Please help me line manage this member of staff

[Pleeby]

I’ve recently taken over a new team, I was forewarned about one member of staff. Not so much about her work but her attitude and behaviours. Since I started one member of staff has handed in their notice as they can no longer work with her and another one indicated they are looking for another post due to her.

Examples of her behaviour:

Arguing about everything with me. If I send out a “team actions” email, she will return it to me with red font reasons about why she shouldn’t have to do/can’t do something. Each point followed by a stream of !!!!!!!!!!

Constant loud huffing and sighing, banging desk drawers closed and files down on her desk

Eye rolling and sighing during meetings

I called a quick huddle and she sat at her desk not turning around. I asked her to get involved and she slammed her paperwork down, turned around and said “I’m busy”

Work rate is half what everyone else’s is. This is because she says the work is unfairly distributed. I asked everyone to give me a list of all of their responsibilities, it isn’t correct that she has more to do than other people at her level.

Gossiping and bitching about who ever is working from home that day (they are on a rota)

Refuses to sign into teams every morning when working from home. I have to call her and tell her to sign in each day.

It is ruining the office to be honest. My 1-1s are just people complaining about her. Her 1-1 she has cancelled the last 3 times.

Please give me some advice

[Bigsighall]

I’m an experienced manager and if I was in your situation, I would work with hr to form a legal performance plan. I would also discuss regularly with my manager. Seriously, speak to hr before you end up breaking company policy or the law. It’s their job to support you.

[paralysedbyinertia]

Yes, I agree that you need to make HR and your manager aware, and you need to familiarise yourself with relevant policies etc. Please don't bcc your line manager into every single email as another poster has suggested, though - it will drive them mad! Keep your manager updated, yes, but don't drag them into minutiae.

[Soothes]

I disagree with most posts here. It's not about coming down hard, it's about finding out what agrieving her so much and working with her, letting her know you're both on the same side and you want to get the best from her.

I once took over the management of a notoriously difficult member of staff who had really not got on with the previous incumbent of my role. It turned out a lot of his hard feelings were justified and he was expecting me to carry on where his previous boss had left off. It took about 3 months of "kindness" but eventually he became one of those team members who would literally have done anything for me.

As for the other team members, be careful that you're not setting to much store by what they're telling you. That may be part of the problem.

[Keha]

Sounds tricky because it doesn't sound like your manager is particularly supporting you. I would start focusing on the more tangible things e.g cancelling 1:1, not logging on to teams, ignoring the huddle and her emails. If she emails you refusing to do something email her back saying "this is an expectation of your role, how can I support you with it". Start recording the things she doesn't do and the requests you make to her and start sending emails where you say what is expected of her. You may find that it only takes a few weeks to build up a list of specific things she has refused to do or said she can't do, and then you can look at performance planning. In terms of your manager, keep them fully informed even if they say you can do what you want. It is really hard dealing with people like this.

[memberofthewedding]

When I worked in local government as a manager there was a formal process.

New staff were formally appraised at 3 months. I had to call them in, advise them of any aspect of performance which was unsatisfactory, and discuss the reasons. Then lay out a roadmap of what was to happen. For example, I would be monitoring the situation and expecting to see a marked improvement during the next XXX weeks. At this stage I had to spell out the formal procedure of verbal and written warnings. We were also expected to give staff "informal" warnings before the 3 monthly appraisal was reached if the situation warranted it.

If I had a staff member who was huffing and puffing when asked to perform reasonable duties I would be asking them in for an informal talk to explore the reasons. This would be followed by a robust verbal warning.

I have seen situations where the line manager (which I assume is you) kicked things into the long grass and did not effectively manage a situation which subsequently escalated into a legal one. Line manager did not cover her ass and ended up in the shit herself for letting things slide.

[lockdownalli]

Have you had no management training OP?

Agree with PP, this sounds like a disciplinary issue rather than poor performance. Read the policy and implement it.

[VienneseWhirligig]

I've a similar issue. I've set up an action plan with incremental, measurable targets for the individual to meet - so where a piece of work is allocated, that will be referenced as "complete X by Y date, to Z standards" and is reviewed weekly at present while the issues are still common. It is a bit on the micro management side for this person because they are not managing their own workload well and only want to do what interests them - whereas they are the most junior grade, and what interests them is senior graded work. They don't want to apply for promotion per se, but equally don't want to do the lower graded, more mundane tasks associated with their current role. I've given them a project I would normally have allocated to someone at the next grade up, with close supervision, and indicated that if they can prove themselves through the general day to day work being improved alongside the higher grade stuff, we will look at more of that in future, but I need to be able to rely on them first.

