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Written Warning
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We have an employee who is a strong manager, brings in money from clients but is personally reactive and polarizing. At a recent 360 review, her peer reviews were all over the place--some stellar and
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Written Warning
posted at 8/9/2011 2:22 AM EDT
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Posts: 1
First: 8/9/2011 Last: 8/9/2011 |
We have an employee who is a strong manager, brings in money from clients but is personally reactive and polarizing. At a recent 360 review, her peer reviews were all over the place--some stellar and some that were the opposite. We went over the 360 review with her and asked her to work on her interpersonal skills with people internally.
Her performance review about a month ago was conducted and satisfactory enough that her supervisor gave her a raise. He stated that he had acknowledged growth in her interpersonal skills but that he would like that to continue being a focus of her development. A few weeks ago there was an incident in a status meeting where a fellow employee complained that the manager above yelled at her. When spoken to about the incident, the manager said she did not yell, that she did not raise her voice but that she was firm about an error that had been made by the fellow employee. We have decided to give the manager a written final warning because of the perception that the manager is not improving and that she must make dramatic changes in order to stay with us. She replied to the written warning with questions including the substantiation that the other team members in the room had validated the employees experience. She is saying that she did not yell and she feels this is a personal attack against her, but that because she has this history with the company that she is not being treated fairly. We have not corraborated the incident with the other team members, because it is enough that a perception of disrespect has been shown. She has also documented that she asked for a behavior coach twice (once after her 360) and once when the incident was brought to her attention, but upper management is not willing to pay for this. Management really wants to keep her but because of our culture we have to provide an atmosphere of respect. We want to give her a final opportunity--we have told her we have zero tolerance for any further problems. It's a difficult situation when disciplining on behavior and is there anything else we can do in this situation? |
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Written Warning
posted at 8/9/2011 4:48 AM EDT
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Posts: 544
First: 9/27/2004 Last: 9/13/2011 |
It's common for people to begrudge someone's personal growth. They haven't forgiven her for the past and will be inclined to exaggerate any future missteps. They may even provoke old behaviors to justify their resentment. By not hearing all sides of the story you are allowing yourself to be played.
If you decide to keep her in this position, the only way to fix this is to air out past grievances and make the necessary apologies and to hold everyone accountable for honest feedback as you move forward. |
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Written Warning
posted at 8/9/2011 4:49 AM EDT
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Posts: 1103
First: 3/16/2007 Last: 8/19/2011 |
"She has also documented that she asked for a behavior coach twice (once after her 360) and once when the incident was brought to her attention, but upper management is not willing to pay for this. "
If she is sincere why can't she pay for this? |
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Written Warning
posted at 8/9/2011 7:23 AM EDT
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Posts: 1771
First: 10/24/2002 Last: 9/14/2011 |
Yes, I agree - her behaviour is her responsibility. If she wants to change it, she should access whatever assistance she thinks she needs to do so. Don't let her maneuver you into thinking her behaviour change is somehow the employer's responsibility.
We have someone like this at my workplace, and senior management's refusal to tell her to stop behaving like some kind of giant shark/grizzly bear is causing huge problems - high turnover, malicious gossip (everyone here is utterly convinced she's having an affair with her married boss and talks about it ad nauseum, I think he's the only one who doesn't know about this), and outright sabotage (of her work). BUT, she works real hard and long hours too, so let's keep her and ignore the fallout! At this point a warning wouldn't be enough, she'd probably just tear it up and stuff it forcibly down someone's throat (after setting it on fire). But until senior management realizes that her hard work just isn't worth the recruitment and training costs and low morale she's causing, there really isn't anything that can be done. As a result, I reco that's where you go - to senior management, and try to resolve the issue at that vantage point. |
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Written Warning
posted at 8/9/2011 8:58 AM EDT
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Posts: 1103
First: 3/16/2007 Last: 8/19/2011 |
Among the things I do is Executive Coaching. About half to slightly less than half of my clients are self pay. Those that are Corporate pay are usually very senior, as in VP, SVP or "C" level staff.
My point is that I have a fair number of clients who have taken responsibility for their own development. |
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Written Warning
posted at 8/9/2011 9:03 AM EDT
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Posts: 562
First: 11/12/2009 Last: 9/14/2011 |
The sequence of events bothers me some. There appears to have been a series of counseling/written warnings prior to a "satisfactory" performance review. That performance review works against you and any attorney could easily use the argument that the satisfactory performance review wiped the slate clean. Clearly there's some mixed messaging going on here.
Do you have a progressive discipline policy? Does it allow for re-instituting a process should misbehavior reoccur as seems to have happened in this case? If you don't have such a policy, what has been your past practice/s? Is the employment relationship "at will"? |
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Written Warning
posted at 8/9/2011 9:55 AM EDT
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Posts: 2146
First: 2/15/2006 Last: 9/14/2011 |
I agree that there has been a problem with mixed messages -- you call her a strong manager as a positive thing , but go on to contradict. I also have a bit of an issue with "perception of disrespect" and the "perception that she is not improving" although her supervisor stated that she was. If it had been my choice, I would have asked others in the meeting how it went down. It could have been that she was disrespectful but it also could have been that the employee was super sensitive. It's hard when you quantify behavior based on the perception of one person.
It's what we all do....but it can also get back to dumbing down a strong manager due to weak underlings. On the other hand, there are some people who are just not meant to be managers but get promoted, just because it is the next step up the career ladder. I have often wondered if some individuals would do better on a different kind of ladder (technical expertise vs managerial). Since you have 360s all over, I would suggest the whole team go through something like a Myers Briggs test and then resulting training about working with different personality types. Because truly it sounds like this situation goes both ways -- that neither side knows how to deal with each other. |
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