to expect employee to be flexible and attend team event on a day they are usually off?

[traintocatch]

We have an employee who recently reduced hours and chose to have a whole day off during the week -Tuesdays (working week is Mon-Fri). Before approving this, we agreed they would work on Tuesdays as and when required for project delivery so not 100% set in stone. Since they started this pattern we happened to organise team events with external facilitators and 2 of these events were held on Tuesdays. Whilst not critical that they attend, it would be important for their development, their understanding of company culture as well as team morale and really showing that are willing to integrate. We cannot always choose days to suit them. They declined to attend on both occasions and wondered what would be reasonable to expect? I know I would attend and take the day off another time that week?

And prove, if there was any doubt, that the company culture is shite and the managers idiots.

Correct.

A lot of the time, threads like this turn into poor managers posting their Ls. This one has been no exception.

If they agreed to come in on Tuesdays for a work deadline then asking them to come in for staff training isn't fair. It may be that they will have to find ad hoc childcare - even if the kids are in Secondary! Kids need picking up and taking to Clubs and Sports whatever their age. And I certainly wouldn't want to leave kids at home for any length of time if they're only KS3.

but but the "kids" thing is not relevant. Its not just people with children who are entitled to have, by agreement, varying work patterns and, also by agreement, have circumstances where they will change their non working time and where they will not. The reason for the work pattern is not relevant and the employee certainly does not need to have a reason or an excuse.

no sign of the op.....they must be REALLY disappointed

Probably quickly realised MN is absolutely not the right place to ask this sort of question and hopefully has found a forum where its understood that often the manager is just the middleman getting grief from both sides and is just trying to achieve (if possible) what The Company wants, so the advice is a bit more constructive and understanding.

In reality, although the principle stands, people’s personal reasons for working part time will affect their threshold for flexibility as much as their attitude does. The harder it is to rearrange what they want/need to be doing on their non- working days, the higher a bar they will set for doing so. That stands to reason. At the moment my non-working day is totally flexible and so I often switch it around. In the past that hasn’t been the case at all.

Well tbf that's probably true about the manager middleman being the poor sap who needs to please everyone.

I agree. The hate for managers on this forum is off the scale. I do feel sorry for posters who have been mistreated in the past (of course there are bad managers) but there is so much bitterness and projection from posters on this thread who cannot seem to move on that there is no point wasting time on here getting advice from a manager's perspective.

Wouldn't want to wish being a manager on anyone. It is a thankless task and you end up covering for everybody. top down, bottom up and centre.

There will no doubt be posters showing me the door now and telling me it is all my fault. Guilty as charged. I am used to it.

I think it’s just that people expect managers to be omnipotent. They are people who have the same information as everyone else (usually), have to supervise others, report to some other people and squeeze their actual job in at some point.

A thankless task? Why are they doing it unpaid?

I liked being a manager. The best manager I ever had said that it was the job of a manager to have the backs of their staff. To keep the corporate rubbish away from them so they could get on and do their jobs.

Sadly not paid enough for the grief.

I would rather be paid for my technical skill in my area of expertise than to manage people. Unfortunately the head role comes with managerial responsibilities. Actually a thought just occurred I can task my No.2 with being the manager … (waits for the chorus of hallelujahs).

Actually I am not that bad. A push over with staff and their myriad personal issues, so they seem to stay.

Such a nice manager who's expressed complete disdain for all the staff and can't wait to replace them with AI ... yeah, right.

You make an important point. Part of the role of the manager is to put on the game face of the company and be positive so as not to worry staff unnecessarily. My plan was to upskill them for the day when AI takes over their jobs without telling them specifically because no one likes the R word. Unfortunately the training is not sticking even after 2 years. They like their jobs which are too easy and don't have to apply their minds. So there may come a day where I have to show the face and hand of the company. It is a balancing act.

Just had an intern for a week work experience. He was amazing. I could see in him the qualities of the person with the skills to do the job. He was 17. But I wait for headcount.

You're making it impossible for them to plan ahead by not telling them what's happening. They may want to start job hunting right now if they know.

You also seem to resent the idea of people enjoying their current jobs - the ones they were hired for - and not being interested in promotion, not being ambitious etc, not living to work rather than working to live.

Wait, so the same employer, who in your own words under-appreciates and underpays you, also deserves to have employees go the extra mile for them?

Isn't that rather one sided?

Well there you go, I wouldn't attend either.

It's better to, work to live, than live to work.

And looks down on these employees because she's spent 2 years trying to get them to unskill, and now assumes it's a lack of intellect and laziness.

I can only imagine the condescension in real life and I suspect that plays a role in why people just want to get through their day and out the door ASAP.

The posts are very illuminating.

Nope. Part time is part time. They are that for a reason. You can ask them to work (legally) but they are not obliged to legally. You should offer to pay them. Not swap a day. But they are not obliged to .
A union would definitely support them

Bingo, right on cue 😂

Nothing you're saying here is going to change anyone's impression that you're really not the lovely manager you claim to be. People can see through this sort of thing. Crap managers who think they're so good and long-suffering are ten a penny.