I’ve inherited a difficult team - advice please

[Knitonepurlonee]

This is an admin/support team which has a reputation in the wider organisation as being quite difficult, reluctant to change, very hierarchical (ie the longer term PAs/exec assistants run the show).

Three separate managers have come and gone in the last 18 months - all citing the difficulties managing this team as the reason they’ve left. New hires to the team are not staying.

Ive been here 1 month. At the beginning I had a general team meeting to set expectations around time keeping, productivity, behaviours in the workplace etc. I was openly challenged by two members of staff around my behaviour 🤦‍♀️ ie so will YOU be coming in on time everyday, will YOU be doing x/y/x. I refused to get into a discussion with them around this as I have no reason to defend myself, they were clear they mean managers as some vague body of people.

Ive held 1-1s with all members of the team and there are very clear issues.

the older established team don’t think there are any issues in their team, it’s either the new people couldn’t cope or the managers were rubbish.

the newer team members who have stayed are clear it’s a toxic environment, bullying, gossiping, intimidation if you speak out against the clique of the “A” team.

Everyday going into work is like dealing with a bunch of teenage girls. A constant stream of women in and out of my office to either tell me Sue did this, Mary did that.

Ive got one off long term sick with her mental health because a previous manager put her on a performance plan. I’ve got one off sick with her mental health because she had an argument with another member of staff who told her she was a bully.

There is a complete refusal to adopt different ways of working because “this is how it’s done, you don’t understand our department” (to be clear these are things like switching from paper to electronic systems which other departments have been using for years).

It’s bloody chaotic and feels like the lunatics have been allowed to take over the asylum.

Please give me words of wisdom/advice!!

Do you have someone that can support you? Your line manager, or HR? This sounds like a challenge for any one person to take on. My first thought would be to focus on actual identifiable issues with individual's work, so if someone is refusing to make a change that is needed for things to run better, that is a concrete issue you can address and quantify.

I think you'll just have to change things to electronic if you think thay will work better and if they don't like it tough. Be sympathetic to change being hard for some people. But ultimately if these people leave would that be a big problem for you? Have HR got involved at all with the bullying accusations?

Sounds like a tough crowd. One thing that occurred to me is that maybe the change to ways of working is a threat to the more entrenched members of the team, either in terms of job loss or their prestige (the ones who are information silos). Hard to be prescriptive without knowing more but if the changes are likely to be a demonstrative improvement on whatever performance metrics you use I'd be inclined to prioritise getting it done. If the clique baulk then give more responsibility to the juniors who look likely. If they see their power eroded the clique may have to rethink or get to the point where you can start using formal sanctions.

Are you public sector? If so I wouldn't bother trying to change things.

If you really insist, start building your team. Speak to HR about performance management/redundancy processes and pick a few highest profile offenders off

In my old job there were 5 ladies who'd done the job for over 20 years using paper systems etc, this was as late as 2016. A new manager came in and wanted to go electronic and she faced A LOT of resistance.

She had tried to listen to them and take their points on board, tried moving slowly etc, but then in the end she just said "this is happening and you need to get on board".

I'd try the slowly, slowly approach initially to give them time to get used to it and then just bring in the changes. FWIW, they preferred the new way of working once they'd got used to it but it took a good few months to get to that point.

I'd identify the ring leader/biggest problem and manage them out. I'd make my expectations clear and if they weren't met then this would be used to trigger the disciplinary process.

Then the next problem staff member would be on my list, and so on until all the toxic staff had been replaced.

I think you need a complete fresh start. Move to electronic documents, try to split up the entrenched teams of bullies, a 'this is how it's going to be from now on' moment.

It seems strange that the PAs and exec assistants are in an admin support team. Shouldn’t they report direct to their respective managers? Perhaps resetting the reporting structure could help. Hopefully that would resolve some of the issues relating to those in a senior position taking charge.

I would avoid entering into any discussion on low level office politics. Tell the women reporting on others to focus on their work.

If new systems are to be implemented then do so regardless of obstructive behaviour.

good luck!

Hold firm on the standards and expectations. Manage the sickness issues. Don’t back down from performance plans and bullying allegations just to get people back to work. Continue to assess these issues.

