I'm a new boss: how to deal with a slacker?

[bigchillcar]

How funny - I was "captain" of the Baylor Sailing team... 1983

i'll be damned! do you remember me? i had dark hair..6'2"..

ryan

[JeremyD]

I don't remember much from those years. Too much alcohol and staying up all night. Me and my roomate used to take the "Baylor Sailing Team" boat out fishing all the time in the summers -

[targa911S]

Originally posted by tabs
PBBBT....LOL...I'm just here to collect my pay check...I have seen so much BS at this company it would make U think your swimining in *****. Yeah I do the finished drawings, why waste the fking time, I know whats gona be approved or not....And get rid of me after all the years I put in this Rat Hole...GOOD LUCK...U mtherfkers will be paying me until I die...I got a GOOD attorney...OHHH BTW I've been here long enough to know where the bodies are buried...so go ahead and hurt my feelings some more...

Those words are SO true. Spoken from one of the "older guys" that have to work in the "new culture". Well eventually you will come to discover that you have not reinvented the wheel. Also as you age in your career you too will have to face the same thing. You are an old veteren and now a new kid comes in with all the answers to the same questions everybody else has already answered. And the cycle starts all over again,.

[bigchillcar]

and jeremy..another coincidence..i used to live in st. pete for a several years in a home in the northeast on one of those finger cul de sacs with a dock with davits, pool in the back yard. seem to recall that's close to you..wish i could remember the exact address.
ryan

[tabs]

Did anybody notice in the orginal post to this thread that our "Slacker" was said to be "a veteran that was almost laid off and came from another Division of the co." All the glamor of the co has worn off this indivdual, hes collecting his paycheck for minimal effort. How long before he is able to retire?

[targa911S]

anybody that has 20 years until retirment shouldn't even be thinking about it. I had 20 years until retirement when I started my job for cryin' out loud.

kick him in the nuts!

[JeremyD]

So, he's a 45 year old slacker - as T-bird said - kick him in the nuts!

[targa911S]

Thanks J....I knew you would appreciate that.

[Don Ro]

Well, my approach has always been direct and w/o compromise. But then I'm a sole proprietor (owned my own business since '79 with as many as 8 employees at one time).
The expectation I lay out for my employees is to be willing to recreate my intentions. The operative word is "willing."
I've been known to terminate someone at 10:30 in the morning if they were not willing to follow protocol after being informed of such more than a few times.
I never felt that I terminated anyone, but rather their own lack of willingness/performance terminated them.
.
"Expect to see your final check in the mail within 72 hours.
You just take too much management energy."
.
My experience has been that far too many employees are looking to be parented.
As Chicago Bear coach Mike Ditka once said..."Motivate them?
If they don't come here motivated, they're gone."

[tabs]

Why don't you check "Slackers" performance reviews in his last Division...

U also seem to have ignored AGAIN the fact that this "Slacker" was almost laid off when another Division of the co closed....I think that would take the wind out of anybodies sails...

[bigchillcar]

john,
at this point if there's still problems, i'd have that face-to-face meeting over lunch. there's nothing to lose by listening. i know it's a dog eat dog business world out there, so maybe i'm too 'soft school', but it just doen't sound like you know why yet he's being a problem from his end..onlt how it's affecting your division. people need to talk more to settle things without getting too heated up too early. i can understand a man's frustration and quick desire to 'gun the guy down', so to speak, we're men after all. i just hope you get a chance to speak privately with him concerning the matter and things resolve and improve.
ryan

[bigchillcar]

john,
sounds like you dotted all i's and crossed all t's..did what you could and finally what you had to do in the best interest of the company. after all, that's what a manager is supposed to do. good job. i think you tried to be understanding beyond what many would have done by evidence of the losses. i say you did the right thing.
ryan

[masraum]

Glad to hear it worked out. Not enough slackers get the boot these days. I heard from a manager at my last company that sometimes the problem is cost. It's too expensive to fire people, cheaper to keep 'em. It's sad.

[RANDY P]

Yee Haw!

rjp

[austin552]

Just send him over to M.B. After a week he will wish he was in Iraq whistling dixie...

[jhelgesen]

Edited.....

Guess who is sueing the company, Jes*s.....

[cool_chick]

What stomachmonkey said.

start by setting expectations for the guy. And after all, this is only fair. He should know what is expected of him. You can even refer to the job description as well for this.....

The only addition from what stomachmonkey said is to prepare job expectations in writing for all your employees, and have your employees sign them.

He should be expected to meet those expectations. If not, start documenting infractions via warnings.....

[Icemaster]

Sadly, that's not surprising. Wrongful termination, right?



CC, he's already gone IIRC.

[cool_chick]

LMAO

I didn't see this post back in February. I only read page 1, thought it was a from now, and decided to add my worthless 2 cents (apparently) LOL.

Either way, I think it's good advice for new managers anyway...

LMAO again....thanks Icemaster....