To sack someone due to 'bad cultural fit'

[aveleila]

So I work in a field that is notoriously difficult to recruit. So I was delighted to find someone who seemed perfect for the job and had excellent qualifications.
All started well, she settled into the team with effortless ease. Within a month or two she started gossiping that the team had too much work and that she had been given too much work. She struggled with the pace of the job ( lots of concrete examples).

She seemed to work it out after about 4 months but her presence has simply disrupted what has always been a friendly, professional team who work well with each other.

On the same floor she has made friends with people from a different department and seems to have fitted in great with them.

She never speaks to me, not even to say hello or goodbye. If she wants authorisation for something it is always through email. She makes all decisions without speaking to me and if she needs advice it's always the medical team not me she goes to.

I have had to bring up with her errors she has made on a pretty much daily basis. To begin with I put it down to her being new. However now I know she is competent and capable but just lazy and doesn't feel the need for very high standards of work.

I overheard her gossiping about me to colleagues saying 'I literally come in each day wondering what I will get told off for today. If she does not stop I am leaving and good job trying to recruit for my position when I have gone'.

She is passing me off as a bully when all I have done is challenge lazy behaviour.

The final straw is now she is lying about completing tasks she hasn't done. Claiming she has checked equipment she couldn't have as they were locked in a different building.

She has depression and I am worried about being accused of being heartless but she is disrupting the office environment. A few team members have complained about her work ethic and I don't feel like I can trust her due to previous false claims from her.

I'm now at the stage where I can't even stand to give her a friendly smile and I really don't want to end up accused of bullying.

Sorry for ranting on, but this is the first time I have ever been in this situation. Would the things I have mentioned here be enough for her to fail her 6 months probation?

Her 5 month review is coming up and I know I have to give her a chance to improve but I really just want her out of the company at this point.

Would the things I have mentioned here be enough for her to fail her 6 months probation?

IME, almost certainly yes

Make sure you do it absolutely by the book, though; with a history of never staying anywhere long she might get another job easily, or she might try to make things very difficult for you

Her probation is being managed by both myself and a consultant who also supervises her work.
The problem is the consultant thinks she's wonderful and says in her opinion her work is of a good standard. Her last review at 3 months was done entirely by this consultant as I was off and it is glowing.

Because of this I feel my opinion may not be taken as seriously as the consultant is more senior in the organisation.

Develop a thicker skin to the ‘gossiping’. You need to. Either challenge her directly on what you hear she’s saying. ‘Hello. I believe you’re struggling with workload. What do you find difficult? What do you need to make things easier?’, etc.
But you seem to have taken it personally. As a manager you will be discussed, please stop taking it to heart.

Document everything. Have a 1:1 on why she lied (this is absolutely not acceptable). But you need to discuss her behaviour and tell her what you expect. Then you can discipline her for not following your request.

Talk to HR. Now. You may be able to let her go, or more likely (in my limited knowledge) is an extension of her probation period.

If you're in a position to, give her a performance review with at least one witness. Come prepared with a list of examples of her poor performance. Put a positive spin on it by suggesting how she might improve in future. Make sure everything is recorded, even if it's only in writing.

This will be the basis for a disciplinary and/or termination of probation if that's still possible, further down the line.

We have a member of staff who was very weak in the interview but we took on, naively thinking we could give him a chance. Turned out he wasn't very good because he was lazy. We had several meetings with him and I gave him a list of points for improvement. We tried to find the positive in everything. Now, he does seem to be getting better. But this is someone without malice, who I think was bewildered he was given the job in the first place.

It’s probably reasonable and legal to fail the probation due to capability, that is, she can’t do the job well enough.
It’s not reasonable and less legal (don’t need 2 years service for a discrimination claim) to dismiss for “bad cultural fit” where you mean you don’t like her and she doesn’t like you.
Am guessing HR have advised you what you need to do but you just don’t want to do it. Why don’t you trust HR?

Ah so how is the consultant going to feed in to th part where you sack her? Given they think she’s great?

You spend more time with your co-workers than you do with your partner. Why on earth would you chose to keep someone that you don't get on with when you can still get rid of?

Because people go to work to do a job, not to make friends. And most people have higher moral and ethical standards than to fuck up someone else’s life on the basis of not liking them.

I have sent emails to her when she's done something unacceptable. This is to create a paper trail. She never even bothers to reply to them!

I have offered her training to allow her to address the errors but she declines.

She behaves very differently with the medical staff and seems to provide work of a higher standard for them. She also sings their praises at every opportunity.

X posted with your update. Talk to HR and the consultant! But definitely still HR.

Useful guide here: www.peninsulagrouplimited.com/guides/dismissal-during-probationary-period/

I'm surprised there's such a difference in the consultant's views, though. What has their response been to the various provable issues you've raised (assuming you have raised them with the consultant)?

