Letting someone fail at work - aibu to let it happen?

[MrsBede]

In brief, I have a deputy who has failed to perform since appointment. I have followed all procedures to deal with this but my organisation is poorly led and I have limited support from those above - eg I should have a line manager but the post is vacant. We're public sector.

A senior manager has now told me my deputy needs to be given a project to lead on and when it flops it will be the point at which the lack of performance is finally dealt with. It's horrible, but the team and our clients are being detrimentally affected by this person's lack of competence so it has to happen - I've tried so much to bring them on but they just haven't responded.

So the project has been explained to them and they have got started. There are already issues becoming apparent but they have now sent me details of their next steps and it's really poor. Do I intervene or just let it play out? It will be a fuck up (not dangerous or anything) and should bring things to a head, but what if they come back and say they ran it past me first and I didn't voice concerns?

My problem is lack of support from above but there is none, so MN - please help!

If they try and go after her for errors, she will produce the email to you and you will get the blame from her. If she has any sort of decent union, you and your manager will get shredded for setting her up.

Sounds like terrible management from above you tbh. Staff being treated like shit and public money being wilfully wasted!

If you stand by and knowingly allow the project to fail, then you will be failing in your duty as a line manager. If the employee later tries to appeal on the grounds that he/she was set up to fail and wasn't given appropriate support, then you will struggle to defend yourself against those allegations.

You need to take the employee through a proper capability process - one that is fair and transparent. Be clear about your expectations, and the potential consequences of not meeting them, and then document and feed back where they are not adequately met. If you have concerns about the project that this person is leading on, then address those concerns properly and try to get things back on track, but document your intervention and make it clear that you would have expected the postholder to operate at that level without such a high level of support.

The thing with following the capability procedure fairly, is that by the time you get to dismissal, you can hand on heart say you have given them every opportunity and support to improve their performance, but they are just not CAPABLE of doing the role. Letting them fall flat on their face leaves you open to them saying they received no support. They could also claim they can't have been doing badly as they were trusted to take on a project on their own.
If you don't want to help them (as their manager I think this is unwise,) then you could reply saying that you don't think their plan will fulfil the project brief and you think they should take another look at it before proceeding, that way, you're not approving or ignoring.

Another thing to bear in mind, is that most people WANT to do a good job. They may know they are not performing and be thoroughly miserable. That alone can lead to people feeling paralysed and lacking enough confidence to perform.

Imagine if it were you. What would you want from your boss?

Speak to HR. Document the fact that you have spoken to HR. Give them feedback. Provide your manager and HR with a report detailing what they were going to do, why it is poor and what you advised them to do. Frankly they probably won't do it. I can see your dilemma but, as this person's line manager, unless you have explicit written instructions not to comment (which I would query) I think you have to respond. Feel free to say in your report on this that this person SHOULD have been able to run this project alone.

but what if they come back and say they ran it past me first and I didn't voice concerns?

I have seen really poor performers, go into quarter reviews and come out with top marks because they come evidence exactly this. They had evidence they sought feed back and guidance and it wasnt mentioned.

And then, their manager ends up being the one with a verbal warning.

Whatever you think op, you would be doing your job, if you ignore this.

Setting up someone specifically to fail is weak, unprofessional and cruel. I’m public sector of many years and I’ve never heard of this tactic - in fact, it could result in them having a case against you. Have you asked this person how well supported they feel?

You need to give feedback on their next steps and offer suggestions for improvement. That way if they fail to take the suggestions it’s poor performance on their part. Withholding that feedback would be poor management on your part.

I think I would reply with my concerns but not a step by step how to get it right.

Or arrange a meeting to go through the step by step but include in the email inviting them for this that this is taking significant time from your other commitments and they should know how to do it (in a nice, professional way!).

OP are you sure that the person who told you to do this likes you....cos its a recipe for your getting shat on. I'd be getting together all the documentation of previous failures/appraisals and so on that you have and going higher up the organisation...I'd also be saying that I WILL NOT be setting someone up to fail without spefic written instruction.

I don't you can just not reply to the colleagues email because then she could blame you. But don't do the work for her either.

Give her feedback such as "Reassess/review the following areas in terms of dates/risk/costs" etc. So don't say "Change X to Y" ask her to review it and perhaps provide more information around the following areas.... "

Yes, I know you're all right. The problem is much of what people are advising is out of my control. Eg -making sure capability is done properly - I have tried this and done my bits properly but as soon as it gets higher it goes nowhere and we're stuck in a loop. Last time there was a performance review the person was off sick so it wasn't done properly, but issues are not a surprise to them - far from it. And far from doing nothing to support them I have spent hours and hours supporting - to the detriment of my own family life as I am effectively doing two jobs and providing support. The morale of the team is also being damaged as people see this person doing less than them and being paid more. It's not just incompetence but lies and now rudeness and defensiveness as well.

