Reputation Check

mistytee

What do you do when a temporary employee trashes your name and reputation to other regular employees in the company?

I told a temp a few weeks ago that I was considering him for the position he was working. Since that time, I discovered that person was not doing all the job that needed done. I began interviewing others in the company for his job position because we are closing 2 of our depts. and 7 - 9 people have to be placed in other positions within the company (we don't do layoffs). I have an obligation to THOSE employees already on the payroll to help them find jobs within the company first. If none of them qualified I was going to make a decision whether or not to keep the temp. cut my losses and go outside the company.
This person has went over my head to my manager to complain about me because I began interviewing others. He's also talked to many others in the company to complain about me and I'm very upset. Even though I was considering not hiring the temp, one of our other depts. was interested in him and I was trying to get that all worked out so he would have a permanent job with the company. That was the reason I held off talking to him before I did. And guess what, it turned out the other dept. really wants this person full time. I knew they would.

So... what can I do to initiate damage control. It's all around the company now that I did this person wrong, when in fact I was trying to do a good thing.

Any suggestions?

HS

First of all, this is a temp, not an employee. You are under no obligation to hire this person over someone that has been employed by your company. I'd explain the situation to your manager, then talk to the department who wants the temp. Tell that department that we have an obligation to consider our employees first for the opening. Also advise them on the temps 'attitude'. If it were me, I'd be calling the temp agency to get this person replaced ASAP. Unless of course this is a long term temp that you've "hired" on your own.

scottorr

I would not hire this guy. If he is starting trouble even before he is an actual employee, you are asking for trouble. We had a temp working here, who wanted a full time job, that trashed the company a couple of times. We ended the assignment immediately. I would feel disrespected and let your manager know this. Your manager should support you. I don't care if the temp is Bill Gates, if he behaves poorly before you hire (when he is trying to impress you) he will be a poor employee the entire time. If your manager doesn't want to listen, update your resume and get ready for a change. We used to have a saying at my last employer, "they are temps for a reason".

Don D

But to answer your question....you'd do the same thing you would if the person trashing you were a 20 year employee. Unless you're called in to explain, you ignore it and suck it up. Your credibility and professional integrity are built by your actions and interactions; not by what somebody down the hall says about you.

jmpmo

Why would you want a temp or employee working for you that is like that. I would absolutely not tolerate a temp doing that. They do not work for you, they work for the agency and the agency works for you. I would have that person replaced immediately and you certainly do not owe any explanation to the temp. Again, they are not your employee.

mbeam

Devil's advocate response here - what will it do for your reputation if you have a department that professes to want this individual on their team and you have him replaced through the temporary agency? I would have the manager of the department this individual is reporting into provide the pro's and con's of his work performance and let the hiring manager decide who to hire.

If this individual reports into a department that you manage, I would have a chat with them to get this out in the open - "I understand that you may not be happy with decisions that I have made recently......In the future, I would appreciate it if you would discuss your concerns with me first. What would you do if the tables were turned - i.e. I disagree with a decision or course of action that you have taken and my response is to address it with your boss before talking to you about it?"

Rockie

I believe that you have acted very appropriately in this situation. You are correct that your obligation is to try to place your employees in the organization that are going to be displaced. Your comment that you would consider the temporary for employment was also the way to handle this. The fact that you have since observed the deficiencies in the temporary worker's habits, is one good reason to have a temporary in the first place - to be able to release them with minimum pain. It sounds like this is the type person you do not want in your organization - a troublemaker even before they get permanent status. I would do my best to just release this person and go on.

If you feel the need to explain yourself, I would only do so to my manager and let it go at that. Given the cirumstances, I cannot see why you would not have the full support of your manager.

I have often found that people who are very technically gifted and have years of experience who are working temporary are often doing this for a reason. Most of the times it is because they have interpersonal problems, attitude problems, personality defects, etc. as you have described above. This is not always the case, but I have come across some real lulus in the temp world and am very happy when I can call their agency to retrieve them.

Good luck!

mistytee

Thanks to everyone who responded.

I have 2 good candidates for that position and will be making a hiring decision within the next day or so. Once done, the temp agency will be contacted and temp's assignment will end immediately.

Sometimes people just don't think. What did he think he would gain by going to my manager instead of posing his questions/concerns directly to me? This person has been here for 3 1/2 months and it's the little things (beside complaining to my manager)that raised the red flag. I must admit one thing to you guys, I am short staffed and have put up with more than I should have with this person. Shame on me. I have forewarned the other manager who's considering him for employment. While I think this person will do a decent job in that other dept., I don't want that type of person on our employee roster based on his past behavior, attitude, and vindictive nature.

sonny

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 05-20-03 AT 10:59AM (CST)[/font][p]You are better off without this person. I would, in the future, however, be careful about telling a temp. I was considering them for a position before al the facts were known.

Rockie

Hey...don't beat yourself up too much on this. I think we have all been in the situation of where we put up with too much from an employee before we do something in the name of being short staffed. It usually ends up biting us!

Employees, especially in healthcare, know they are in demand and will often push the envelope and/or threaten to "walk" if they don't get what they want. It's always refreshing to be able to say "Well, you need to do what you have to do." Most of the time they back down because they don't want to go from working at our daytime hours only practice to working third shift at the hospital.

njjel

I have found that in our HR positions, we are continually put "between a rock and a hard place". You too will find that while this is a hot topic right now, it will pass, be forgotten and they will move on to the next issue in no time. I would take the advice given above and address the issue only with my manager if he/she inquires about it. I too agree that I would not recommend this temp for full time hire due to obvious reasons. Good luck.