Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
My office recently put someone on probation by demoting him to "intern". I think he's fully aware of the severity of the situation. Having been a full fledge engineer for a number of years, it must be humiliating to carry the "intern" label now.
I really do hope he pulls through.
That said, I'm still cleaning up some of the messes he made months ago.
Of all the folks I've had to deal with, the hardest to do anything with are the borderline, barely passing ones. They aren't bad people, and they put forth effort, at least somewhat. But for some reason they seem stuck on just getting by. Nothing bad enough to directly fire them for, yet not really improving. In the long run, you seem to eventually have to let them go, because the drain on waiting for them to improve is just too much. But it is an exhausting ride.
An employer does not have to tell an underperforming employee he is on the verge of losing his job. Decreased job responsibilities, decreased hours scheduled to work, or a transfer to another department where skills set and experience will not be efficient for new activities are reasonable actions leading up to and including termination. If an employee notices these actions, he should begin seeking employment opportunities elsewhere.
I've had this kind of situation a couple times. Once I just performed a lay off because they were not remotely close to being able to handle the job. The hirings were done in massive groups and not everyone was competent. I also had one older employee who was insubordinate (seemed to hate having a much younger manager). I called her in and was going to terminate her if she decided to cop an attitude again but she swore it wouldn't happen anymore. I let her stay on and she became a better than average employee. She still hated me, but she got her job done and kept her mouth shut which was enough for me. Eventually I was able to have her transferred to an older manager where she would be happier and they would get an employee that was very competent. It turned out to be a win for everyone involved. Funny thing is I don't think she ever knew that it was my recommendation behind the scenes that got her that position.
You don't tell them if you just want them gone, which happens often. But if you are a decent person you tell them and let them try to fix what they aren't doing right.
Location: Stuck on the East Coast, hoping to head West
4,641 posts, read 11,966,936 times
Reputation: 9889
If you want to give them heads up, why not? But don't do it under the guise of giving the employee another shot. Puhleeze. This is all about the manager trying to make him/herself feel better or delay the inevitable. I've never seen any employee stick around long after (either they left or were fired).
Every place I've worked had some type of system to deal with this, usually write ups, suspensions, and then termination. These were all large companies with a HR department. If you're working in a one man shop type of deal you typically can be fired on the spot.
Location: Stuck on the East Coast, hoping to head West
4,641 posts, read 11,966,936 times
Reputation: 9889
Quote:
Originally Posted by bUU
There is a difference between making the requirements for continued employment clear and "giving the employee another shot".
I get what you're saying, but I've never witnessed it. I've worked for fortune 500 companies and mom-and-pop places and everything in between. Once an employee's bad performance has been noticed by management; that employee is done, at least from what I've seen in my career. I've never seen an employee be "coached" or "written up" and then retain employment.
Requirements for employment are usually clearly addressed at the time of hire and/or training. I've never taken a job not knowing what I had to do to keep it.
When I worked in management, all of these were steps leading to the door-----not steps to help the employee stay gainfully employed. If anything, these steps were meant to encourage the employee to leave of their own accord and to get their financial life in order.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