It's a total nightmare .

What my old manager used to do was to hand the project and book a 2 week walking holiday so she couldn’t be reached (and be seen as incompetent) while us juniors kept the boat afloat.

Having said that, being left with that mess repeatedly didn’t result in useless people being fired but on very capable people handing notice.

If you are a business that has to deliberately set up an employee to fail in order to dismiss them, then you're an underperforming business yourselves.

If you've supposedly given them all the support they need, but they are still failing, yet you have no way to address this in a sensible and responsible manner, then it's the pot calling the kettle black.

Can you offer feedback and Cc in management?

If there is evidence, why can't this person be fired for failing to fulfill the job requirements?

While I completely see the reasoning, this cannot work. As head of the team, ultimately, a team member's failure is on you. In this case, the person has emailed you asking for feedback so even more, it's now on your shoulders (it also wouldn't surprise me if the person has done this knowing perfectly well that he's not up to the job and this way, can palm the work off on you).

Having said all that, it is NOT up to you to redo the work so that it's competent. respond with the areas of weakness - "eg how do you propose to handle the fact that during Phase 1 everyone is still working from home and that therefore this is not practical?". You don't have to redo it to provide a different plan.

Also, assuming that having to redo the work means that the person is now further behind on deadlines, flag that: "If we're going to meet the deadlines for this project, phase 1 needs to start by 1 August so please ensure you have thought through these issues and presented solutions in time to go through the approval process/ do the preparation work/ whatever."

So you're documenting what he is doing wrong, but offering him opportunities to fix it. Realistically, it seems unlikely that he IS going to fix it, so the senior person's plan for him to fail is likely, but this is a safer way to manage it.

It’s unfair to test people when they don’t know they’re being tested.

Without the support of those above you, you will achieve nothing other than being seen as a bully.

You need to follow the guidance 100% to the letter and document everything. Ensure letters and timeliness are strictly followed.

It is a nightmare since they centralised HR functions under system, but there should still be a management helpline.

Before beginning new procedures you need confirmation all the way up, that this is deemed appropriate and will be followed through.

It seems to me that they want you to bully them out. I wouldn't.

@FunMcCool

It’s unfair to test people when they don’t know they’re being tested.

They do know they're being tested. They don't know it's the expectation they will fail, but they have been told it's an opportunity to prove themselves.

Having said that, being left with that mess repeatedly didn’t result in useless people being fired but on very capable people handing notice.

This is my fear - good people are getting very pissed off indeed...

Then if its all so awful and down to this employee being poor, everything needs be documented. Poor attitude, lies, rudeness.

Make sure you have a water tight case. But by setting them up, you arenplaykgn right into their hands.

They have made their manager aware of their next steps. Which is what a poor performer should be doing.

By not not supporting, you will back up their claim that this is a failure on your part.

I think you have to do your job properly. So if they’re running it past you and your job involves reviewing and pointing out potential issues then you should do so. If it isn’t then you should perhaps respond asking why they are sending it to you and letting them know you have your own work to complete so there is documentation that they are unable to complete their work confidently and making it clear you haven’t tacitly approved it.

It sounds like your management and HR are not doing this properly and potentially hanging you out to dry, depending on what you’re being asked to do in terms of letting them fail. You should document your own involvement and make sure you do what you are supposed to.

Also, as the project is new, it isn't strictly evidence of incompetence within their actual role.

A company that sets a task for an employee knowingly expecting them to fail is 'setting them up'.

A company that sets up its employees, however poor their performance isn't a good company.

A manager who facilitates this isn't a good manager.

If it’s the senior manager’s plan that they do this project and fail, can you not just go to them with the fact that their next steps are poor and ask would you like me to intervene or just let this run. I would email so I had proof of required that I had proof of the poor steps, proof I had pointed it out and proof of the managers response.

Maybe that’s not how things are done, my job isn’t anything like this by the sounds of things. But in any job, something like this would go in an email so I had evidence.

"
I don't think that giving the employee a task that you know they are unable to do in order for them to 'fail' before being able to begin any capability procedures is helpful."

It's bullying isn't it? I suppose they are "managing him out", which is horrible.