How to respond to this?

[jaundiced]

one of my direct reports complained recently about feedback I gave him in January. There’s no reason why he has left it so long to complain.

I got his views on feasibility of a piece of work. Based on this, the task given to him was collate numbers in a spreadsheet in 3 weeks time. He agreed this was reasonable. I was going to use the data to deliver a presentation.

I trusted him to get on with it. The deadline passed and I asked for an update. He gave no clarity, just that it would be “soon”. He was then given 3 extensions ultimately. By this point, the data was no longer required. I presented without those figures.

When he showed me what he produced, the issue was that ended up giving me something that wasn’t described for example he was asked to supply numbers in a spreadsheet, but instead he was working on a presentation of his own (that he wasn’t asked to do).

When I gave him feedback I praised his work, advised of what was good, and also said one of the priorities here was the timing of it, and it would help me plan my workflow if I had accurate timings of how long things may take. And that ultimately on this occasion I wouldn’t be able to use his presentation as the deadline has passed, and I would have been able to work with just the numbers if it would have saved time for him. I didn't want him to invest time in something that isn’t going to be used. Whereas if he told me what he was really doing then I could have incorporated his work in my plan. I’d love a ready made presentation but we’d need to discuss that first as he doesn’t know exactly what it needs to cover. His complaint is this made him feel micro managed and upset.

but I don’t know how best to present this or whether it’s better to just not say too much. Had he approached me at the time, we could have sorted it.

Perhaps a discussion about effective delegation and your expectations of each other? For instance you believe you were clear on the ask and timeframe (open to feedback if this wasn't the case) and you expect updates.
With clear expectations of WHAT you need, you won't micromanage HOW he does it.

But just because you were given feedback that he felt micromanaged, it doesn't mean it's true.

Complained to whom? You or someone else?

If you have an audit trail of what it was agreed he would provide and when then you've nothing to worry about. It's not clear you actually told him you needed x in y format by z date. The fact that he put them into a presentation of his own suggests he either 1. didn't understand the brief, or 2. made a misguided attempt to add value, which backfired.

Your post makes it sound as though you bent over backwards to be nice to him tbh! You should definitely say that had he approached you at the time, you'd have been able to resolve it together. If he missed the deadline that's on him and your attempts to get what you needed from him were not micromanagement. You can say you are sorry he feels he was micromanaged. Doesn't mean you are agreeing. Ask for his suggestions to avoid a repeat in future. You may get garbage back as a response or something useful.

Is missing deadlines a regular occurrence?
I'd be moving any of my team to a PIP pretty quickly if they weren't able to meet agreed deadlines.
From your post, it does sound like you may be being 'too nice' unfortunately in a management role you can't always be everyone's friend.
Set out the expectation and if they don't meet it then ask why. Did you get a reason for them not meeting the deadline? Three extensions is excessive, I only every give one unless there are mitigating circumstances.

Saying that they feel micromanaged is an easy term to throw about. My response would probably be along the lines of 'I wouldn't need to micromanage you if you were hitting the deadlines agree on'. But I do have a blunt style. No point tiptoeing round the issue - it won't get better unless you're clear on the issues.

well he’s gone to HR. I’m being asked to respond via email about this. My union rep doesn’t care much. I do have the task in an email and it requests data by the deadline. There’s no request for a presentation to be made. Plus every month I do the presentation myself.

What are HR asking for?

If you provide them with the day the deadline was set, the extensions and the date that the work was received back, along with a description of what was requested and what was provided, I think they will shut this down very promptly.

How long has this employee been with the company?

It's an open and shut case isn't it? You asked him to do something. He agreed, then missed all deadlines then produced something else that was pointless.

I don't think that you need union involvement for this, do you?

@Motnight well that’s the thing it’s seems to be extreme that HR are investigating this especially as it wasn’t raised at time. Hence why I’m trying to be careful in response. Seems to be procedurally incorrect for something that happened in January to be discussed now.

Well he sounds like a total twat.

Having three weeks to pull some data and still not managing it is also ridiculous. What sector do you work in?

