AIBU to formally tell HR I think new employee is too slow and potentially a liar?

[simbale]

I work closely with a new employee. They joined from another company and it was known that they didn’t really have the right experience for the job, but hoping they can learn fast.

This employee is a nice person, but they are just so slow. We have tight deadlines and she never wants to tell me an exact time she will finish something if I ask “when will X be done?”. She just says “hopefully by tomorrow” rather than “by 11am tomorrow”.

Recently I had to work really late to finish a work product because my boss was chasing me for it, but the new employee had sat on it because she didn’t know how to do it and was “busy”.

I recently found out that she has been telling another manager of my level that she couldn’t take on more work for him because she is super busy with my work. She told me the exact same thing the same day, that she couldn’t take on more work for me because she was super busy with his work.

I don’t know it, but it sounds like she is playing one off against the other to avoid work. AIBU to put this in formal feedback with HR?

I obviously don’t know for sure, and she seems very eager to learn when I have time to train her.

What kind of role is this? I have never set strict deadlines like that?
Is this a reverse? Are you a micro manager?

4 hours 1:1 in three months is a minuscule amount for someone new to the work area

I am guessing this is a reverse?

It's also not clear whether you are her manager?

I think you are being unreasonable. Have a conversation and ask her how she is getting on and how you can support her to grow in the role. Are you sure you are dedicating enough time? What level is she on? Are you expecting your level of performance and capability from a subordinate? Sounds like it’s a line manager issue to me.

Don't know if my pennies worth will be of much use!

I spent years in a completely different sector to what I am in now. When I first started out it was great, but as I moved slightly upwards all my line managers were quite as you are describing yourself as to be, OP.

At the time I felt awful, stupid, slow, a bit thick! I left the sector all together after the last line manager I had because I just couldn't cope.

Once I found something I loved and retrained inI realised, I wasn't slow, thick or stupid. I was bored. Under stimulated. Under-excited. Brain freeze! Whatever you want to call it. And I didn't realise, because I didn't know any different. I wasn't aware of my capabilities because I was in the wrong environment and always had been.

I wasn't the right personality or skill typefor those types of jobs, my brain craved something different.

Sorry to be a bit of devil's advocate here....! But if she is genuinely struggling, and you're picking up she's struggling, and she's possibly lying to cope (human nature at times, so try not to judge her) it might not be the role for her. But I do think going straight to HR is necessarily.

But get the right people to talk to her, help her make the decision for herself. She'll either rise to the occasion and leave for something that's better for her, just like I did.

Good luck to all involved but even in these tough working environments, remember a bit of kindness goes a long way.

Adjustments for ND and extra time, in some environments that is just not possible as other people have to pick up the work- so it is impractical and unfair to all the other employees.

When she started she was quite chatty and excited about the role, but now she just seems withdrawn and that comes across in the standard of her work.

That’s so awful. The poor thing:(

This workplace is confusing

Yeah, you sound massively unreasonable, as others have said 4 hours 121 time over 3 months is a joke. And how to you expect someone to "get faster" if you "don't have time to train them", they're over worked and already don't know what they are doing. If I worked for you I would probably have quit by now.

my team is pretty senior 100K plus earners and no one responds within an hour.
unless you are in life saving environment this kind of urgency is utter bollocks !!
people like yourself create this self importance situation to suit your narrative.

hope that new person finds a new job elsewhere

Why would you go to HR 😵‍💫? Speak to her line manager and they will deal with it.

Speak to her line manager and I would also set up a weekly joint call with the other manager you say she is playing you off against so you can all be in the room together having the conversation re what she has on that week and when it's due. That way there is full transparency.

Well she needs to do her job properly, and if that expectation is so really so awful she needs to get another job.

That said further training is obviously the way to go here, especially if she’s new.

I feel sorry for her 😢

Unfortunately the OP has had threads before for other work-related things. Her work performance is her be-all and end-all and it's quite sad really.

And you just don’t sound very nice.

Yeah she could just leave and then someone else can take her place and get bullied as well

I’m not sure getting annoyed with someone who’s subpar performance is affecting your work is really bullying tbh. Depends on the way you go about dealing with it I guess.

HR would probably just raise their eyebrows at OP skipping over managment to go straight to them, and tell her to talk to her manager, anyway

Can you give any indication to us what line of work you are in and what the time sensitivity is? 1 hour responses on emails sounds unreasonable to me.

Yes and can you clarify if you have supervisory responsibility for the new employee and in the absence of line managers what are the lines of responsibility?

Ah come on, she can't do her job properly with a grand total of 4 hours training and a few videos in 3 months and all this pressure from a colleague to do everything fast AND reply to emails within an hour.

The colleague is on a hiding to nothing.

Why does she need to reply to your emails within the hour? Is that a company wide expectation or just one that you have applied?

Depends what the job is and whether she is new to the role (not just the job).
I’m not saying that she shouldn’t expect to receive the appropriate training. In fact I’ve said she should in all my post 🤷‍♀️

Most high pressure environments come with proper training and mentorship. It benefits no one to not actually train or support your new starters, all it results in for the company is errors made and high turnover of staff.

I would say insisting that she prioritised emails to be answered within the hour and then complaining when work is not finished is bullying. She can't have it both ways. She's complaining that she's too slow but not giving her the correct training or time to do the job

Maybe, maybe not. It’s difficult to tell without knowing more about the type of work they’re doing.