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Alea iacta est |
So I have an odd employee issue. Normally these things are easy to handle, but this one puts me in an odd spot. There is a person in charge that I have given specific directions to, assigning work to employees to keep the job fair. I question this person as to following the directions given. I am told yes, exactly as you have asked. When I go to the department, everything looks good, and people are working, but the issue at hand (certain employees getting easy tasks) still appears to be the same, however this is just said to be coincidence or bad timing. Where it gets convoluted, is that my wife works in that department. She knows the directions I have given, and says that it’s not happening, not even close. She’s not one to stir the pot, and is a truly honest person. There are a lot of people who quit in the past over this. I’m trying to get it straightened out. My dilemma is that I have no proof aside of her word. I don’t want to out her as she has to work there, and it’s just hearsay. But it’s hearsay that I trust 100%. It’s also pretty lame to confront a person in charge with “my wife said”. It’s actually something I would never do. It goes against all the management training and good practices I know. Unless I go babysit that department for many days, i don’t think I’ll see it happen, and it will probably be resolved while I’m there and revert back as soon as I am gone. Bottom line, I know hat what I’m asking to be done isn’t happening and I’m being lied to. What would you do? The “lol” thread | ||
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Objectively Reasonable |
Ask the intermediate-- the one who's making the assignments-- for a daily roster. Spot-check during the day. Assumes that the work/worksite makes this possible, and assumes that you can check rather casually. Document the pattern, then take whatever corrective action is appropriate. Your wife will still be pegged as the "leak" no matter what. | |||
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Member |
You said certain employees are getting easy tasks. This leads me to believe that you already know who the employees are that are getting the easier tasks. I would be talking to the employees that you think are getting the more difficult tasks. If the supervisor didn’t follow your orders, that’s insubordination and should be handled. ——————————————— The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Psalm 14:1 | |||
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| Member |
You keep assuring me that it's random chance but I see it too often. For the next week, here is a spreadsheet with everyone's names on it. Please mark down which tasks you have to who so I can review it. If they take offense or get upset, just explain that in order to ensure the current method is fair, you need hard data to analyze. Maybe it's time to update the method for handing out work. For example, if the tasks are the same set of tasks every day, you can assign each task a point value and instruct the intermediate guy to make sure everyone gets the same point value everyday. | |||
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Member |
Do you do annual reviews with your employees? If so, use this time to ask each one about issues in the department. Or can you have the department head make a roster assigning tasks on a rotating basis so that every gets a shot at the easy tasks. Not sure of the type of job so this may be of no help at all. | |||
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| Alea iacta est |
Ohhhhhh..... it just clicked as I was typing a different reply. Have the person in charge write out what they assign to each person each day. It definitely shows that I do not trust them, and that part I don’t like. Aside of that, it definitely shows the pattern that I am trying to break. The “lol” thread | |||
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| Sigs are my Panacea...  |
Make a list... Put it in writing of who is supposed to be doing what and when. * --- Sig 365, 365XL, 245, P6 * | |||
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| Alea iacta est |
To clarify, the tasks are always changing. The core job doesn’t change, but the product does. Some are super easy products, some are god awful. Customer orders and demand change the priority of tasks throughout the day, as well as adds many tasks from how the day started. The “lol” thread | |||
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Member |
Sounds like you are more afraid of offending the poor performing manager than you are in solving the problem. A leader has to lead, and asking for verifiable data to back it up is not only reasonable, but shows that you are paying attention and expect compliance with your orders. To do otherwise makes you weak in the eyes of the manager, and their behavior will not change. Further, the subordinates that are getting screwed resent the manager and you, for not making sure things are fair. You stated a number of people have quit over this issue, so you shouldn't need any more clues that this is a real problem. Believe it or not, strong leaders are not loathed, but respected. The key is objectivity and fairness, which it sounds like you have already done. This space intentionally left blank. | |||
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| Objectively Reasonable |
