Problem Supervisor
Bill Morgan
2 Posts
I am looking for input on a personnel issue we have. We have a supervisor in a small department that, to put it mildly, lacks people skills. She constantly barks at her workers, insists on controlling every minute aspect of the job, plays favorites, and just generally makes it an unpleasant place to work. She acknowledges that she comes across in a poor manner (read bitchy) but says that that is just her and they need to deal with it.
I represent the company and am faced with the task of mediating a lot of the disputes. I have tried to get the lines of communication opened up between the parties but it has not helped. I know that if something is not done, at least two of the three workers will leave. We had two previous workers leave in the last 36 months which just cripples this department because of the learning curve. I now must decide whether to take this matter to the personnel committee which has disciplinary powers over the supervisor.
She is an excellent administrator in that the department meets or exceeds all quotas and she certianly knows the job backwards and forwards. If I do take it to the committee it will be difficult for them to get a flavor of what is going on. None of the conduct taken by itself would warrant action, rather it is the pattern that I see. You should also know that the workers are union but again it does not seem to be a grievable issue. I have gone so far as to suggest that maybe she had other issues that were affecting her and causing this. If that were the case there would be help available through counseling or whatever. The reason I made the suggestion is that it seems to be getting progressivly worse and I see definite bi-polar tendencies.
What thoughts do you have.
I represent the company and am faced with the task of mediating a lot of the disputes. I have tried to get the lines of communication opened up between the parties but it has not helped. I know that if something is not done, at least two of the three workers will leave. We had two previous workers leave in the last 36 months which just cripples this department because of the learning curve. I now must decide whether to take this matter to the personnel committee which has disciplinary powers over the supervisor.
She is an excellent administrator in that the department meets or exceeds all quotas and she certianly knows the job backwards and forwards. If I do take it to the committee it will be difficult for them to get a flavor of what is going on. None of the conduct taken by itself would warrant action, rather it is the pattern that I see. You should also know that the workers are union but again it does not seem to be a grievable issue. I have gone so far as to suggest that maybe she had other issues that were affecting her and causing this. If that were the case there would be help available through counseling or whatever. The reason I made the suggestion is that it seems to be getting progressivly worse and I see definite bi-polar tendencies.
What thoughts do you have.
Comments
Have you and she talked about training and other mechanisms for her to learn the skills of appropriate interaction for a supervisor? Don't suggest that she has "other" problems because that sounds like you think she has a mental issue. A statement like that would set a lot people against not wanting to deal with their problems. Stay away from any discussion of psychological problems unless she raises it as an explanation for why she acts the way she does; then it may be "ADA time."
Just take the issue of her behavior, which she recognizes needs to be improved, and both of you identify what management and she can do to bring it into company expectations: That, as I said, should include some training; may be some self-help guides; or, being mentored by another supervisor who is experienced in dealing with inter-relations.
I am aware of the ADA issues and frankly held off mentioning the other "issues" for quite sometime, months in fact, but it got no better. Since we have an employee assistance program I wanted to remind her of it. The other reason I mentioned it to her is that it seemed like something might be going on outside of work that was influencing her actions. Again, she has never been particularly personable, especially outside of work, but it has gotten extremly bad in the past year.
As for the training, we just completed a thirty hour supervisory training program in August and it apparently did no good. We have started bi-weekly meetings to try to encourage communication and respect both ways, but it is only getting worse. I was particularly worried initially because one of the other workers is pregnant and seemed to be getting the brunt of her ire. Luckily, I suppose, they are all getting it but I believe that the one gets it more perhaps because she will need to take leave which will of course leave the office short staffed and impact productivity. I did point this out to the supervisor, which is why perhaps she has been more demorcratic in her unpleasantness.
Look, if you've discussed her poor "people skills" with her and she hasn't offered up a reason other than "that's the way I am, deal with it!", then you've got to make a decision about her.
Let me say, first, though, EAP is a good idea but it doesn't get her off the hook, if she goes. If you want to mention EAP to her, you can but don't mention it in terms of having any psychological problems. Mention along the following approach.
"I've set the expectations for you. But I want to remind you that if you want to discuss anything that you believe may prevent you from meeting these expectations, I'm available and you can contact our Employee Assistance Program. (So on and so forth about EAP availability.)"
If you have crossed all your "t's" and dotted all your "i's", and this supervisor isn't improving then, as I said, you've got to make the decision. Do you keep her on in that position, recognizing she has skills and abilities you want to use in her supervisory position that outweigh her poor "people skill" or do you remove her from the position (including the option of discharge), because the lack of effective people skills is more detrimental to the company than her positive skills as a supervisor? That's a decision only you and the other managers can make for your company at this time.
The supervisor needs to work on her personal interaction with employees. You may want to send her to some managment training, where she can get evaluated by outside personnel
Good Luck.
1. number of hours employees are discussing this issue with HR and are not being productive.
2. number of hours HR person has to deal with this issues.
3. cost-per-hire and tranining-per-hire analysis of loosing employees.
But you pointed out that this person really knows how to get the job done and is probably a good asset to the company when it comes to production.
You could place her in a middle management position that takes her away from the workforce and puts her strickly in production. That way she only deals with an immediate supervisor. That person, of course, would need to be able to deal with her flaws and learn to translate her skills into the efficient happy workforce your looking for.