quote:

Originally posted by Beancooker:

quote:

Originally posted by DennisM:

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.

It’s not that you’re not trusting. Your verifying. Trust but verify.

It’s a quality standard practice. You train an employee to screw down a bolt and to torque it to a certain plus or minus range. When they do the job, you have them write it down. It’s not that you don’t trust them.

Tell them you’re being proactive to avoid any possible complaints of unfairness in the future with work assignments. Therefore, have him create a schedule in advance and publish it for all. Then you keep that for your record.

quote:

Originally posted by Scurvy:
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.

"Data reduces drama". Keep saying it until you have enough data to make an assessment.

Bruce

A lot of good Points made. I would add that Before you can do anything you should Observe it with your own eyes , Graphs, Charts can be fudged. It would be Micro Managing. but the only way to sure what is going on .

I agree with the people thinking he may be giving the weaker people the easier task.

He also maybe being careful with your wife.

I would hate to have the boss's wife work for me, except when I am the boss and I don't allow it.

Your idea of fair may not be the best idea for productivity.

If his compensation depends on productivity, I am sure he is more concerned with getting the work done than who is doing it.

Standard rule of business - the hard workers get more hard work.

Here's another thought. If I hire someone to manage for me. I basically tell them what my goals and objectives are up front, and then let them do their thing. I will check in on them, and if I really don't like something I will make a suggestion. BUT, if they're not doing things productively or in the way I asked, I simply hire someone else to take their place. Really, if you hire a good manager, they simply don't need to be managed at all, just guided in a direction here and there.

Don't take this the wrong way, but just a sample size of your wife, is not enough to gauge anything. She is looking at things as an employee, not as a manager. I have a feeling their are people that are only capable or efficient at doing certain things. AND, the other half of the employees really carry all of the weight. But when it's busy, you still need those less capable employees to fill the gap. Perhaps reward the hard working employees with larger raises.

Change is coming.

I have tried and tried. At this point, I have exhausted all reasonable options.

I’ll keep you all posted.

quote:

Originally posted by RHINOWSO:
Standard rule of business - the hard workers get more hard work.

Or the 80/20 rule...20% of the workers do 80% of the work.

quote:

It definitely shows that I do not trust them, and that part I don’t like.

it sounds like you have good reason not to trust them.

quote:

Manager that I have an issue with cannot tell people what to do. If a strong willed (or defiant lazy kid) tells that manager no, then that manager will give the task to a weaker willed person.

this is a whole different problem

Time for the axe to fall.

Next!

Step 1: Get HR involved immediately.
- Tell them everything you know/have observed directly.
- Tell them your concerns
- Hopefully, you have previously documented the date, and means of communications you have given to this manager. The best way to do so going forward is to hold a 1 on 1 meeting with the manager and the follow up with a direct email to them.

Then talk to HR about possible solutions. Here are two ways to address the situation. there are of course others.

Option 1:

Rotate the manager to a different job/part of the company for a 1-2 month stint.

Call it cross-training for managers.

Be sure to get a strong manager into the person in question's role.

Option 2:
- Get 360-degree feedback from All of the employees on this person's team.
- Get 360 feedback from this person's peers.
- this feedback then feeds into Option 3
Option 3:
- Sit down 1 on 1 with the manager or 2 on 1 with the manager and HR.
- detail specific expectations regarding the manager's responsibilities,
- detail team management expectations
- Co-Identify with the manager where they are meeting and not meeting those expectations.

- Write out a CAP - Corrective Action Plan based on this meeting and the discussion of expectations.
- Set a deadline for the changes identified in the CAP to have been implemented. 30, 60, 90 days. Choose time frame based on what makes sense for this role, the team etc..
- set check-in times within that time frame, weekly, bi-weekly etc..

sorry got on a roll. I could go on.