You told the supervisor to do "x". S/he is doing "y" and then lying to you about doing it. I've been accused of lacking finesse for this sort of thing, but y'know what would probably break this pattern? Regime change. Regime change ala Genghis Khan. It'd be a valuable life lesson for the current (well, then former) supervisor, and a valuable life lesson for his/her replacement. Who cares if the non-trustworthy supervisor knows, beyond a certainty, that you don't trust them? It might be refreshing. | |||
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Member |
Have the supervisor log the tasks and assignments and provide a weekly report. Call it needed for HR/employee reviews. Hedley Lamarr: Wait, wait, wait. I'm unarmed. Bart: Alright, we'll settle this like men, with our fists. Hedley Lamarr: Sorry, I just remembered . . . I am armed. | |||
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| Alea iacta est |
Just to clarify, I’m not afraid of offending a poor performing manager. I’ve been doing that for ages.  That said, you make a good point with the data to back it up. Sometimes you get so deep in the weeds with an issue, that you don’t remember to take the 30000 foot view. I’m also going out of my way to not show any sort of favoritism toward the wife. If she wasn’t in this department, it would be so much easier to handle. (Transferring her is not an option at this time). The “lol” thread | |||
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| In search of baseball, strippers, and guns |
Fire the supervisor Now If they will lie to you about this they will lie to you about other things If you work in a right to work state there doesn’t even need to be any reason given. If you want to you can give severance, offer to give recommendations in the new yesr My business is a lot smaller so the margins for error and tolerance are smaller too, but that doesn’t matter here If you feel you need to wait until mid January so you don’t feel like a dick for firing someone at Christmas I get it (although I don’t agree with it) Fire them —————————————————— If the meek will inherit the earth, what will happen to us tigers? | |||
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| Save an Elephant Kill a Poacher  |
Can you re-assign those employees always getting the easy tasks? One or two at a time and then he and the soon-to-be-re-assigned employees will get the hint. 'I am the danger'...Hiesenberg NRA Certified Pistol Instructor NRA Certified Rifle Instructor NRA Life Member | |||
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| Alea iacta est |
Reassigning is not an option right now. We are too small, and the work is somewhat specialized. Firing the manager isn’t an option. There are a lot of details I wish I could share, but this is the internet, and I am trying to be somewhat anonymous and respectful of the business. Sharing these details would make things much clearer and more understandable, but it’s just something I cannot do at this time. Feel free to email me if you would like to discuss further. The “lol” thread | |||
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| Not One of the Cool Kids  |
I will reiterate some of the good advice from above. 1. Get documentation from your manager about who is assigned what tasks and their progress. 2. Regularly scheduled evaluations from those very employees who are assigned the tasks. They should be allowed to evaluate their manager. You'll know at that point. I'll add: 3. Exit interviews. You said people were leaving because of this person. There's nothing to lose when you're on your way out of a company to give the honest reasons. I use this method and have been able to get on top of some issues before they got too far out of control. | |||
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| Just because you can, doesn't mean you should |
Pretty vague description of the problem, job, etc. ___________________________ Avoid buying ChiCom/CCP products whenever possible. | |||
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| Member |
Can tasks be assigned randomly (i.e., pick the assignees out of a hat, metaphorically speaking)? | |||
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| Ammoholic |
I’m a little confused (and don’t have a ton of manglement experience, just managing my two laborers and the various contractors I use from time to time), but your post raises two questions for me: 1) Why do you have an employee you do not trust? If I can’t trust an employee, they will be gone very quickly. 2) Is your last sentence indicating that showing the pattern you are trying to break is a good thing or a bad thing? If a good thing, great, we’re on the same page. If a bad thing, how? It seems to me that the most important thing is making sure your employees know exactly what you want/expect. Pretty much all the problems I have with my employees come when I think I have communicated what I want, but I failed to make myself understood. In fact, this may be a away to approach it - “We may not have the same understanding. In order to make sure we’re on the same page, please log what you assign to each person each day, then let’s go over it.” If it looks lopsided, perhaps he or she can explain why. Perhaps the simple act of writing it down will help them better see any disparities and the problem will solve itself. | |||
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| Member |
Much could be said. But, I’ll only recommend that you not terminate or demote any of these affected employees. If a wrongful termination claim were to be filed, I’d hate for you to have to explain to your attorney that you had acted based on anonymous advice from SigForum. Right? | |||
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