WWYD: Team member accidently sent me a...mail

[Junestepe]

WWYD: Employee accidently sent me voice note via TEAMs outlining how they were hungover in work today. They were supposedly WFH and didnt attend team meetings were uncontactable for large parts of the day, they provided excuses BUT they just accidently sent me a voice note meant for a friend detailing their hangover and elaborate cover story for not attending meetings/not working today!!!

Employee is senior, established team member who can go rouge from time time but over all is a solid performer.

WWYD: How do I handle this? Person works full time remote. I don't want to fire them...don't want to involve HR..but I want deal with this appropriately and send the correct message so the incident is never repeated. I'm a new manager so your advice appreciated! Thank you

I agree about suggesting they take the day as annual leave. This seems a sensible approach.

This and everyone else on the team will know they can get away with it

Report it, and let them take the decision about action or ignore.
Consider the effect on you if it happens again, or something more serious, and it is found that you covered it up. It would affect your reputation in the company.

That's a good idea actually. And then in future call at random times to check they are there.

Well back in the early 2000s i spent multiple days too hungover to function at my desk in the City/working from home on my prehistoric laptop and blackberry. It was pretty normal esp if we had all been out as a team.

No one ever sacked me or had words with HR.

I'd absolutely just make the point you heard it and move on. They will get the message and buck up hopefully.

Why is it that most responses to this post has assumed the employee is a man?!

Hi thank you for your recent voice message it was very informative and raised a number of points for discussion. Please come into the office on Monday to see me at 10am so we can progress this further.

In other words put the fear into them let them consider over the next few days and then just tell them on Monday you want loyalty and don't expect them to behave like that again and you won't take it further THIS TIME. They will probably think twice after that

You absolutely have to bring this up. And it has to be more serious than just “ha ha this wasn’t meant for me.” You’re his manager not his friend, and he has to have it made very clear that this kind of behaviour is not acceptable.

Also as someone else pointed out, this could be part of a bigger picture. How often does he come up with reasons why he can’t do something? Is this the first time? Even i he performs well when he does perform, is there any kind of pattern here? And if there is, then you need to raise that with him as well.

Also sending those kinds of messages on the work teams is stupid. Those messages aren’t private, even if they’re intended to be. If need be any works teams messages can be accessed by others, so people really need to be careful what they’re using it for, even if they think it’s a private message to a friend.

I would call him in for a meeting without coffee, tell him exactly how unimpressed I was with both the dishonesty and the sloppiness in sending me the voice note - what if he had sent it to a client - tell him if he ever did anything like that again I would be dealing with it formally but on this occasion he should thank his lucky stars I was limiting it to this informal discussion and send him off feeling relieved and grateful

I think this is the best course of action for now as you say they usually perform.
Still a consequence for oversharing so you're not a pushover but not going nuclear.
I would remind them in future there will be more serious action taken (if this becomes frequent).
Let's be honest most of us have been there.. But haven't been daft enough to tell our boss.

Tough one to pitch, but I think that @Delphigirl has got the right tone.

A lot of it depends on the ethos of your work. I'd also let them know that once the bollocking is over, it's over and life goes on.

Do you manage this person?

If not stay out of it, delete the message and send something back like 'seems you're more hungover than you thought, you sent this to me by accident' then leave it.

If you do manage this person then you need to speak to her about how you handle it. Bordering on gross misconduct and I'd be issueing a warning. I presume if she's not in then other staff member shave to pick up the slack?

Personally I'd send them a note and say 'I don't think this was meant for me'. Then in your next one to one I'd say that their behaviour was unacceptable and while you won't take action on this occasion if it ever were to happen again, they can expect disciplinary action.

That should be enough.

I work in HR and I think you should acknowledge it but not involve HR at this point.

If HR were involved it would be a warning, but not a dismissal. The employee could easily say they were making up a story to their friend/actually had a sickness bug etc etc and there is no way of proving it. Plus it would alienate an otherwise good employee. There is no point going for the nuclear option if the employee is a strong performer.....if they were underperforming my answer would be different.

I'd let him know you'd heard the message though. "I assume this wasn't meant for me, do you want to use half a day of annual leave?" is a firm but fair message that lets him know you're not a pushover.

Its a tough one.

Because looking at it, as him being a human being,

We would all probably let it go.

However workplaces do sometimes take this kind of stuff seriously.

Teams can be stressful.

Because obviously we all use them for informal chats with colleagues, and then we also use them for work chats.

My boss recently came over to do something to help me at my computer, and I had a bit if a panic.

I was hoping that no chat notifications would pop up on my teams from my colleagues while he was sitting tnere, as I have so many chats with colleagues complaining about the job!

Thanks for letting me know, I'll put you a days annual leave in. When you are back at work, we will have a chat.

Let's him know it's not acceptable, the chat can reinforce that.

You need to involve HR and follow appropriate disciplinary processes. What you describe is gross misconduct

Fuck me, you'd have a breakdown if you worked in TV 😂

@Junestepe I have been managing teams for a decade, and currently lead a very large operational team. I remember feeling this way when I was new to it, wanting to do the right thing but not quite sure what to let slide.

I am dealing with some very serious and draining HR cases within my team, they take their toll on their line managers and colleagues. You said this colleague is a solid performer, using my experience, I would not go to HR for this but I would set up a return to work meeting the day they’re back and just let them know off the record that they sent you that voice message. On this occasion you can empathise that we’re all human, no one is hurt and they have not put the organisation at risk. However, in future if they are planning a big night out, you insist they book annual leave the next day to recover.

I hope that helps.

😂

Do not ignore this. As his manager you have to take this seriously and take him to task on his appalling lack of judgement.

At a minimum, I’d be arranging a 1:1 meeting with him and pointing out that clocking in for work at home when he’s inebriated with clearly no intention of working, would likely be considered as gross misconduct if a disciplinary was held.

Stress how disappointed I was with his dishonestly and lack of professionalism and round it up by suggesting he might like to use a day of his annual leave for yesterday and if so, you’ll say no more on the matter.

That’s nice

This is a great idea

If you are their Manager I would definitely arrange a 1:1 to discuss this so this will not happen again. I will not involve HR but a warning should be given

This would be almost a non-issue in my corporate company.

The employee would mention it in their next catch-up, the manager would raise an eyebrow and give them a look and say let’s move on. Employee gets the message. Done.

The idea of HR getting involved would be unthinkable.