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

[jhelgesen]

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[island911]

Hire (or at least openly look at ) outside consultants.

home appliance? - I can sugest a very good group, if you would like.

[bigchillcar]

do you have firing authority? are there ever evaluations conducted? i'd take my time before firing a long time vet, unless company is quickly becoming less than solvent, then more immediate action would be warranted. maybe take the guy to lunch and get him to open up by asking him open-ended questions as to his likes and dislikes of what he does, etc. you may be able to breach the subject from this angle without offending and possibly wind up re-motivating him if he comes away with the impression that you value him as a team member. maybe he feels in limbo or isn't as confident in his new role. anyway, some one-on-one face-to-face time is warranted.
ryan

[stomachmonkey]

You need to get him in line or get rid of him or he will undermine your role which will lead to more of the group slacking off.

Being management is not easy, you need to be tough but fair at the same time. Never play favorites.

First and foremost you need to start documenting everything, but do it for the whole group so it does not appear that you are singling him out.

Set expectations for the guy.

"Fred, we need this complete by xxxxx". Now he has 2 choices, commit or give you a reason why he can not commit. Your best bet is if he goes route #2, that way you can get a date from him that he has set himself and it mitigates his ability to make an excuse if he blows it.

If he's late, warn him. If he is late again write him up. Do not speak to him w/out someone from HR there to verify what was said.

Stay away from the subjective stuff, "never saw anything spectacular..." Let him bury himself with easy to verify stuff.

Never let him ask questions without a notebook in hand. Make him write notes. If he continues to ask the same questions over and over he can not say he was not given the answer.

If he makes mistakes that he should not, document them. They are costing the company money. Again, make sure that he has everything he needs to do it right so when he blows it there are no excuses.

Have regular group meetings, either weekly or daily, ask everyone to give a status update on their stuff. You want to know about any issues that are getting in their way. Meetings can last 10 minutes, you don't need the gory details. You need to get him to establish that the pattern of excuses (lack of planning) are his problem.

I can not stress enough that you treat everyone in the group equally.
If you do not you may have a tough time eliminating him for cause.

Good Luck,

[RickM]

Personally I would look for what might motivate him. Have a candid conversation and tell him of your observations. If there is a particular interest he has that will spark his enthusiasm see if you can accomodate. Believe it or not many slackers are very salvagable. Sometime they feel beaten down, passed over and generally fall into a negative groove.

I'd also folow up with detailed quarterly reviews (for the rest of the group as well). If improvement isn't on his agenda you'll have a good case after a few reviews.

[RANDY P]

Originally posted by jhelgesen
I got promoted a few weeks back to be the team leader of my design group. We're developing a new design of a home appliance for a major company we work for. I can say we have an eclectic team (to be nice). Some are better than others.

Worst of the bunch is a long time veteran of the company that transfered to our division rather than be laid off.

I worked along side the guy for a few months before I was promoted, and I can say I never saw anything spectacular from the guy. The bare minimum to get stuff done, always late, never comes up with a new idea, always uses existing ideas.

Now that I'm over the guy, he's still late getting stuff done, doesn't learn, asks the same questions over and over again. When confronted with screwing something up or being late, he hands out lame excuses.

Other than using a tazer on the guy, anyone have suggestions for dealing with him?

Stomachmonkey has a good approach. You need to become objective in your analysis - and act accordingly. Being subjective now will just prolong the issues. State the objective, and stick to it.

I have a stated policy with my people of only addressing problems that can't be readily solved - inability to perform basic calculations / procedures related to the task at hand aren't problems, it's incompetence. If you do their work for them by offering constant direction then ultimately their job is now yours - and your responsibility. I'm usually seen going "I dunno, so how do you do this?- you're the expert, not me."

Identify if this guy can be rehabed or replaced- if the ultimate goal is to rid yourself of him, let him fall behind. The excuses he gives are up to you whether or not they are effective - bear in mind (like noted above) he will set precedence, both below your ranks and above. Don't let that happen.

rjp

[Flatbutt1]

I currently have an older man reporting to me. He is a slacker, minimally competent and should have retired 2 years ago.

