AIBU to think this is rude

[Garcia10]

As background, I started a new job recently and was made sales manager of a group of three salespeople. One of them in particular, let's call her H, was very unhappy as she believes she should have had the position as manager however my manager has indicated that her performance, particularly her achievement against her sales target, was well below average so she wasn't even considered for the role.

I had joint meetings with her today in her home city and arrived last night. She was supposed to meet me for dinner (it was just the two of us) at 7.45 pm but arrived at 8.30 pm without any explanation or apology. As soon as we sat down and had ordered our food she then left for a 10 minute telephone conversation, after eating our main course she then disappeared for another 10 minutes. The meal was probably one of the most uncomfortable of my life as she was aggressive and belittling throughout.

Finally, she was very confrontational about paying the bill, as whilst she was correct that the most senior person should pay, she has a company credit card and I don't (waiting for it to arrive). I basically had to order her to pay.

The final straw was today when we had our final meeting, she got into the taxi put her earphones in to start listening to music and proceeded to ignore me for the twenty minutes it took to get the train station.

This is even without the fact that in the seven weeks I have been her manager she has basically refused to co-operate and will not supply me with any of the data or metrics I need to ensure she is doing her job.

I know there are people with far worse problems in the world but I'd be interested in people's perspective in how they would have handled it.

In summary, new job, under-performing and un-cooperative team member displaying aggressive and rude behaviour. WWYD?

Garcia10
In my career it has never occurred to me that I could just choose not to comply with what a manager has asked me to do. Believe me that nothing I have asked for is unreasonable

Exactly. Failure to follow a reasonable management instruction is grounds for a disciplinary investigation and possible disciplinary action.

Talk to the necessary people within your business (manager/HR). I would consider giving feedback in writing about her behaviour on the evening (lateness, lack of co-operation etc) and making clear your expectations of her in terms of attitude. She also needs to be given a deadline for producing the information you have requested. (Again, if she doesn't comply, that's refusing to follow a reasonable management request.) It's possible she is putting up barriers to avoid focusing on her underperformance. To improve her performance, she will have to change her attitude. It all depends on whether you can get her to shift her outlook and be co-operative, so that you can help her meet her targets. If her attitude remains unchanged, then you're looking at possible disciplinary action and a capability process (assuming she has 2 or more years employment with the company).

Really great advice on here.
Deffo go with the paper trail.i

Don't see yourself as a troublemaker for acting on this behaviour but a troubleshooter! It often takes the input of a new colleague to sort a problem individual out. She is costing the company money if she isn't reaching her targets and if she behaves like thus with her manager (new or not) what does she do with clients when no one else is around?! Work with your manager-she needs to be brought inline. If she gets the hump-she may well leave-result all round!

Thank you so much to everyone for the great advice. Managing people is a lot harder than I thought!

Also had great advice from people in real life. I've been advised to kill her with kindness which is definitely an approach I will take.

I've shared the difficulties I am having with my manager and we are arranging a face-to-face meeting with the three of us. My manager has indicated that I have his support which is reassuring. It will just take time.

Again, thank you for your comments, you have made me feel a lot more confident. It's hard work work but I hope I will succeed in the end.

Managing underperforming people out the door is exit, but a key management skill. Lots of God advice here. Clear targets ( everything documented) support (initialy) for the reasons excuses she gives then start talking to your manager and HR regarding disciplinary proceedings. Hugs

Your manager has already briefed you against her: she isn't achieving her targets, she hoped for your job and wasn't considered.
It wouldn't surprise me to learn that you were brought in to tackle her because he couldn't.
So I wouldn't waste time worrying over her high-placed "friends".

I think you need to have a 'lets sort this out so it all works well' attitude rather then a 'haul her over the rocks' attitude. The former will be more positive and get people on side.

I would put her on a Performance Review.

I'd meet with her and tell her that her performance and attitude were unacceptable, detailing why and backing up with evidence.

I would then set her clear goals / targets / deadlines for what I expected to be achieved and a time line and check if she felt there were any obstacles to her meeting these or training or support required

I would meet with her weekly / fortnightly to determine if these were being met.

If they were not I would start disciplinary procedures, eventually escalating to termination if the deadlines were not met or there was not significant improvement

Car girl has a good idea but I'd make sure you had a neutral person there so she can't twist things

You mention that she was previously managed by your manager before the team was split. That's interesting. Did you previous manager split the team so that he didn't have to manage her any more? Ask your manager how he found working with her. Did he find certain things switched her on, and others turn her off? It seems like you might be able to have a management chat about how to get the best out of her. You mention that she is recognised as a difficult person. As a manager, turning that situation around is a pretty powerful message of your management ability - so you can look at this as an opportunity.

Assuming you conclude that you want to keep her and get the best from her, I would also look for things she is doing well, and recognise those. Even though she is at 50% target, I assume there are things that she does well? Think about how you would spot those. Then, send an email to your manager, CCing your subordinate, pointing out some good work. In other words, emphasize the positives.

Turning to the 7 weeks of not knowing what is going on. Another way to play that is to take the best person in your team and look at the updates they give you. Ask that person if they would mind you sharing their work as a best practice. Then share that either in a team meeting or 1:1s. That way you are setting expectations, and showing them an example of what you are looking for.

The 'stick' approach on the 7 week void is to explain to your team that you will be summarising the team's performance in a monthly update to your manager on working day 10 of the following month. Each person in the team needs to submit their prior month numbers to you by working day 6. If this deadline is missed, you will submit the report with 'no data received' against the name of people who missed the deadline.

The most important thing you can do is have a conversation then document via email every time they do anything out of line, cc or bcc hr or your manager, making sure that you make it clear to employee that this will be used in appraisals.

It is used for anything good or bad, so eg creating a report at short notice if not usually part of role, or being difficult about paying for the meal when reasonably asked would be documented.

Clear targets and reasonable timescales are also vital.

Decide if you would like her to stay if she shapes up, or if you would prefer to legally manage her out, and use that to decide if you give her extra chances or manage her by the book.