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

[Sacredspace]

I would take her aside and mention all of the behaviours you’ve listed. Ask her if there is anything you can do to help, are there any underlying issues affecting her ability to do her job. If there are, you can work with that.
If not she’s going to need to be told that she needs to be doing what you ask of her.

[FrippEnos]

TerribleCustomerCervix

I’m there to give advice and help management handle these things, including ensuring they know how to keep records etc,

I may have written it badly but this what I mean.

[tiredmum2468]

God I had an awful woman work for me a few years back now

I literally put her down the disciplinary route and managed her out she was awful to me and to her colleagues and was a vile individual

[ImInStealthMode]

Gosh I feel for you OP. I've only just recently been promoted to managing people and I dread the time when I have one like this.

We had one a couple of years back in our company. A horrible witch of a woman who would gossip, backstab, stir the pot, waltz in and out when she fancied and let her mates in the team do the same. She made one of the younger members of her team cry by cornering her in the car park kicking off that she hadn't invited everyone to her birthday night out (she was turning 22 and had invited 2 staff of a similar age who she got on well with, entirely fairly).

Sadly she was a senior manager herself so nobody except the MD could do anything about it. He did nothing at all (perhaps out of shame as he'd head-hunted her in the first place) and lost at least 3 brilliant young team members because of it, plus the respect of most of the rest of us.

She retired a while ago and the place is blissful now without her.

[MrsPinkCock]

You’ve had some good (and not so good) advice here OP.

If she has less than two years service, no contractual disciplinary policy and no grounds for a discrimination claim then speak to HR about giving her her notice.

Otherwise I would deal with the issues informally at first and formally if no improvement. It’s probably misconduct (won’t do) rather than incapability (cant do) but you can find out which is more likely to apply during the initial informal 1-2-1.

And if she’s working from home, I would suggest that ceases immediately to see if her productivity increases. I’d bet she’s only stayed because she hasn’t been managed appropriately. She will probably resign as soon as she is!

[viques]

@NewjobOldme

She hasn't left because she's allowed to get away with her dreadful behaviour. She wont just leave.

She probably will, but she will also probably go down the stress/sick/ slag off the manager route first.

OP, log everything, as others have said speak about issues quietly and privately. . Keep your cool. Set SMART targets and review them regularly, she won’t keep to them and it will give you better grounds for disciplinary action than eye rolls and drawer slamming.

[viques]

BTW I would be tempted to let her know that failing to log in means that the day will be logged as annual leave.

[MrsPinkCock]

@viques

BTW I would be tempted to let her know that failing to log in means that the day will be logged as annual leave.

That wouldn’t be lawful, though!

[idontlikealdi]

If I recognised myself as the direct report and my manager was asking fucking Mumsnet for advice on how to manage I'd have you hauled over the coals for mismanagement and inability to manage.

You don't sound competent in a management role and need a lot more support.

[ThumbWitchesAbroad]

@MrsPinkCock - I'm interested, not being snippy in any way - if you can't log it as Annual leave, how would you log someone going AWOL from their job? Which is effectively what failing to log into an expected virtual meeting is doing.

[flowery]

[quote ThumbWitchesAbroad]@MrsPinkCock - I'm interested, not being snippy in any way - if you can't log it as Annual leave, how would you log someone going AWOL from their job? Which is effectively what failing to log into an expected virtual meeting is doing.[/quote]
You log it as unauthorised absence.

[Sleepingdogs12]

You will be seen as a great manager if you take this situation on and manager her out. Speak to your manager and HR. Make sure you know the disciplinary process , keep a log. All those emails she returns are useful.

[ThumbWitchesAbroad]

Thanks flowery