It seems to be paying off so far, but similarly I have inherited them from another team and over 4 years they have been passed around and not settled, the same issues are cropping up and the answer has been to send them out on secondment after secondment instead of tackling the issues, which is what I'm trying to do now.

[WerkWerkWerkWerkWerk]

Set expectations for the team. Then, if they aren't met, address as a coaching conversation. Ask her why she doesn't attend the huddles. Ask her what the impact on the team might be of that. Ask her what is required for her to achieve whatever it is that you have asked her to do that she seemingly can't. Been there, done it, got the t-shirt by the way. It always resolves if it's fairly and consistently managed.
Then document it, agree to it. And act accordingly if not achieved. She may be bright but unfulfilled and destructive. I don't know, but ask why she can't do what you are asking if it continues.
As others have said, you will look mature and professional by explaining to your boss what your plan of action is. Ie. You're not just telling the boss to fix it. Bosses don't like nasty surprises, so keep them up to date with what you plan to do.

[VienneseWhirligig]

Posted too soon. What I meant to add was that I can use the action plan as evidence of poor performance or insubordination if needed, because it will demonstrate clearly if deadlines are missed or work not completed to the right standard. There is also a behaviour section around respecting colleagues, not contradicting me or other senior managers in a confrontational way in public (I don't mind being corrected but it's about the tone, and i would never publicly admonish anyone) and time keeping.

[TheBlackTower]

You absolutely need to start looking into the formal HR process with this member of staff. She is massively undermining the morale and productivity of the team (by the sounds of it) and it will reflect poorly on you if you do not act appropriately and timely.

Please do speak to your Manager and HR. All staff must be required to abide by certain standards or in line with certain values, and it sounds like there is clear evidence for putting this person on a Personal Improvement Plan (PIP) or giving a first disciplinary warning.

[Toilenstripes]

Let HR provide you with legal guidance on managing her out. Also, find out if any of her behaviour constitutes gross misconduct.

[Shehasadiamondinthesky]

She needs a formal performance review with all of these things listed and if there is no improvement start escalating it.
It's time to get this sorted.
Someone behaved like this at work for a whole year and made us all miserable. It cannot be allowed. She's been fired now eventually thank god.

[LindaEllen]

You need a conversation with her about her attitude. Collect the evidence, including other members of staff not wanting to work with her. Tell her that unless her attitude improves and she becomes a valuable part of your team, you will have to give her a warning. Eventually this will escalate into letting her go (although you may have to involve someone higher to do this).

You cannot have someone on your team who acts like that. It sounds to me like she doesn't think she should be there, like the job is beneath her. You need everyone to pull their weight and have an attitude that helps the team gel together.

[GaryUnicorn]

By not doing anything, you’re giving the message that it is ok to behave the way she is. I have been in her colleagues position with a couple of companies. Ended up leaving as I saw the inaction as a complete lack of respect for staff by management. Resented the fact that they were so weak that they were willing to let the behaviour affect the workplace, didn’t feel valued by them. Sad, as without the work shy villain, it was a good place to work.

[EvilPea]

I had one like this. As everyone else says, everything she does pick her up on it. Her colleagues will start to come to you more when they see you’ve got their back.
Talk to HR to make sure you do it correctly but what everyone else says, manage her out. She’s controlling the environment and department. It’s shit working with a stomper. She needs to go

[Blyatiful]

I managed out someone like this. She had been there eight years and thought she was untouchable. I got rid of her in four months. I sat her down, one on one, and went through her job spec and objectives. I explained where she was going wrong, and what we expected of her re targets. I then went onto behaviours and what was expected in the office - that she didn’t have to be friends with people, but we expected professional behaviour. I told her I was putting her onto performance improvement. We met one on one every week. She hated it. I documented every conversation. There was no real improvement in her behaviour or performance, so at the end of it I presented her with the evidence and told her that we were terminating her employment with us. We took legal advice and paid her two months salary. She was escorted off the premises, and that was that. She didn’t think we would go through with it. I had zero support from my boss who kept saying “oh I don’t think she’s that bad...” It is lovely without her.

If your nightmare has been with you less than two years, I think you can just get rid anyway, can’t you?

