Can I just start by saying I don't enjoy management that much.
I enjoy the tasks I am involved in, and I enjoy being able to manage my own time. But I don't enjoy people management, and second guess myself. My team drive me crazy but I do have good feedback from them in general, so I can't be doing too bad.
Right...just before lockdown we (myself and my manager) interviewed someone for a role. His CV was good, he didn't interview hugely well but seemed down on his luck and enthusiastic - been out of work for a couple of years due to health issues but now keen to get back into it. We decided to offer him the role.
Unfortunately I was off on mat leave for almost a year, he started just after I left. I came back to most of the team complaining about him - lazy and rubbish was the general consensus.
I defended him to the team, as I can't even imagine what it would be like starting a new role during lockdown from home. No in person training, not meeting the team etc. I also didn't train him myself, so couldn't be sure of the quality of training he received (although no reason to doubt it).
All of my staff are employed through an agent - not my choice and I have no control over budget etc, and I am frequently disappointed with the quality of staff we have but I know other similar roles pay more so not surprising.
Due to the way he's employed I could just get rid, but I don't like to without exploring other avenues. I don't like to retrain new people all the time anyway, and I also wouldn't like to be cut off like that with no opportunity to improve.
I've retrained. Twice. I've got someone else to train him in case he just wasn't responding to my training style. I hold regular catch ups with him to discuss any issues. I allocate specific tasks to get him to practice.
He's crap. I want him gone. He has a good reputation for being helpful with the team we support (picks and chooses the tasks which make him seem useful), so I won't be popular with them for letting him go. He consistently misses deadlines. Makes very basic mistakes. Doesn't respond to messages for ages. Misses meetings.
This is my problem - I want him gone and have no problem telling him to go (well I hate doing it, but I've done it before and not worried about doing it again). My manager is making me wait for a month or two until a certain point in the project when it's easier to get rid of him without a difficult conversation. 2 months ago I got rid of someone else who was useless, so I guess he doesn't want to make it look like we're being difficult. But there's no guarantee he'll even go at that point in the project.
I'm annoyed. I recently pulled him up on something I've told him to do several times and he's still not doing it, and he appears to be ignoring me!! I might get a one word response sometimes, but mostly just ignored totally. I think this is unacceptable and don't see how I can continue to have him on the team.
Sorry it's a long one.
How would you deal with this.