Trouble EE causes more trouble
sk8n
32 Posts
Please forgive the long post here, but I do need some advice, from those willing to read through it all. (Thanks)
Three weeks ago I sought your advice and received unanimous opinion to terminate an employee who was falsifying her time reports while working on her resume and cover letters on company time. I agreed and was planning to; however, she was out 4 days that week (sick) and I left for board meetings the day she returned to work. Due to meetings and the Thankgiving holiday, I was out of town for 10 days and returned Dec 1. The entire office staff was scheduled to attend an awards banquet on Dec 4 to receive an award for "Best magazine" in the state for associations and ee in question happens to be the editor and writer of our magazine. Wrongly or not, I chose to wait until the day after the awards to talk to this employee, and told our President on Dec 1 that was my plan. He agreed that the work put in during the past year should be recognized at the awards and I would deal with the other issues on Friday.
I was on my way into the office when I got a call on my cell phone from this ee -- with a "tone" in her voice: "Am I losing my job? Is there anything you should have told me?" and insisting that I tell her right then. She then proceeded to tell me that while opening mail with our accountant (assistant acct.was absent) she opened the invoice from the newspaper with the bill for the ad placement for her job!
Timing is everything! The 15 minutes it took me to arrive at the office provided her time to stir up the entire staff, cause each of them to begin questioning whether or not I would advertise for their jobs and then just fire them if I was not happy with them. And more.
Now the dynamics of this entire situaiton have changed, and what would have been an easy termination has gotten very ugly. EE was argumentative with me, saying that "everyone else here" does personal work on company time, and she should be treated no different from them. And was I holding them accountable too? (I of course handled all of that reasonably) and then she asked how she could keep her job because she really wanted to make it work. (She didn't know that short, brief moments of personal time should be recorded on time allocation reports. She didn't know that her 6-10 minute smoke breaks a day should be recorded on the reports -- or that it was excessive because "everyone else" took breaks talking to other staff all the time.) After a 45 minute discussion and a turnaround in her attitude, and asking for remedy and accountability, I sent her home for the rest of the day. Then I called a staff meeting to openly discuss this situation and answer questions. I laid foundation and reiterated policy, told each of them if they were unhappy and wanted to leave, I would help them leave (and look for another position), but that using company time and resources was not tolerated. They asked if I fired her. I told them we have a no-tolerance accountability agreement. All the staff is now wary, mistrusts me, thinks I have it in for this one ee who I am taking it out on...and are walking on egg shells. This is a small office with 10 full timers, 2 part-timers, and most of them are friends. I've tried to develop a collegial atmosphere and a culture of teamwork.
I know the trouble ee must go. I can not be held hostage by this situation, but I am aware of the damage to staff morale, my credibility, and the dynamics that are now in play. The timing is terrible! And I need some advice.
Three weeks ago I sought your advice and received unanimous opinion to terminate an employee who was falsifying her time reports while working on her resume and cover letters on company time. I agreed and was planning to; however, she was out 4 days that week (sick) and I left for board meetings the day she returned to work. Due to meetings and the Thankgiving holiday, I was out of town for 10 days and returned Dec 1. The entire office staff was scheduled to attend an awards banquet on Dec 4 to receive an award for "Best magazine" in the state for associations and ee in question happens to be the editor and writer of our magazine. Wrongly or not, I chose to wait until the day after the awards to talk to this employee, and told our President on Dec 1 that was my plan. He agreed that the work put in during the past year should be recognized at the awards and I would deal with the other issues on Friday.
I was on my way into the office when I got a call on my cell phone from this ee -- with a "tone" in her voice: "Am I losing my job? Is there anything you should have told me?" and insisting that I tell her right then. She then proceeded to tell me that while opening mail with our accountant (assistant acct.was absent) she opened the invoice from the newspaper with the bill for the ad placement for her job!
Timing is everything! The 15 minutes it took me to arrive at the office provided her time to stir up the entire staff, cause each of them to begin questioning whether or not I would advertise for their jobs and then just fire them if I was not happy with them. And more.
Now the dynamics of this entire situaiton have changed, and what would have been an easy termination has gotten very ugly. EE was argumentative with me, saying that "everyone else here" does personal work on company time, and she should be treated no different from them. And was I holding them accountable too? (I of course handled all of that reasonably) and then she asked how she could keep her job because she really wanted to make it work. (She didn't know that short, brief moments of personal time should be recorded on time allocation reports. She didn't know that her 6-10 minute smoke breaks a day should be recorded on the reports -- or that it was excessive because "everyone else" took breaks talking to other staff all the time.) After a 45 minute discussion and a turnaround in her attitude, and asking for remedy and accountability, I sent her home for the rest of the day. Then I called a staff meeting to openly discuss this situation and answer questions. I laid foundation and reiterated policy, told each of them if they were unhappy and wanted to leave, I would help them leave (and look for another position), but that using company time and resources was not tolerated. They asked if I fired her. I told them we have a no-tolerance accountability agreement. All the staff is now wary, mistrusts me, thinks I have it in for this one ee who I am taking it out on...and are walking on egg shells. This is a small office with 10 full timers, 2 part-timers, and most of them are friends. I've tried to develop a collegial atmosphere and a culture of teamwork.
I know the trouble ee must go. I can not be held hostage by this situation, but I am aware of the damage to staff morale, my credibility, and the dynamics that are now in play. The timing is terrible! And I need some advice.
Comments
As for morale, you may talk to people individually and explain, that no one minds a minute or two personal call, but when work isn't getting done, and personal work takes an excessive amount of time then something has to be done. You can say that you were debating wether to keep her or not and that her attitude and the way this was handled by her just confirms to you that the right decision was made.
My $0.02 worth....
DJ The Balloonman
As Don said, this will pass.
Think of me today - I have to do the same thing. Our employee is a slow-learner, it's Christmas time, and he'll have trouble finding other work.
Sigh. I hate it.
I also question why she had the audacity to call you on your cell phone and speak to you in such a manner.
1. Don't procrastinate on the termination. Often what looks like a sound, reasonable decision is in reality a self-serving one. Could it be that you not too thrilled about having the termination meeting? If so, that just means you're human.
2. Never speak about another EE in a public meeting. I can understand how people might feel anxious, but you must tell them that you cannot devulge anything about why the EE is gone.
3. Call the EE, schedule a meeting and fire her. Have all her stuff packed up and ready to go. Do not allow her to hang in the office and poison the well more than she's probably already doing.
Good luck and take care.