[Rukaya]

Please give me some advice

Find out who can fire her and get them to do it.

[PinkElephant7]

Keep a record, be clear about what you expect, tell Manager & HR you have concerns and have started a record. If it doesn't change with informal action, start formal proceedings.

[DazzlePaintedBattlePants]

People like this are surprisingly easy to move on as no one has ever called them out on their crap behaviour before. Once you start pulling them up in line with policy and HR they realise that they are no longer on easy street and leave. If they don’t, you’ve got all the evidence you need to progress to disciplinary and if they improve, job done!

They can’t cope being pulled up - many managers are incapable of having even remotely challenging conversations.

[largeprintagathachristie]

This sounds really hard, and you have some sound advice from previous posters.

Management training isn't a given - I've been working in a medium sized organisation for years. I've line-manged for a year and have had nowt, despite promises and me flagging it since. This is a good reminder to do so again at my appraisal next month.

I think depending on the workplace, there can be tons of management training and help, or very little. My "technical" workload, which I'm good at, has doubled with this promotion but magically I'm also supposed to know how to manage and have the time to do so properly.

Good luck - OP. I recognise many of the behaviours you describe in the person you're managing, particularly the huffing and puffing and flouncing. So draining.

[HercwasanEnemyofEducation]

How has no one done anything about her so far?

Good people have left because of her and still nothing has been done.

I can't believe this.

Your manager needs to look at themselves and take some responsibility here too.

[1WayOrAnother2]

1 to 1 and be direct?

Ask if she is happy working with you.
Point out the things that suggest she is not.
Point out the things you are not happy with (however small).
Explain that these things have to change - by a set date and arrange a meeting for that day.

Discuss plans for her future... with you or heading elsewhere.

[doublehalo]

Verbal warnings, written warnings, total eclipse.

[BagORats]

@Soothes

I disagree with most posts here. It's not about coming down hard, it's about finding out what agrieving her so much and working with her, letting her know you're both on the same side and you want to get the best from her.

I once took over the management of a notoriously difficult member of staff who had really not got on with the previous incumbent of my role. It turned out a lot of his hard feelings were justified and he was expecting me to carry on where his previous boss had left off. It took about 3 months of "kindness" but eventually he became one of those team members who would literally have done anything for me.

As for the other team members, be careful that you're not setting to much store by what they're telling you. That may be part of the problem.

You sound like a great manager.

Personally I was in a role where I probably was perceived to behave much like the woman in question to my manager. My team were incorporated into hers and I have absolutely no idea how someone so lacking in personal skills could want to manage people. She piled more and more shit into my team until we were so ground down by her constant demands, while also never offering any praise, support or any sort of positive outlook it became incredibly difficult to want to go to work. We all had a problem with her, we all tried to straighten it out. Nobody listened, so we were all demotivated, huffy, eye rolly, undervalued, bitchy, insolent unhappy worker bees.

If a new manager had come in with your approach, asked us what was wrong and listened, we would have been so grateful. You'd have found us to be highly skilled, experienced, easygoing, willing, engaged and motivated.

OP I think you need to find out if there's anything underlying to see if uou can turn it around first. She may feel you aren't listening to her - she sounds stressed and unhappy to me. Also it's pretty hard to bitch about people by yourself - you need to pull up everyone who is engaging in that behaviour not just this woman

[Graphista]

How long has she been there?!

Why are you not being supported in the new role?

In your position I would

A speak to your manager to formulate a performance plan together on managing her.

WHY the previous line manager didn't do this I don't know!

I’m not going to escalate staff issues to my manager at this stage

Why on Earth not?! You've already lost one good employee as a result. Good managers know how and when to ask for help, they don't wait until half the workforce has quit because of one bad employee!

Follow the disciplinary policies and put EVERYTHING in writing, I might even go as far as to not speak to her 1-1 but always with another manager present as a witness if nothing else.

She's taking the piss and getting away with it!

If you worked for me and didn't tell me that we were losing good staff because of a rogue employee, you wouldn't be a manager for very long!

This!

Recruiting and training new employees is EXPENSIVE! That's why retention of good employees is so very important

They’ve been sitting on it for a year hoping she will just decide to leave

That's really shitty ineffectual management! Wtf!

She won't leave a job where she's getting away with doing half the work for full time pay will she?

Your company are pathetic!

@LemonRoses post is excellent