Only thing I would say, is whilst you don’t necessarily have to answer to them re your every movement, you should lead by example eg you expect their timeliness to be exemplary, so should yours.

Do you want to stay ? It’s very easy to feel that you have to make things work and sort it all out. But you did not create these issues . Would another job appeal?

I think resetting the structure would indeed help, as would a much harder line on being electronic. You NEED the support and back-up of those above you or you are doomed, but i think i wouldnt be pussy footing around at this stage. The cliquey old timers and their papers would be fine if the team was happy and functioning, but it aint.

I have your team-they are slowly leaving! They realised I were there to change things and wouldn't back down. It's been a tough 9 months but I feel we are getting other side.

If it's public sector you'll never 'manage anyone out' least not those that have been there 20 years!!

If you really insist, start building your team. Speak to HR about performance management/redundancy processes and pick a few highest profile offenders off
Do you understand how the Public Sector works? You make positions, not people, redundant.

Not just public sector - the principle of roles being redundant not people is part of UK employment law.

HR person here, I have to say I've found with long experience that doing things the 'right' way with teams like this where a toxic environment has been allowed to fester IE setting and holding people to clear behaviour standards, putting people on performance improvement plans usually makes things worse not better, either they go off sick or they start putting into grievances about the manager, saying they're being bullied etc. I think you need HR back-up and some money to throw at the situation to get the worst offenders to leave - are you private or public sector? If private it'll be easier as you can ask HR to support you in having a compromise agreement conversation where you essentially say to the person, look, you're clearly not happy, we're clearly not happy, we don't want to put you through a long-winded process, what would it take for you to go on good terms and with your dignity/reputation intact? Usually the answer is £££ and a neutral reference although if they're older pension access etc may come into it too. If you're public unfortunately HM treasury is usually much stricter about allowing the use of public funds for these things so you have to be sneakier, my tactic would be restructure your department (the move to electronic systems is the perfect excuse) and either remove the role of senior PA altogether or drastically reduce the numbers, offer generous VR terms if you are allowed to or if not set your CR selection criteria so that the people you want to stay, stay. Again you'll need HR support to do this properly but it can be an excellent if expensive way of quietly exiting people who really are never going to change their ways...

Ha, I used to work with a group like this. I now keep chickens. There are a lot of similarities.

You really need to be top chicken but don't underestimate how visicious they are. Chickens survived when dinosaurs went extinct.

And yep, if it's public sector, no chance. They will outlast you...

Time for a team meeting about poor behaviour not being tolerated, team work, new electronic ways of working and consequences if people refuse to move along with the organisation.

Have a good chat with HR in advance about how to do this without threatening people / risking complaints.

Have senior management in with you at the team meeting.

Yes I understand exactly how it works.

If it's public sector it's hardly worth the op's while as it's so hard to change.

You sound so naive though! Funny

Crikey, you've been sold a lemon there! That all sounds very difficult.
I agree with ideas above on restructuring. You need HR support with this but I'd be saying you need to restructure the service and change reporting and accountability lines.
Once you put people into a different structure, but same job role, you can then look at moving people into different office bases, basically breaking up the dept.

also funny

Thank God someone who actually understands .... and this, dear posters, is how you make both a role and a specific person, redundant simultaneously.

Indeed, and OP says it's the senior PAs that are the problem, so, she no longer requires senior PAs, hey presto, redundancy. Redundancy can quite clearly in law be due to a reduced need for certain 'types' of role, it doesn't have to be an across the cards reduction or downturn in business. It's pretty normal in fact if you are digitising that some of the more complex or time consuming work is done by the computer and to have a resultant reduction in the need for more senior/experienced/expensive staff. And in the public sector redundancy terms can be very generous so oftentimes the aforementioned more experienced, senior staff are only too happy to take a package esp if they don't like the changes going on the dept (in fact your problem often is too many people want the redundancy and too few want to stay!). Like I say OP 100% needs HR advice on this, she shouldn't just barge in and start restructuring as lots of possible pitfalls if you don't do it fairly and by the book but it's a possibility to consider for sure...

Have you had any leadership development to help you with this sort of situation?

I am thinking something like Team Journey would be good where as a team you take ownership of your shared vision and changes that need to be made.