Put direct report on an NCA (notice of correction action) and all they could do was deny deny deny even though we had screenshots to back all of our claims up.

9 Comments

1. AnonymousDecember 17,2022 at 12:12PM UTC

   Yes, I have done it and it is not pleasant. I suggest you stick with facts and continue documenting. Apparently, the person is in denial. If they realized their shortcomings, they would have addressed them.

   What I learned? You will be able to more objectively look at this later, right now emotions are high. Most of the time, if performance isn't there, you have done the right thing. As they say, sometimes you can't be happy or right at the same time.

2. Jackie GhedineDecember 17,2022 at 1:35PM UTC

   We are all human and of course, we feel bad. There is something called Unconscious Incompetence which is exactly what you are describing.

   While you want to be human, you handling the situation is part of running a team and that means fairly treating the team (not equally). Everyone has to be held to the same standards of behavior and the culture can turn quickly if not mitigated.

3. AnonymousDecember 17,2022 at 2:50PM UTC

   Yes, I have done it, and it never felt good. This is perhaps the most challenging part of any management job. Telling a person that they are not performing up to standard with no results can only lead to one thing: termination of the employee's employment. I had an employee who could not show up for work. One time it was an illness, another time, it was the boyfriend's illness. Then, it was a death in the family, then, it was scheduled PTO to get married (she did cut the honeymoon short, however), and then, ... I think you get the point. By the time she worked for me for six months, she had used up the entire year's PTO allotment and had to start taking time off without pay. I wrote her up when I informed her that any future time would be without compensation. I stated that since she had exhausted both sick and vacation time, she would be on a performance plan for one year, during which any illness had to be accompanied by a doctor or emergency room document stating she was unable to work and any newly accrued vacation time had to be requested 30 days in advance (we had been allowing her to use vacation to cover some of her sick days). I also allowed her to ask for accommodations that reasonably cover a chronic condition. She did not ask for accommodations, was out for a few days sick, and failed to bring in any documentation of the illness because she did not go to a doctor or emergency clinic (which our insurance would have covered with a minor copay). It was at that point we terminated her employment. My suggestion would be to continue to document. Be sure to state that failure to comply with the performance plan will result in termination of employment. She can then either get with the program or risk being fired.

4. AnonymousDecember 18,2022 at 4:30PM UTC

   yes and it felt horrible but this person was going to ruin my life if i didn’t

5. AnonymousDecember 19,2022 at 5:53PM UTC

   I was in this exact same position. In the end they convinced my boss that everyone else is the issue even myself. I was let go instead. It ended up being a blessing, I got away from this toxic employee and toxic company. I will be starting a new job shortly with better compensation and position.

6. AnonymousDecember 20,2022 at 1:53PM UTC

   you gave the corrective action out but they fired you instead?!

7. AnonymousDecember 20,2022 at 11:05PM UTC

   Yes. They said they were on board with letting her go. We were working on paperwork. I got called into a meeting they said it was a meeting to dismiss me as a result of “restructuring the department”. They had to say that as the reason because my performance and goals were meeting and exceeding expectations and numbers.

8. Lynda BoothDecember 20,2022 at 2:21AM UTC

   I set the expectation up front that being self aware is an important attribute. During meetings ask what they are doing well and what they feel they need to improve on. I always emphasize that being self aware and then sharing what they could have done different is more beneficial than me sharing feedback. Follow up each meeting with an email stating what was discussed. I find this helps as they are giving you examples of their own behaviors. Then when you need to move to corrective action, you can use their own examples.

9. AnonymousDecember 21,2022 at 9:03AM UTC

   Honestly, what did you expect? They wouldn't deny or defend themselves? They would make it easy for you? You're the manager. Rarely are these issues 100% the employee or supervisor. Maybe they'd be better on another team if you don't communicate well.