First i had to document his failures against a set of approved performance standards that everyone is measured against.

Then I had to document his re-training.

Then document his subsequent failures and the consultation he received from me.

His subsequent failures resulted in a written warning, negative performance appraisal, no COLA and forfeiture of bonus.

He began to reverse himself but the next major screw up will terminate his azz.

ALL of the above was done after consulting with and getting approval from HR.

[bigchillcar]

we seem to have polar approaches coming at you here...softball and hardball..
ryan

[jhelgesen]

...

[bigchillcar]

john,
does he understand his new role? technology perhaps leaving him behind? sounds almost like he needs to be re-trained in his new capacity and may be fearful of asking for help for fear of losing his job?
ryan

[86 911]

Show him this thread!

[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...

[DavidI]

John, as a supervisor, your job is to complete the mission- whatever that happens to be. By allowing consessions for one, the others will have to pick up the slack. It is not fair because the hard workers start getting dumped on. Like the saying goes, "If you want something done, give it to a busy guy. He'll get it done."

I would have a meeting with everyone and lay out your expectations. They should be high, but reachable. After the meeting, meet with the slacker and ask him if there is anything that you can do to raise his work performance. There may be something going on at home that may be impacting his work performance. I believe that an individual's work performance is a direct reflection of their home life.

An example of this was I recently transferred into a new supervisory position. I was given the scoop on all of the employees by the outgoing supervisor. I take the information with a grain of salt and try to make my own assessment after I have been at a place awhile. This alleviates the personality conflicts that may have tainted the judgment of the outgoing supervisor. I was told by the outgoing supervisor that one particular employee had begun slacking off 6 months prior. He was showing up to work late and seemed unfocused. The outgoing supervisor was at wits end, but never confronted the employee. My style is much different from the outgoing guy and I wanted to talk to the employee and see if there was something going on. The employee told me that his wife of 20 years was recently diagnosed with cancer. The reason the employee was late was because he was taking the kids to school and taking his wife to medical appointments. We adjusted his hours and he became one of the best employees!

Before you rush to judgment, you may want to meet with the employee and see if there is something that may be obstructing him.

Good luck, David

[Icemaster]

So far I've stried everything that everyone else has suggested here, it's all worked several times, but it has to be tailored to the employee. You can't just take a blanket approach to this, one size doesnt fit all.

I've had best results when I draw the line tell them where it is, give them a map, put up warning tape, then let them walk right across it. In short, give them the rope and let them hang themselves.

Terminated for cause. As long as it's all documented and supported by HR your safe.

[SLO-BOB]

this is a test....

[bigchillcar]

this is why work sucks. who invented jobs anyway? besides, before they mattered in my life..women would **** me FOR WHO I AM, not for WHAT I DO. damn..wish i could get laid again..

ryan

[Dixie]

You need to realize that he is unwittingly filling an important group dynamic role: making everyone else look good. If you fire him someone else will assume the role.

Seriously, your best tactic is to minimalize his impact. Leave him for others to slight.

[Jims5543]

Be a good leader and they will follow. You worked with this guy before you should have a good relationship with him right from the start. Hopefully.

I never had any formal education running a business or managing people. I was not allowed to interview prospective employees at a big firm I used to work for due to this. Go figure.

I have the distinct honor of hiring and firing and pruning my staff. I find the loosers will leave on their own in time. If not then I nudge them out. The words "your not working out, I have to let you go", work well. I have an almost friendship with my employees. I treat them good pay them well, do not over work them, and thank them for doing a good job. This has served me wel over the years. The reall A-holes have either weeded themselves out or have been asked to leave. I can only think of 4 people in the 8 years I have owned this place that did not work out. The crew I have now, gold!

If all else fails, you need to get Terry on your team then all your problems are over.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6238953685626218421

[bell]

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...

tabs you actually made me laugh LOL, the scary part is there is probably some truth in that

[jriera]

Better idea yet ... make him a manager