What would you do?
J9JC
91 Posts
What do you do with an employee who has been with the company fo many years, has a history of warnings for performance, the last was 9 months ago, off probation 3 months and performance is even worse than before? She is currently on vacation and there are numerous issues that have come to light (numeraous she wsa talked to about before vacation) and at least two that are direct violations of company policy. We are a small company and in addition to the poor performance this person is being really negative in the ear of another employee. The President of the company wants her gone. She has proven she CAN perform the job well when she wants to, but the pattern is to be warned, get better then slide down the scale worse. Even with encouragement and recognition. We have documented and documented, and each time it is the same issues she is failing on.
If you did terminate would you go through each item again and tell her or would you just tell her the level of performance will just not ever get the job done. I mean it is like whipping a capable mule every day.....
If you did terminate would you go through each item again and tell her or would you just tell her the level of performance will just not ever get the job done. I mean it is like whipping a capable mule every day.....
Comments
1. A discipline system that is not producing long term improved behavior and not moving poor performers out of your organization.
2. A supervisor who is tolerating a pattern of poor performance.
3. An employee with a pattern of poor performance.
I think you need to address all three in that order if you want to be on the safe side.
I think you are right and I want to address all three. I also think she is/has been playing a bit of a game with us, but bottom line is there should have been motivation to move her out or she hsapes up sooner. That is what I am hoping to do.
We don't specifically say you will be warned 3 times and you are out, but we do say you will be warned and given the chance to turn your performance around. Those warnings clearly state that if the performace is not change it will be ground for further discipline up to and including termination.
I guess my question is why warn one more time, it will only be a temporary fix? Why NOT just fire her this time? We don't want to tolearate her any more but I think I am seeing the problem we created with the probation, she only really had to perform better during that time.
This is what I would do. While she is on vacation, I would gather all her personal belongings. Upon her return to work I would sit her down and tell her that she has won. I would tell her that you surrender, have given up. You might even try waving a white hankerchief. Tell her she is terminated effective immediately for poor work performance. If you are inclined you could also state the two violations to company policy. I would then hand her the box of belongings and escort her to the door. Amen.
Unfortunately , we are a small company and so many duties are done for many different people. I am covering her job at the moment and when I start inquiring with those she does work for, they now express their dissatisfaction. I have tried to fix this in the past, but I guess I did not do so well. The things she has had problems with that she does for me, I had reported to her supervisor after talking to her directly, 3 months ago, so this was not unknown. The policy violations I investigated last week, and confirmed them. I think the general "putting up with " her was due to others not wanting to take over the tasks they had assigned to her. What I don't understand is tolerating those tasks being done consistently incorrectly when she has proven she knows how to do them or not done at all , and then tried to be covered before vacation. Her lack of doing the job properly has cost us about $7000 in the last month and I tell you no matter what kind of company you are, you cannot afford to lose that kind of money.
I'll be packing her things before she comes in, and she is done here. Moving on, and learning from it, I HOPE!
A few months ago she decided to resign. Personally, I was happy for her. She was stuck here. This environment could not produce in her the motivation (or whatever it was) that she needed to improve.
After she left, we hired in-house and filled the position. The new ee has less experience but is taking online courses to catch up. The difference is amazing. The office is clean, the atmosphere is positive, and work is getting done. Plus, we are discovering other areas the previous employee let slip.
All to say, you are in a difficult spot but the time and effort it will take to move this employee out of your organization will be worth it down the road.
It brings up a good question though, is the organization failing by not keeping this type person motivated, or is it a symptom of long term employment with one company, or ....I have all these questions about what I can do to prevent this in the future swiriling in my head. I'd like to help everyone be successful, but they also have to want to be successful themselves. It seems to me a lot has to do with the basic personality and I have never been successful in changing that . Anyway, I'm a bit discouraged, but interested in all input.