Employee's Mouth Runneth Over
T
175 Posts
I have offered an ee a higher position in our company. I informed her that this decision is confidential until upper management has had time to discuss the issue within the department.
As soon as my meeting with said ee was over, she begins blabbing to her fellow co-workers that she has been offered this position because she works the hardest and is the only one who can handle the position, she also says she would be getting an increase and tells them how much money she would assume she would be making. First of all, no salary was discussed in my meeting and now the other co-workers are upset because they were not offered the position. So, i'm now in the middle of a major mess.
Would I be within my rights to rescind the offer to this ee and now post the position and require testing to be completed for all ee's who are interested in applying???
As soon as my meeting with said ee was over, she begins blabbing to her fellow co-workers that she has been offered this position because she works the hardest and is the only one who can handle the position, she also says she would be getting an increase and tells them how much money she would assume she would be making. First of all, no salary was discussed in my meeting and now the other co-workers are upset because they were not offered the position. So, i'm now in the middle of a major mess.
Would I be within my rights to rescind the offer to this ee and now post the position and require testing to be completed for all ee's who are interested in applying???
Comments
Second - bring the employee in and inform her of all the facts, and that the
position is being reopened for competitive testing. Have a witness present when you do this. Third - post the job opening.
Chari
>employee that she's about as discreet as a lime leisure suit at a
>funeral.
What a visual. I love it!
My $0.02 worth.
D The Balloonman
>to co-workers about salary is protected activity under the NLRB. Why
>not have a meeting and let her know in strong terms that what she did
>was inappropriate, and educate her as to why it was inappropriate? You
>obviously saw potential in this person. Why chop her off at the knees
>for one mistake? Remember what Admiral Nimitz said: "Every dog
>deserves two bites."
I thought about this, too, but since she was not offered a particular salary and she just assumed she would get such and such, I don't see where this was covered. The issue was that she was asked to keep the conversation confidential until it could be further discussed, and she chose not to. To me, this is a trust issue, and I don't know that I could trust this person in a higher level position.
Although the employee is definitely guilty of really poor judgement and a few other things identified by the other posters, I want to ask you why you "offered an ee a higher position"..........before "upper management has had time to discuss the issue"? Sounds as if you, or someone, was a bit too anxious to let the cat out of the bag. I'll bet that when you ask her why she did what she did, she'll tell you, "I didn't realize you meant NOT to mention it AT ALL. I thought you meant don't tell anybody it's a done deal."
You obviously had her so pumped up about the new job that she heard maybe half of what you told her. Sometimes when we get really great news, we can't decide which to do first; wet our pants or go tell somebody else. Proceed more cautiously next time. x:-)
It is alright to have interviews of the company employees. That is our position of responsibility to: "KNOW OF THE EMPLOYEES WHO WISH TO GO BEYOND ANY ASSUMED GLASS CEILING! IT IS WRONG FOR THE ADVISORY STAFF TO MAKE PROMOTION AND WAGE AND SALARY INFORMATION DECISIONS A PART OF THE INTERVIEW.
You of course, must be prepared to discuss these issues with department or supervisory heads responsible for the announcement and subsequent increases in income. You should do the comparsions of the situations surrounding the vacant position and like positions within the company; followed with providing racial, gender, and wage/salary recommendations pertaining to your perceptions of all candidates that fit within the situation in order to promote "the most qualified person for the position"! But the HR never makes the final decision nor the promotion announcement.
You can be the witness to the decisions, as well as, the decisions to seperate from employment situations! You may take the pictures of the events but try never to become the center of operational events.
Truly you are not in a big mess. I trust your management has decided to promote this person because of her excellent strengths and capabilities and your beliefs in her being able to perfom that job. So, her promotion is a decision based on individual merits and thus justifiable. Other employees should not be upset that they are not getting that promotion. You need not rescind her promotion and publish this position as "open".
What you need to do is to bring the lady in and talk to her about what you have heard. Perhaps, she may not be aware of what had been going....? Give her the benefit of doubt and have her explain what you have heard. One should always clarify to find out what's heard, and what's not heard.
I would have a word with her instead of doing anything drastic for now. Well, if you are the HR person, then you should have the dept's manager speak with her. I agree with Pork, we are facilitators.