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.

This sounds such a difficult environment for a new staff member she will need support and training, it must be hard being pulled in two directions and 4 hours over 3 months! You would expect more than that a week, she needs more support and guidance could another staff member step in to mentor her?

I ignore emails if they are not urgent, I see them flashing up on my phone and I don’t reply until I’ve finished the task I’m doing or taking a suitable break eg make a mug of tea and go through emails whilst I drink it, my boss knows that I’m quite capable of filtering genuinely urgent matters and those that can be outside for hours if not days including hers, in fact if it’s the kind of thing I need to interrupt my work flow for she usually calls, I’m actually more experienced than her in many ways so I can often advise.

I wonder if the training has been focused on the individual grains of bark, whereas the trees and the forest of how her role fits in aren’t yet clear to her. As is unsurprising after three months.

To be fair to you, it isn’t easy to train someone who’s coming in without essential skills for the role in place. But she sounds terrified, her life must be a nightmare atm. I think you both need a restart.

By the way I had a full 20 hours of onboarding (a week, I’m working pt) with the person doing my job previously plus specific training with other individuals on top then professional development… and I’d been doing this job for another org prior, she hasn’t had enough support it sounds like

4 hours of training? Over the last few weeks I've spent 4 full days training someone and still feel like I haven't covered everything.

Is this company policy to reply to an email within an hour?

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”

Does everyone give an exact time when a task will be completed by? Is this policy?

she seems very eager to learn when I have time to train her

When you have time to train her? Has she received adequate training? You’ve said yourself the woman seems eager to learn.

You sound hard work tbh.

4 hours in 3 months? Are you on a total wind up? I've been in training 3 days a week for the last 3 weeks.
So, you're explaining something, she goes away and does it and then you decide it isn't how you want it? How are you giving feedback?
It sounds very chaotic and nobody is checking that her understanding is in line with company expectations. Do you have process notes? They're easier to follow than someone telling you how they think something should be done.

4 hours, is that all?

I’m three months in with my new team member, and I’m still taking time to show her new stuff. You can’t expect people to learn everything at once, or learn everything the first time you show it.

I spent about 4 hours before she started preparing a “things to know” document .. who people where, links to things, what the team did, meeting to do to, document pathways etc.

When I explain things now, I send screen grabs to refer to, and make sure she knows all questions are fine.

You need to grow people into new roles.

Who is meant to be training her up? 4 hours training is woefully inadequate. Jobs I've had tend to have 2 full days induction training at the beginning at the very least.

You are unfair to complain your colleague is too slow when noone has actually bothered to train her properly.

@simbale - it sounds like you want her to fail. Your expectations as expressed here (eg a reply to any emails from you within 1 hour) seem unreasonable and exacting; telling someone they need to be faster is useless, unless you provide training to support that; 4 hours training is not sufficient for a new job and you’re failing to find time to train her; your excessive edits may say more about you than her. Skilled management involves helping your team succeed - she’s been thrown in the deep end and it sounds like you want to watch her sink.

OP your behaviour seems to be the issue, not hers. "I have told her she needs to be faster". Not constructive at all. How can she just "be faster", can you or someone else show her prioritisation techniques, send her examples of responses to use as templates, anything except just criticise her? You say you've given her four hours training. That's paltry. Then you've complained you're having to edit her work. You need to invite her to work with you on edits, and start from a positive "thanks for all of your work on this. I am going through it now and it would be really useful training if we sit together and see where and why I would recommend changes." She cannot learn how to improve by you secretly editing her work, and if it's taking "a long time" to edit, you're better off investing the time in her. Communication and seeing good in someone's work to keep them motivated is so important with new hires. Criticism and insufficient training is going to make anyone feel frozen in their ability because all they are hearing is "you're not good enough and I can't be both to prioritise my time to help you get to the level I'm asking of you".

Why an earth would you go to HR
speak to her manager

any good HR would just direct you back to her manager

Four hours over 3 months? No wonder she can't do the job properly - you are the reason. And if I were her, I would be gathering evidence for constructive dismissal.

How can she get stuck into her work if she needs to be alert to emails to enable a response to you within an hour, that's ridiculous.
3 months in and new to the role with 4 hours training is not enough training and experience for her work to be at the same standard and done at the speed of a very experienced colleague.
When she produces work it's not to your liking so your editing it. I don't know what your role is but in many roles work does not have to be a carbon copy of the work others produce. She could be meeting the objective but you are wanting it to be exactly how you would do it, which is unreasonable.
It sound like you're acting like you're her line manager but you don't actually have the skills to effectively manage.

This. When I started a new job as a new legal sec I was given a week’s training. This included learning a legal database as well as file work, dealing with clients. Luckily after about 2-3 weeks I could cope by myself. But more complex files and client communication were obviously tasks that required more time and experience to deal with.

You’re expecting too much too soon. With too few training hours and maybe lax onboarding procedure. It looks as if you’d like her to fail probation and then be let go. If you do that though, you’ll only have to start over with a new employee.

Have patience. Maybe escalate to your/her manager but state where/why she needs help. She can’t be that bad if she takes notes, it’s just putting things into practise that appears to take time with her and that as you know comes with experience.

You must have managers. Who does your appraisal? Who does your return to work interview if you are off sick?

If you aren’t this woman’s manager then take a huge step back.

Your workplace sounds like a shitshow tbh.

This. It sounds like she needs mentoring and a bit of support rather than being berated. Have you tried to guide her?

Based on what?

Ugh, this is giving me the greatest ick. Hope she's on the job hunt already to get away from this petty, chaotic, immature environment.

No line managers? Wtaf? Is this a small company?A start up?

Of course you would be unreasonable. That is not an HR issue at all. Go and tell your manager if you have concerns. I cannot imagine why you would possibly think that this is anything to do with HR.

This job market is brutal out there atm. Trust me I know.

Depends on what role you are in and what level

The four hours was 1:1, she has had loads and loads of training videos or presentations otherwise.

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.

I have spoken to her on multiple occasions about how she needs to be faster and improve her work. We don’t have formal policies on responsiveness but at her level she should be checking with people.

The only time she has admitted to struggling is when she told me she was getting reasonable workplace adjustments put in place so she can take a bit longer sometimes. But this just sounds like another way to avoid meeting expectations.

Tbh, 4 hours over 3 months is poor.

It sounds like you disagreed with the choice to hire her and are now letting her sink?

Just telling someone to get faster without having changed any of the input is pretty dim tbh.