I would simply respond to the HR email by attaching the evidence (your emails requesting the task) and be factual.

• I requested XYZ on DDMMYY (see attached email)
• I asked again on XYZ
• Bob failed to deliver this. I did my presentation on X date without the data
• On DDMMYY I provided feedback to Bob that I didn’t need a presentation, I needed the data by X date (see attached email)
• I disagree with Bob’s assertion that my feedback was upsetting or micromanaging.

Keep it factual, no emotions. See if you can get him moved to a different manager if possible as he sounds like a pain.

Agree with PP that you are being too nice here.

Honest to god, when people are pulled up for not doing their job and impacting someone else's they shouldn't go crying to HR that their boss has upset them by remarking on this.

@YellowCloud Absolutely spot on. OP, do exactly this.

@jaundiced : you are right that the strange thing about all this is the timing

It may be that he has raised a wider grievance (which is why HR are investigating) and that this is part of it?

Any reason why, any protected characteristics etc?

I would go v carefully and document everything: if HR are involved whatever gets said will be on record for years AND you or he can access these records for years to come

In your situation I’d also be asking HR why they investigating this …

No protected characteristics and no wider grievance.

well the background is he was on a temporary promotion when I joined the team and he failed the application process for the permanent job. None of which I was involved in. So he’s generally pissy at work.

I agree. He didn’t do what was asked, you were extremely kind with your feedback, I’d almost say soft.

This is a good update: sounds like you are not under any cloud then

Maybe there have been other complaints and HR are creating a paper trail for later performance management? (Obviously asked for by someone in the business…)

Just play ball OP and document everything!

Actually @BeanBeliever has given a much more considered and useful response than me!

OP - my answer is influenced by experience as a manager in some pretty political (& vicious) private sector firms - I’m not in HR.

Cover your bum & document everything: when weird things pop up they can play out years later!

He didn’t do what you asked for on time and is now bringing it up months later? Could someone else have complained and now he’s trying to get a counter grievance in. Ask if HR can provide some mediation if you still need to work together.

also if your company has an employee assistance programme there is often a set amount of free legal advice you can access that is confidential. Check your home or car insurance as if you ticked the box that said legal cover you can ask them anything and it’s well worth ticking at renewal.

Chase your union up and escalate it to their manager as you pay your fees.

Was the temporary position the job you’re doing or something at the same level than you by any chance?

Add the fact that Bob asked for, and was given several extensions in which to complete the task but failed to do so.

Agree that Bob is a mardy fucker who needs to get used to being in a job, that requires you to do X things, for the date they are needed, not to do Y for when he feels like it. He needs micromanaging or he's clearly unable to do his job.

I'd love to be paid to spend three weeks collating data!

I'd be very good at that job, are you looking to replace him?!

:-)

This honestly sounds like a classic DARVO - deny, argue, reverse victim & offender.
Ie he was the one in the wrong, for neither doing what was needed nor communicating about it.
But that doesn't feel good (especially with the context of him not getting the permanent position) so it must be someone else's fault.
He couldn't possibly be in the wrong, after all!!!
I agree, keep it factual with HR, document ALL conversations (even if they're verbal, send a follow-up email - and turn on 'read receipts' cos that'll be the next thing!!)

My reply would be as his manager I asked him to do x by this date but he done y by this date. It’s not what was asked for and it was a complete waste of time as it was irrelevant and late. However I told him the work was good and explained to him why at this time it wasn’t needed. I think maybe a discussion is needed around him delivering on tasks he’d been assigned

KEEP IT SIMPLE .
stick to the facts.

HR . Here are email conversations.
Nothing received.
Spreadsheet not received.
I did the presentation, which has and was my job.
Unsure what the issue is as there was a satisfactory conclusion.

I know you asked what to say now.

I do believe, when he missed 1st or 2nd deadline, you should have asked him to email YOU the work he had done THUS far even if it’s not finished. You would have spotted he was doing a different task. If I were your manager, this is what I would think you as manager, failed to do. Why didn’t you ask to see that when he missed first deadline? It’s like you were setting him up for some fall, and not managing him/her.