#EmployeeReview #ManagerDilemma #WorkplaceConflict
Hey everyone! 🌟 Let’s talk about a tricky situation I recently encountered with an employee review that didn’t quite go as planned. Have you ever had a similar experience? How did you handle it?
Here’s the scoop: I had a performance review with one of my team members and highlighted some areas for improvement that she was already aware of. Instead of taking it constructively, she got upset, claimed I was rude, and stormed out of the office. 😬
So, here are a few thoughts on how to address this issue:
– Open Communication: Have a heart-to-heart conversation with the employee to understand their perspective and feelings.
– Set Clear Expectations: Clearly outline expectations for performance, behavior, and communication in the workplace.
– Offer Support: Provide resources, training, or mentorship to help the employee improve in the areas of concern.
Any other tips or experiences to share? Let’s help each other navigate through these challenging situations! 🤝 #SupportiveWorkEnvironment #ProfessionalDevelopment
Look, I’m all for helping employees develop, but it sounds like she’s not the right person for the role and/or you. I would tell her that her options are to step up her work or seek employment elsewhere, because the next step is a PIP.
I have had this employee in fact in my first role as a manager. Could not accept any feedback that was not glowing. I held my standards and addressed items as they came up. She ultimately quit because she could not meet expectations I was too hard on her. She was young (ha so was I 27) my hope is she learned from that experience.
Sounds like your manager, the employee and you need to have a solid chat. She, the employee, needs to understand and accept you are the supervisor. This must be backed up by your manager. Also, you need to establish space between her and you. This will reinforce your level and hers.
Of course, I know you have PIP in place. Now may be a good time to introduce it. From what I’ve read, she is struggling and if she cannot handle the workload, perhaps she may need to find another position within or externally.
I wonder, how old is this person?
I would give her a few days and revisit the discussion by asking her if she’s had a chance to think it through and if she understands what’s expected in her role now. If she does, great. If not, or if she doesn’t agree with it, then it might be time for a talk on whether or not she wants to be in this role. If she elects to stay in the job, manage performance.
She’s not the right person for this role.
Start more strictly managing her performance and move her out the door.
It sounds like she lacks the emotional maturity and resiliency required for this role and for the org. in general. You could look into some training in this area, but she honestly sounds like a bad fit. Is it possible that this role needs someone with more years in the workforce?
I’ve had a couple directs like this over the years. It always ends in me terming or them quitting as I’m prepping to term. You can’t emotionally regulate her… cut her loose.
Self awareness and the ability to take constructive criticism are skills some people unfortunately never learn.
Obviously, Document the conversation. Have you ever sat down with her and gone over the written job description so she can see what percentage or how many of the functions she’s NOT currently doing? For visual learners this has a big impact and it shows that there is a clear expectation for the role and you are not “taking advantage “. I have dealt with this situation before and it always ends with separation either voluntary or involuntary.
I agree with all the other feedback here and would like to add: I truly think to thrive in HR you have to have a slightly thicker skin than others and be able to digest criticism. Our roles require us to be more pragmatic and see the bigger landscape than other jobs, and to be less reactive. Assuming the tone was professional and polite and the only issue truly is that she hates the message, I would really doubt my direct reports’ future, for example, in this career if they couldn’t process this news or self reflect on it better.
My first role in HR was a split position like yours, managing HR initiatives and have direct operational reports. Looking back, I was pretty bad (immature) at both, but I did my best with what I had. Your post sounds a lot like my thoughts at that stage in my career, so please take my advice as if I were coaching myself.
I don’t think your employee feels understood, is probably in the wrong role for her strengths, and is struggling with emotional maturity. While other people are suggesting to PIP her out, you have an opportunity to make a positive impact. If you haven’t yet, take the time to do a professional personality assessment (Clifton Strengths, Marcus Buckingham Company, McQuaig). The goal is to help her discover how she shows up at work and how your personalities can harmonize or clash. This assessment can also give her personal clarity for her own career choices, to help her find work that fits. By investing in her development, you are communicating that you care about her development in addition to her productivity.
It sounds like she is extremely afraid of failing. Her asking for your help with simple tasks and feeling overloaded are symptoms of low self-confidence. She needs to be assigned work where she is allowed to make mistakes and learn from them. I know that’s not easy for accounting work, buy you could work a parallel project with her and then take the time to review differences in your work. Make sure to take the time to give genuine praise when she does something smart. It takes a lot of evidence that its ok to fail sometimes and that when she applies her skills she’s a valuable worker in order for that self-confidence to grow.
Regarding pay, we are all in a bad position. Inflation and COL has outpaced wages in every industry for the past 3 years, and everyone is feeling the pinch. There may be an opportunity for you to share a bit about how the company earns a profit so she can come up with ideas of how she can add more value to the business model in order to earn higher wages. Don’t tell her she can’t earn more, encourage her to think through the value she is bringing to the business model. This might also encourage her to find ways to utilize her strengths in new ways.
Looking back I also recognized how much more I was willing to invest in the employees I hired. I thought my hires were the best (and kind of still do), and the previous manager’s hires sucked (some did, some didn’t). Consider your own bias. Has your willingness to invest in her been influenced by her not being your choice?
In the end, there is a high chance she will not be in the company in a year. However, you learn more about how to lead through these types of employees. If you lean into it and learn from it you will level-up your leadership game.
Were these issues addressed specifically with her PRIOR to the review? Or did you spring it on her. I’m guessing the latter.
I cannot even fathom sending a message to my boss that says “I don’t want to be here lol”
I just want to make sure you thought this through because you had an employee for so long obviously they were competent they’ve been doing it for many many years that you’re not trying to compare it to her who has not been doing it that long and the salary would be similar because of inflation even if she’s not as skilled as the previous employee. Be careful to project a ghost of an employee. I’m sure you’ve thought this through but wanted to point out that issue just in case because especially when a long time employee leaves, we haven’t mentally caught up with the concept that their wage was probably too low, and their skills were ten years in the making.
Is she still in her probationary period? If so, can you extend it? That might be the best way to address this situation.
How difficult is it to find a replacement, vs doing some of her work for her?
If there are plenty of candidates who could do the entire job, let her know that, and see if she’d prefer to step up her game, or let someone else fill the role. No one is irreplaceable, and especially workers with a bad attitude.
If it’s her or nothing, you’re going to have to find a way to live with her attitude & help with her workload, Or find a way to attract more candidates. Some people will whine about their workload, no matter how little is asked of them, and some will get down to business, and keep on until they catch up. Sounds like you have a whiner, and that’s not good. Even if they’re doing a reasonable amount of work, if they’re whining about it all the time, they’ll infect the entire workplace sooner or later, and then everyone will be disgruntled. Far better to get someone who’s grateful for the job, and willing to learn, than someone who can do the job, but won’t, cuz they’re too busy griping about how overworked they are.
If threatening to replace her doesn’t light a fire under her, then let her go, and find someone else. Whiners are Whiners, and no job will ever be good enough for them. Get them out of there, before they infect the entire workforce – cuz Whiners like nothing better than to Rabble rouse the rest of the crew. Trust me, get her out.