Please help me with this management problem

[Durango]

I’m a relatively new manager (18 months).

I have a direct report who’s been on my team around 8-9 months. Hard worker, reliable but there are some performance issues namely:

They complain - a lot. Specifically about other members of the team and how hard they work compared to them. I’ve had numerous conversations with this person about this issue. Actively listening and trying to see if their point is valid (no tangible evidence). Review of their workloads, again no real difference. I’ve now moved on to a canned response of “I monitor x’s performance and perhaps there are things that she does that you don’t know about, I won’t keep discussing x with you. (They are equals in the hierarchy).

Shes become quite argumentative with me about this, now alluding to the fact that I can’t see what’s going on as I don’t sit in their office. This has become more of an issue than the original problem now, she is publicly arguing with me with any change in process or new ask.

Help please!

How much would you like her to quit or be fired?
Can't she be asked to leave before 12 months employed?
my brain is screaming trouble maker

I wondered if escalating the whole thing to written communication is a way to proceed.

How possible would it be for you to sit in their office?

If you were to do that and see a difference in performance stats/quality of work it may be indicative that she is right in her feedback. If there is no difference then it gives weight to your previous views.

The public arguing needs to stop though, do you have a set of behavioural expectations/competences? If so, look for the ones about team working/communication and talk to her about how she is not meeting those expectations.

I’d tell her that you are actively measuring everyone’s output and productivity as the manager. Her complaints might be a sign that she wants a promotion or more challenging work, why don’t you turn it around and tell her that you’re wondering if she’s thinking about this?

I think you need to stop explaining what going one it's other colleagues, her colleagues performance is nothing to do with her.

Tell her that everyone is different, other colleagues have their own challenges and to compare themselves to others isn't a good measure, everyone has different objectives and may have challenges that she's not aware of.

Tell her she needs to concentrate on her own performance and to stop comparing. Then take the meeting ti discuss her performance. If she won't stop complaining about others and If she feels she has a grievance (I'd ask her this) then you can arrange for her to have an interview with HR and yourself to air the grievances

The public arguing isn't good, this is something I'd bring up in her one to one, if she's challenging you, she needs to challenge constructively, tell her if she feels it's unfair/not needed then you'll happily welcome suggestions as to how this can be improved, but to simply argue isn't constructive and also has a negative impact on the rest of the team when done publicly. Plus some changes need to happen regardless of why, and she doesn't always see the reasons.

Tbh that and the other issues I'd be looking to manage her out of the company unless her performance outweighs the hassle

I wouldn't say that complaining a lot is a performance issue.

I would ask her to keep a log so she can provide specific examples. Is she the one always answering the phone or responding to emails from the joint mailbox?

I started a job with two others. First one was unofficially the senior in the department and she had comandeered the other one as her assistant. Between them looked after the CEO and meeting rooms/bookings. I looked after three other directors and was expected to support their direct reports so about 18 people in total. All sorts of random shit came my way as a result. All calls into the office pretty much came through me. A hunt group was set up on our telephones but number one had her ringer turned down so would only ever answer calls she wanted to. This went on for quite a while until I realised what was happening. I very diplomatically tried to resolve the issue but absolutely no one took me seriously. Eventually I left and put it all down in writing warts and all. Response was "We're shocked. We never realised".

It could be that she is telling the truth. It could be that she's not as well organised as the other one or doesn't know how to use systems in an effective way. Don't dismiss what she is saying. Try to drill down and find out exactly what the problem is. There is nothing worse than being in that position and bosses are assuming you are a whinger.

You’re not addressing it right. Because if you were it would go away. So you need to sit down and listen to her, then come up with a plan on how to improve the situation, steps she can take

The next time she argues with you immediately ask her to go to your office, then ask her why she’s arguing with you, you’ve asked her to do something within her remit and she needs to get on and do it.

Re the complaining about others, what is she actually complaining about? Is it things like she’s always the one answering the phone or others are chatting for hours and not working?

This is what poor managers do. Treat their staff like children.

You say she's a hard worker and reliable. Those are pretty valuable qualities to have in an employee.

I'd say she is being argumentative because she doesn't feel heard. You need to dig deeper and get her to give you some specific examples of why she thinks she's overworked.