh, no, no, no, no..... this is inexcusable. Is there some talent this person has that can't be obtained somewhere else?
Does your company have a formal process for performance issues? My former company had one that I thinked worked well for employees & managers. Verbal Reminder, Formal Notice, Letter of Commitment, Separation. Verbal reminder is just what it sounds like. You have a verbal conversation- but you give your write up to HR which is kept for 6 months only . Formal Notice is written and signed off by both manager and employee- and put in employees file- It is to stay for 1 year. Letter of Commitment forces the employee to agree to a program to correct whatever performance issues. Check ins to review process is part of the process. If the employee doesn't meet the 90 day program, they are separated. If they meet it, then they must continue performing. I think @ 18 months that too was removed from their official file. I've had employees get to Letter of commitment and turned things around to become one of my best employees. Usually when people see something written that they must sign, it's enough to get them to address the issues. But, I will say, I had one employee that was something else. She came into the office when she felt like it. Didn't call her lead when she was going to be late, etc. She had absolutely no consideration for any of her coworkers. She got to the letter and she said- nope, not signing and she was separated on the spot. I'll never forget how the team she was on said to me after she was separated... They were all so appreciative that someone was holding her accountable. One person like that can bring down the whole morale.
Good luck