To tell this employee to use some initiative

[lastqueenofscotland]

I manage a small team, they all get the same amount of training and all but one of them are great.
It’s not difficult work, basic admin tasks and answering the phone.
There is one that literally just doesn’t get it for whatever reason.
Some examples include every time the phone rings he looks round and asks if he should answer it rather than just picking it up and whatever they ask even if it’s our office address he will ask me (often forgetting to put them on hold first).
We only use the outlook diary, if you ask him to move something in it he asks what diary every single time.
We are a paper free office, all our files are on the computer in a really obviously named document and they are all clearly labled.
If you ask him to scan and file something he will EVERY TIME ask where the filing cabinet is.

I feel like it’s a weird joke he has with me it’s so frequent.
Aibu to tell him he needs to start figuring things out by himself?

So as not to drip feed he’s got a degree from a Russel group uni so should be fairly bright!

He sounds lacking in confidence but generally, no you're not being unreasonable. how long has he been there?

Is this your employee?

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/3432957-Really-shit-work-situation

2 months. It’s starting to drive me batshit

Get rid. If he’s not grasped it after two months, he never will. Presume he’s on probation?

Yes, you need to tell him to start doing his actual job so you can get on with yours.

Oh, if he's been there 2 months, you definitely need to fire him. That's ridiculous. I assumed it was more like 2 weeks.

You need to be very firm and clear that you expect him to know these basic tasks from now on. If he still won't step up, bin him in a week.

You have GOT to start some sort of disciplinary action.How long has he been working for you? Less than 2 years and you can choose to let him go or put in more effort with him.

Firstly to set him measurable goals to get him up to speed, including identifying areas he needs more training in. You say they have all had the same training, that's equality of provision. But you also need to show that you have recognised that some of your staff (well, 1 of them) may need additional training to get them up to speed - that is equitable provision of training!

Then give him a timetable to achieve those goals, including catch up meetings for him to show he has done so.

If/when he proves himself incapable get HR to sack him!

But don't let him continue with his learned helplessness. He'll set up a really hostile work environment when his colleagues start to wonder why they bother when he effectively gets you/someone to do his job for him!

Good luck!

I’d draw a line in the sand with him, give him a finite period to step up and if he doesn’t, get rid.

2 months? Bin him! Way too much learned helplessness to cope with!

He just isn't right for the job. Set him free to find another one he is suited for!

He's taking the piss. He resents doing what he regards as the menial tasks so thinks the should not have to do them.

He might also be so new to the work environment that he seems to think he needs permission to answer the phone or what ever.

It's a war of attrition for him on you.

YANBU

I work with several people like this and it’s so frustrating! Even more frustrating when managers don’t manage it though!

I manage people and have had a few like this! Why not provide him a notebook and ask him to write down the answers to all these questions he keeps asking and then refer to said notebook instead of asking other team members. It might help?

Can you try making yourself unavailable now and then so he has to make decisions by himself?

Is this his first job? I'm asking because DD (20) is dealing with a really nasty working environment at the moment where the two senior members of staff don't like her showing initiative or doing anything that they haven't specifically told her to do. It's eroding her confidence and sanity and in someone else, I could see it leading to the kind of behaviour you describe.

It is bloody hard being a young person in a lot of workplaces.

At my first job, the woman training me said “you can ask me anything you want ONCE. But write the answer down, I am here to train you. I am not your memory, your phone directory service or your filing cabinet”. It was so good for me.
DSD has a boss who continuously says “I can’t find the file on...” She now says “where have you looked so far?” which forces him to admit to himself, as well as to her, that he hasn’t even tried. Some people don’t bother to even try to work things out. YANBU but you need to spell out for him exactly why you expect him to do about it and give him the chance to step up. Otherwise you’re going to end up beating him over the head with a stapler. It must be frustrating for all his colleagues.

Maybe he needs his job role spelled out for him. If he has never worked before leaving Uni he might still be in 'school' mode and think he needs direction but hasnt worked out that everyone else is autonomous relative to the task in hand.
If I was managing him I would have a one to one chat with him to check that he knows he is responsible for learning where things are filed and finding out information that isnt in front of him.
Give him a set time to improve - say 2 weeks with a reducing amount of questions and errors and then review.
He has to know what a pain he is and that his job is in jeopardy.

I'm asking because DD (20) is dealing with a really nasty working environment at the moment where the two senior members of staff don't like her showing initiative or doing anything that they haven't specifically told her to do. It's eroding her confidence and sanity and in someone else, I could see it leading to the kind of behaviour you describe Sometimes that's just management requiring new employees to learn how things actually work before trying to introduce new ideas!

I once had an office newbie who had lots of bright ideas! I had a single day off and in that time she rearranged 9 filing cabinets... so that the oldest correspondence was at the front. Her logic was that we would be able to see how long they had been a customer and where our work for them had started. I had no idea where to start with that.

She left when I asked her to put it all back as she had found it. Her mum was not very happy when she came to rescue her from me, her nasty boss!

It often isn't easy being the boss of young employees either!

We have had a couple of useless office people. Our company seems to refuse to get rid of incompetents who consistently prove they cannot do the job then I have to pick up the slack.

Just get rid of him. It clearly isn't the job for him.

I'd honestly just get rid of him before his probation is over. I've learned over the years that this situation never improves and then you're stuck with a useless employee. 'It's become apparent to me that this role is not suitable for you, so you will not be retained.'

Some people - of whatever age - are completely lackiing in any sort of initiative. It makes them incredibly painful and irritating to work with.

Oh god I almost thought you were my manager for a second there until I read on to the end. I feel like I work with this guy. Been with the company for 20 years vs my less than 2 years and I was having to try and retrain him when I'd been there less than 6 months. Will be reading this with interest because my employer doesn't care and my co-workers are at the end of their tether!

Tell him once, clearly, OP and make him write it down. And yy to the list of expectations and timescale. If this doesnt work he is clearly more suited to a diffrrent field of work.

I would give him a month's warning and say what @GetOffTheTableMabel's boss said: "“you can ask me anything you want ONCE. But write the answer down, I am here to train you. I am not your memory, your phone directory service or your filing cabinet”

If he carries on the way he is, get rid.

• I'm asking because DD (20) is dealing with a really nasty working environment at the moment where the two senior members of staff don't like her showing initiative or doing anything that they haven't specifically told her to do. It's eroding her confidence and sanity and in someone else, I could see it leading to the kind of behaviour you describe.

It is bloody hard being a young person in a lot of workplaces.*

She needs to get a new job then. I've had employees who thought they were The Next Best Thing and felt that their 'initiative' was better than how I ran my business. I hired people to perform certain tasks and it was vital they stuck to those.

There is no excuse for this employee's behaviour! If you don't like your job or think it's beneath you or you want a role where your 'initiative' is in need then you find another bloody job.

Anyone who goes about challenging their supervisor or passive aggressively cocks up their job because they feel it's beneath them deserves the sack they will hopefully get.

It's not hard being a young person in a workplace, quite the contrary, except for those self-entitled upstarts who think they should be in more senior roles without putting in the graft first or having the skills necessary for them.

I work with someone like this
It drives me mad
She’s not young though and it’s not her first job, so I really don’t know why she is so useless