To ask what you think is fair in this situation?

[Spookytoast]

Person A manages 3 people (B, C, and D).

Person B was on long term sick due to stress, but has been back in the office for almost a year, with reasonable adjustments made for their condition. Before going on sick leave B was underperforming and was subject to performance improvement measures.

Persons B, C and D are all contracted to do the same job at the same level.

Since returning to work, Person B hasn’t been working at the level they are paid for, partly due to them underperforming at a the Lower level work (which was supposed to be just to ease B back in).

There is a new upcoming project which person A must decide who to put in charge of. B and C both really want the project. B really needs to start performing at the higher level again in order come off the performance management scheme but A isn’t sure B will be able to cope with the work. B really wants the project to prove that they are still able to work at that level and have felt demotivated working at the lower level, hence the underperforming. C has worked extremely hard this year to prove themselves and A would feel bad overlooking C for this opportunity when they are more than capable.

However A is under a lot of pressure from B and HR to give the project to B so they aren’t disadvantaged when it comes to performance reviews. A is also worried about discriminating against B due to her condition.

What would you say is fair in this situation, and what advice would you give to A, B and C?

I still don't see why C is being made responsible for B's work , even if it is in a "supervisory " capacity. Surely the person who should be supervising B is her actual line manager A.

Give it to C cause B will just FIU and A will have to pick up the Shit

Give it to C.

B has a small mini project which was originally C’s before B’s return which C handed over but being honest B hasn’t managed it particularly well
Says it all really

I think this is a wrong choice. C shouldn’t be made responsible for B. Unless C has a change of contract to reflect the additional responsibilities and the fact they will clearly have to pick up all the work.

I'd give to 'C' - they have worked hard and shouldn't be discriminated against in favour of an under-performing colleague, regardless of other issues. 'B' needs to prove they can do the lower level stuff before higher stuff or important project leads - just be honest, and say something like "I'd love you to be ready to take a lead on a project in the near future, but not this time as 'C' will be doing it."

C.
Reward actual performance.

I'd give it to C

C, b can't cope with workload now the extra work load of new project could cause more stress which seems to be a problem for b. I would just offer b a little more challenging work. If your suffering stress the last thing you need is an overload at work. This will cause more stress, if b fails to hit targets on new project b is going to be very stressed.
C is clearly the right person for the job. Good luck

Sounds like you've reached a really good solution OP.

Give it to C. B can't do lower level work badly and expect promotion. C's hard work and proven track record should be rewarded.

C because if you give it to B then C gets the message that hard work is less appreciated than being ill and underperforming. You're likely to end up with 2 demotivated staff rather than one.
Could C lead and allocate a distinct small part of the project t to B to get their teeth into?

I would tell A to give themselves a massive kick up the backside. Presumably this is some type of business so I’d ask A what impact is B performing at a substandard level at a grade beneath them having on the business? B has been back for a year and is still on a performance improvement plan. They surely should be moved down the competency route with formal warnings on performance. (Seeing as you have said reasonably adjustments were made for their return 1 year ago).

I’d give the new work to C as a reward for their current performance.

And A’s manager - also get off the fence and coach A into managing B through improving performance, don’t just accept the lack of performance improvement and motivation issues. You do not have to keep people that can’t perform. You need to think about the needs of the business and your other team workers as well as for B.

In my experience, people that have come back after being on long term sick leave for mental health illness have worked out because they were competent and motivated workers before they went off sick. They come back wanting to work hard but obviously need support to make it happen.

The OP has already resolved the issue...

Isn't the OP going to say if she is A, B or C now? 😭

It be funny if she said she was B 😆

C needs to manage the project on his/her own terms. A and A+ are the managers, it's their responsibility to manage B.

If B needs to prove herself for appraisal purposes, then A/A+/HR should be working with B to come up with smarter targets- they don't have to relate to big, showy projects. Perhaps B could work on smaller, tighter projects with easily measurable success criteria. And if B has struggled with stress and mental health problems, and is still struggling even when he workload is less challenging and needs accommodated, then increasing the challenge and stress levels will not benefit B's health.

C every time. They bloody earned it. And if B’s problem is stress and they were already underperforming they have a long way to go before they are back in a position to undertake such a thing.

C should get it. It would be unfair to give to B because 'they don't want to discriminate'. If B isn't siuted to the job they shouldn't be doing it.

This has got to be in the public sector!!

Otherwise it sounds like a dream company to work for!!

I agree about public sector - as soon as I read the op i thought the same.

It would be against the business interests for this to fail therefore the work should be given at this time to the person least set to fail otherwise there might not be a next time for someone to prove themselves

Got to be public sector

Glad C is in charge. A would regret it badly if B had got it.

Honestly I had a B and don’t disadvantage other members of your team any further than you already have had to.

If your B is anything like mine everything is about them and they cannot understand someone else being given an opportunity is just that, they will always assume it is a negative for them rather than a positive for others.

We had WAM moments in meetings where anything positive about someone else which was not very carefully managed was met with “What About Me”.

Sadly mine couldn’t change