Employee hasn't liked her role for the past 4 years

Just because you handle a situation one way, doesn't mean that it's logical that everyone else would.

There are many reasons why someone will stay in a job they don't like. If she even doesn't, sounds awfully like hearsay to me.

She needs support post-maternity leave, not to be managed out.

Whether she is happy at work or not is not really your problem.

Obviously happy employees are generally better for an organization and if you can be flexible and make them happy then everyone is better off. So if there is a job in the company that's a closer match to what she'd like to be doing, I would try and facilitate a move to that job. And she's expressed that it doesn't match her skill set. After 4 years of doing it, presumably adequately, that seems a bit lame and sounds like more of a "I don't like doing that sort of thing" than a "I can't do that sort of thing". However, it may be she's never received the training or education that would make her feel confident or able to excel in the way she could in her old role so you could potentially offer training. But ultimately, if she doesn't like the work and that's the work you need doing - that's not something you fix. She just needs to get on with it or find another job.

So I would focus on her performance. If she brings up that she's unhappy I would be quite blunt - This is the job we have and the work we need doing, that's not going to change.

If she isn't doing the job you need her to then a PIP is the way to go. But doing that when she's just back from maternity might be problematic and even more so if her performance is the same as it's always been and no one's pulled her up on it before now - your HR department should be guiding you on how you manage that.

As a manager for over 10 years now, I really dislike people who constantly express how they are fed up with their job, but don’t do anything about it (as in finding a new job). I do what I can to help people develop and thrive in their current position, but sometimes people have unrealistic expectations of me or the company. There isn’t anything you can do about her hating the job except ask her not to express it all the time and she obviously needs to fulfill her contract with the company and deliver while she is there.

Every situation is going to be new to you as you haven't managed anybody before. You can't ask Mumsnet each time. Well, you can, but you must see how utterly foolish and dangerous that is?

I’m unhappy at work but I stay because of other benefits,maybe that’s her too.

This it’s easy, you appraise her on the role she is paid to do not the one she wants. if she’s lacking in that then clear objectives.

Ask for training ASAP, particularly in legal matters around management. You really shouldn't need to ask MN for advice when you have a very common managerial issue.

I think I’d be more concerned about the OPs performance, it doesn’t really sound like you have a clue how to manage people or what is appropriate in dealing with staff? What does your manager think?

surely what you should be doing is sitting down with the person , having an honest conversation , gathering your own information and opinion and then working on an action plan? Sharing this with your manager and discussing how best to manage the situation ?

this entire thread is completely inappropriate and I hope to god you don’t work for me, HR nightmare waiting to happen!

everybody has to start somewhere and not everyone gets suitable training or support at work. many of us on here have excellent knowledge and experience from both sides of these issues and the OP can be assured of reasonable confidentiality provided they are careful. There are worse places to ask!

Whenever I see these type of threads on Mumsnet I always think actually the OP is the one with the performance problem. If you need to post for advice on management on a public forum like this then tbh you're the one in the wrong role.

First of course connect with HR and get a handle on your company policies and T's and C's.
I can tell you what we (managers in a jobshare) did in similar circumstances. The first thing is to be clear with yourself and (politely)with her is that her unused skills are not relevant. All of us, pretty much, have skills, often to a high level, which our employers don't require us to use at work. Just because we have a skill doesn't mean that our employers must use it or pay for it. An employer has certain outcomes that they need from their employees and only have to make use of and pay for the skills that achive those outcomes. So.....does she have the skills that fit her job description? If she doesn't then she needs training to achieve those skills. I'd be framing all this as "support" rather than discipline. An important part of this support is regular check ins....how is the work going both in volume and quality? I'd personally stay away from the happiness thing....yes if there is workplace harassment then you need to address it as you would with any other employee but beyond the workplace environment generally, you are not required to make your employees happy.
Managing this kind of thing is a pain in the bum. It takes time you probably haven't got, self control to stay calm and not say what you REALLY think and record keeping which is never fun. Often getting the employee to understand that this time the behaviour will not be let go or ignored will be enough for them to improve their performance or leave. My JS partner and I inherited quite a few disaffected people when we merged teams. We did find the first few hard but once news gets around that the new managers took no shit but were fair and approachable things got much easier.

It’s none of your business if she hates her job, as long as she’s content to continue doing it and does it to the required standard.

God knows I’ve hated jobs before, but I needed the specific hours/wage/location and I trudged through it. As long as my work was to standard and I wasn’t causing an atmosphere, it was nobody else’s business whether I liked it or not. Needs must.

Work closely with HR and follow company policy to the letter.

Focus on her actual work and output, not whether she is happy in the role in terms of PIP.

Dont take any action unless you have absolute concrete examples of where she’s not working to level. Help to provide development etc and give her the fair chance to improve or not.

You sound like you’ve taken previous management word for it and that it’s only partly based on performance.

Loads of people don’t like their jobs, it doesn’t mean they should all be managed out!

I would imagine that most people are unhappy at work and hate their job. Couple that with coming back from ML and having to put up with a new manager with an attitude would certainly be the cherry on the top of a shitty cake.

Excellent advice

In my experience, nobody turns up to work with the intention of doing a bad job. If they are under performing, it is usually for one, or a combination, of three reasons:

1. Something is happening at home.
2. They are protesting about something.
3. They are in the wrong job.

Sounds like you have someone who is in the wrong job and is protesting about it. You can forget everything that happened before she came to work for you. Everything that has happened up to now in fact. What you need to work out is what you are going to do about it from here on. There has been some good advice on the thread. Does she have clear objectives, is she clear about the role, are you having regular reviews, etc.

You need to help her into a job that is a better fit whether that is within your organisation or not.