volatile manager
HRinGA
412 Posts
We have a small office about 30min away. They've always referred to themselves as the "red-headed stepchild, out of sight-out of mind", etc.
Anyway, hired a new manager about 2 years ago. He has made tremendous strides and really increased the productivity in the office. However, there have been complaints about his behavior. We are now up to 3 formal complaints. Manager curses (a lot)out loud & at people, slams objects in his office, allegedly talks about subordinates to other co-workers. You get the picture. We now have a new hire (3 weeks) who wrote a 3 page letter describing incidents in detail and has also thrown in the phrase "hostile environment". Some employees think this manager is great, some hate him. They all agree he is a hard-a** and that going through his bootcamp is hell, but it made them better at their job.
While I agree he is a jerk, he hasn't done anything illegal. We are meeting tomorrow to discuss further action, which is leaning towards termination. He was told at last discussion that another complaint would be cause for further action. Oh, one more thing, the new ee who wrote the letter is really not performing and has just been given a memo about stepping up. Hmmmm... could a part of this be sour grapes? How do you balance a manager who is a hot head yet gets the job done? I don't see him changing and I'd rather deal w/his termination than a lawsuit. I don't have tolerance for a manager who behaves this way. We can find someone else to lead the team who isn't verbally abusive to their employees. I am afraid I may get pushback from management. There are 4 involved in this decision and so far it's 2 against 2 (male/female). Your thoughts? Am I being a "weenie" as one manager accused?
Anyway, hired a new manager about 2 years ago. He has made tremendous strides and really increased the productivity in the office. However, there have been complaints about his behavior. We are now up to 3 formal complaints. Manager curses (a lot)out loud & at people, slams objects in his office, allegedly talks about subordinates to other co-workers. You get the picture. We now have a new hire (3 weeks) who wrote a 3 page letter describing incidents in detail and has also thrown in the phrase "hostile environment". Some employees think this manager is great, some hate him. They all agree he is a hard-a** and that going through his bootcamp is hell, but it made them better at their job.
While I agree he is a jerk, he hasn't done anything illegal. We are meeting tomorrow to discuss further action, which is leaning towards termination. He was told at last discussion that another complaint would be cause for further action. Oh, one more thing, the new ee who wrote the letter is really not performing and has just been given a memo about stepping up. Hmmmm... could a part of this be sour grapes? How do you balance a manager who is a hot head yet gets the job done? I don't see him changing and I'd rather deal w/his termination than a lawsuit. I don't have tolerance for a manager who behaves this way. We can find someone else to lead the team who isn't verbally abusive to their employees. I am afraid I may get pushback from management. There are 4 involved in this decision and so far it's 2 against 2 (male/female). Your thoughts? Am I being a "weenie" as one manager accused?
Comments
Did the new employee write the letter after the writeup? Something else to consider.
If you have provided him with the training and guidance and he is not changing, then one bad lawsuit/settlement would more than offset the lost profits while transitioning to a new manager.
Oh, and follow your progressive discipline policy with respect to the under performer. If he is in an introductory period, it might be best to get rid of him as well.