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Staff member just not a fit
I took over a management position in March, right when Covid hit LOL I have one staff member who I did not hire but who is not a fit for our department. I’m starting the documentation process of stating why she isn’t a fit, such as unable to understand our clients needs and processes, not willing to abide by our guide lines and not willing or able to learn mew processes. I have always felt, since she was hired, that she was not a good fit and that the prior manager just hired her to plug the hole. Any suggestions on the best next steps for documenting why she does not meet our requirements would be very helpful. Our EOY process is starting and she is a detriment to our department and our team as a whole.
Aly
44
10/14/20 at 2:49AM UTC
What are this person’s strengths? Ask them to create their own action plan to meet the expectations and to provide updates. Ask them what obstacles keep them from performing or meeting expectations. There is no perfect employee. This happened to a colleague of mine who was great at meeting numbers as far as productivity but was young and lacking in experience and computer skills and written communication skills so she was pushed out of the department for lack of better wording. I’m a seasoned office professional. However, I am thorough to a fault and struggle with being concise. Everyone has flaws and areas where they need to improve. Find this person’s strengths and find a way to motivate them to meet the expectations.
Janine Catalino
83
10/13/20 at 6:52PM UTC
A few things. First, I agree that it sounds like you entered into your new role having already decided this person needed to go. Have you given her a fair opportunity to meet expectations? Carefully documenting what she does wrong can be viewed as bias if all you’re focusing on are negatives, and especially if she’s the only person you’re having performance conversations with. They should be ongoing with everyone, regularly scheduled opportunities to discuss goals, what’s going right, what needs improvement. Next, a major factor in how you approach this depends on how long she’s been there and what documentation already exists. Is this a long time employee with positive reviews? It wouldn’t be the first time an employee received falsely positive reviews, if that’s what happened. In that case, you are truly starting from ground zero. You’ll need to draw a line in the sand - that was then, this is now. The first step is making sure you’ve set clear expectations that her performance is measured against. Give her a fair opportunity to address those issues, providing extra training and mentoring if needed. Have candid conversations with her, describing the impact of her actions, and asking for input from her. One of my favorite guiding principles is “does the employee not know, or do they not care?” At the end of the day, if she’s been given clear expectations and a fair opportunity to correct any deficiencies, she will need to go. Perhaps there’s another place in the organization where she’d be a good fit, but be careful not to “gift” a problem employee to another manager. You owe this employee honest and fair communication and a chance to improve, but you also have an obligation to the rest of the team who will resent poor performance being allowed to continue. Finally, be sure that “good fit” isn’t code for “not like the rest of us.” Part of your role as a leader is to model standards of fairness, teamwork, and respect for differences and to expect that from your team. Employees can be targeted or excluded because they’re in a different age group, are a different race, or are “different” in any number of ways. Make sure that’s not part of what’s happening here. Effective leadership is a balancing act. You don’t want to be too quick to discount this employee, and you can’t let it drag on endlessly if she’s in the wrong job. Balance in all things.
Anonymous
10/13/20 at 6:09PM UTC
I’m reading the OP and I want to ask you straight up - are you white and is your problem employee Black? Or gay or older or some other non-“normal”?
Anonymous
10/13/20 at 4:05PM UTC
Are the goals that are being set for this person realistic and fair, or is she being set up to fail? Is there any age or other bias involved? I sense an issue here with personality or work style as the real problem. I have had the experience of being a highly-productive, well-regarded team member who was targeted by a new manager who was twenty years younger than me. She did everything she could to make my job a daily hell, and succeeded in having me terminated, even though I had four years of outstanding reviews from my previous manager.
Anonymous
10/13/20 at 1:30PM UTC
I echo what many of the above said...not being a "good fit" and also not "aligning" is not reason enough to fire someone. Is there a job description that you can measure her "failures" against? Have there been documented areas of improvement you have provided her with that you can prove she has not met? These have to be more than "her way and my way dont match"
I dont mean to sound brash but, are there other reasons why you want to fire her? Sounds like this may be a bit of a power trip, because she simply wont fall in line with what you think. Do you coach and hold others to the same standards? Have you implemented a PIP?
I would tread very lightly here
PurpleTortoise
149
10/13/20 at 1:08PM UTC
How long has she been in the role? Does she get any work done? Was she obtaining some sort of positive result? What are the negative results of her work?
If she has been there a while, you need to understand that having no prior coaching may be preventing her from hearing you now. Precedent may have been established. Like others said you need to document how her work is affecting the team and/or clients. Avoid using the term “bad fit” as it can be code for racist or ageist beliefs.
Anonymous
10/13/20 at 12:50PM UTC
If you have an HR person/department, definitely talk to them sooner rather than later. They should have a formal process to follow regarding performance plans and next steps following those.
Kayci MosherNational Strategist Manager in MA
54
10/13/20 at 12:45PM UTC
I have some experience with this- and am somewhat experiencing it right now in my new role. You’ll want to chat with your manager to see what HR/Employee Relations expectations are. I came from a training team that was expected to support performance plans and be part of these types of conversations:
1) Make sure expectations have been clearly documented for EVERYONE and shared;
2) Facts not feelings- when you have these conversations focus on real data that shows the individual isn’t meeting expectations- if you have numbers, even better.
I know you’re looking for more info, but every company does this differently. It sounds like it’s time to start escalating the conversation. Good luck!
Anonymous
10/13/20 at 12:42PM UTC
Sounds like you entered your position with preconceived notions as to the worthiness of this employee, yet have failed to overcome your bias and perform as a mentor and manager. What have you done to actually work with this employee aside from consider ways to get rid of them based on your bias?
Amy Carissa Oliver
644
10/13/20 at 1:36PM UTC
Also my question. A manager with a preconceived bias towards termination is never offering appropriate training and improvement techniques.
Jey Paula Grenier
26
10/11/20 at 3:24PM UTC
Nothing personal here. Though I didn’t hire her that is not my focus. What is the focus here is that she has been coached and guided since she started and does not accept that she has to align and follow corporate requirements as the job.
Amy Carissa Oliver
644
10/13/20 at 1:35PM UTC
Sorry, but if you weren’t her manager before, how do you know that she was properly trained and given proper guidance? Maybe she was hired to plug a hole and so the prior manager didn’t put effort into her as with other employees.
While as a manager I have significant empathy for your situation, I am also questioning your side of the story. You mentioned that you have known she was not a good fit since she was hired but you weren’t her boss, so you came into your management role having already decided that she needed to go. I often find when these situations pop up that the manager is finding any possible reason to get rid of someone they just don’t like and in your case, alarm bells are ringing.
My best advice to you is that you should another manager to handle her training and be honest that you’re having difficulty being objective.
Amy Carissa Oliver
644
10/13/20 at 1:39PM UTC
I also want to offer to you that as a new manager of this team, terminating someone 6 months into your role is not the way to gain confidence with your superiors or with your direct reports. It really does seem like there’s something personal going on here and that’s not a good way to manage a team.
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