Document everything in detail and get HR to get shot of her, legally.

What I don’t understand is why you don’t speak to her? She avoids speaking to you, that does not mean you have to reciprocate. She may be avoiding difficult conversations, it is your job as a manager to have them.You seem very passive and reactive. If she didn’t get enough initial training then whose job is it to help her? Moaning about your own workload is not gossip and it is strange for you to call it that. If she has declared a mental health disability of depression what adjustments have you put in place?

The doctor believes she had a key and so did check the equipment.
She believes her repeated errors are due entirely to too high a workload.
She believes she has not received appropriate training.
She says that she knows she has lied about being stuck in traffic so she could come into work a bit late but said everyone has done that.
She says I have repeatedly called her out on minor issues and apparently I should have discussed these 1-1 with her and not as they occurred so that she doesn't feel she is constantly being criticised.

The doctor has not seen this woman at her worst though as she is always polite and respectful towards her.

I think she is also being too sympathetic as she knows she has a diagnosis of depression.

"You spend more time with your co-workers than you do with your partner. Why on earth would you chose to keep someone that you don't get on with when you can still get rid of?"

What? You can't sack someone just because you don't get on?
Are you serious?

I worked with someone like this. She basically did what she liked - she completely abused the HR policies designed to protect people with mental health problems. She manipulated the people she knew she needed to back her (who missed all the actual not doing work) while being downright rude to everyone else, and was happy to refuse to do work or pass it to a poor colleague she managed to manipulate into being her confidante.

She sat on social media all day, was utterly unapologetic, turned up whenever and was rudely anti-social (including leaving washing up lying around for someone else to do, not contributing to team coffee she drank etc).

Also a bright person, perfectly able. Just lazy as you like!

Eventually she realised she couldn’t get away with it any longer (after what I can only imagine was a painful process of competency reviews, none of which amounted to anything because I work in a ‘sympathetic’ organisation) and finally got fed up of a job she clearly hated and left for a new one. That took two painful years.

People are odd though. I know for a fact my manager ticked ‘would not employ again’ and she was hired anyway - presumably she charmed them in the interview or told them she was ‘bullied’. She said this sort of thing to us when she arrived too!

Sorry, no advice but maybe she’ll get tired of the job soon.

I have spoken to her repeatedly.

However this last week I have got to the point I can't even speak to her. I don't think that will change anymore. I can't even smile in a friendly manner anymore.

She has taken on board one or two things but is still very disruptive, negative and disrespectful.

What does your line manager think? You need them to be with you on this.

Is there scope to transfer her to the other team? If she gets on better with them and produces better work it is a win win situation all round.

cant u just let people go in probation i thought that was the point like it hasnt worked out so we'll call it a day

My line manager wouldn't have her own opinion as she doesn't work with her.

Her qualification wouldn't fit in the other team. We all work in partnership with each other.its a multi agency team. I'm hoping she just leaves of her own accord.

I think she's very unhappy here anyway so fingers crossed.

To be honest I think you need to listen to her complains. Are you always telling her off? Is the workload too high? You're staying into dangerous territory making this personal, and you are. I think you need to schedule a 1-1 with your manager and ask for their support in dealing with this. Clearly this person is capable of producing good work and there's a reason she doesn't do that for you.

If she is on probation, you don't extend it if you are not happy with the quality of her work. That is what probation is for. You don't have to follow all the usual warnings as for an employee after probation period.

You need to talk to HR. In my experience, HR often contact you to ask if you are satisfied with their work. I would contact them just in case, so that they know that you are not happy.

If she is this difficult now, when still under probation, you would be very foolish to extend her employment.

But would your line manager support you if you went out on a limb to fail her probation in the face of disagreement from the consultant/other team?

Are the things you are pulling her up for actual examples of laziness or is she just needing more training in those areas? Or maybe she's so worried about screwing up because you're always telling her off she's making basic errors or omissions through second-guessing or taking too much time to get some things right she misses something else. See, it sounds to me like a self-fulfilling prophecy; she get so tangled up in trying not to make mistakes, she makes more mistakes. Or for fear of doing the wrong thing, she does nothing then panics and says that she has done it hoping to get to it before you find out?

You don't sound like someone I'd find very friendly or approachable tbh. You're all about what was your perfect team, well, what kind of welcome is she getting from your group that she's felt she's had to make friends in another dept? And gossip? Confiding that she's worried about getting told off and thinking about leaving isn't gossip, it's a cry for help. In her position I'd be approaching HR myself to complain about you. I'd make sure I went through email too simply to cover myself and to avoid direct communication with someone who clearly doesn't like me.