h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I'm very impatient with people I perceive as being wilfully stupid . If, on the other hand, someone's really trying, I have all the time in the world.

"If, on the other hand, someone's really trying,"

And boy can some people be really trying....

LM,

Don't let this slip by without documenting it. Don't assume he will fail his probationary period. Once he's passed that hurdle he will become imovable.

Lady Magpye...

ok, breathe. have a cup of

I work for a huge international corporate glob. But in a small local branch office. That means we have a local flavour (sort of) but we have SOPs (gawd love 'em!) and procedures that are company-wide standard.

For about 4 years I was the only Assistant in the Sales team. Gradually i got so busy and stressed that between February and May 2003 I lost 12kgs due to stress and had something akin to a nervous collapse in the middle of the day. (well, I had about 6 to lose, so it wasn't all bad). I'd been begging for another assistant (preferably two) for at least 2 years - precisely so I could train them up before it got so bad that it would be more trouble to have to take time to do it. If you see what I mean.

After some events, and a few mistakes we got a person. But as soon as I started to train her, it became clear we needed another. and so on.

Finally we are now 6 people doing this job. But we all use the job manual I made (and we keep updated) when I first started (so that my "managers" could ... manage while I was on annual leave). It means that each and every one of us uses broadly the same procedures (we cover slightly different business areas) to do things.

Importantly this means 2 things:

1) everyone is doing things correctly, in a way that can be easily laid before people like tax inspectors and auditors

2) if one of us is sick or absent, even allowing for the slight variations in our customers, any one of us can jump in and cover the work of any other one of us

We each now have a manual (self made, but company proofed for mistakes or suggestions) that covers our specific job (down to "press F4 to print this, but F5 to print on headed paper) and this means that not only are we covered in case of sudden absence - nobody can say "you cut a corner, you're fired" or "the system doesn't work"

Each of us moaned and grumbled like mad at the time we had to take to do this, but in the end it has (halleluja) paid off.

And I was the unpopular one who literly pushed and shoved until they all did it (although I am only "senior" by dint of years served and age - but that's another story )

It really is time invested to train this guy up properly.

And I still think he feels that he doesn't have to play by your rules because you are a girly and he is a mighty grown up man.



sorry for the ramble, but it does illustrate the value of SOPs - even though I grumble about them too sometimes

I'm no psychologist, but I think I'm spotting a pattern here where the guy seems to think he's not responsible to any authority, yours or otherwise. I think it's time to document as many issues as you can, print out emails where applicable, and bring your case to your manager. It sounds like this guy is not going to work out long-term, and people like this often pass their probationary period precisely because these things are not brought up in a timely manner. You need some time for your management to analyze any problems, prescribe solutions, and evaluate the success of those solutions before that 3-month limit is up.

Document the other worker picking up his caseload, and present that as man-hours lost. Document that printing problem, and present that not only as man-hours lost on your part for correcting his failure to follow instructions, but also how it might have potentially impacted the customer and the company if you hadn't stopped him. These are very serious issues.

One of the biggest problems, though, is that you are senior, but not superior. Talk to your manager and establish CLEARLY whether you should be supervising his work or not. If you should, then you need a follow-up meeting with the newbie in which your manager CLEARLY states that the newbie is to follow your direction. That way, any further FFI counts as insubordination, and you can get him written up. If your manager doesn't choose to establish your authority... then don't exercise any. Just keep sending your manager new complaints. If correcting his behavior is not your job... don't do it.

I agree with Blatherskite, once the probation period is up it will be very difficult to do anything about him, and I can see him creating a lot of stress for other staff in the coming months if he's as bad as you say. You really need to be building evidence against him which you can take to your manager. You said others feel the same about him, so maybe you can persuade someone to join you when you approach the boss. They might not feel happy about doing that, but even if they are just there to be a witness to your conversation it will add weight to your grievance.

You have spoken to the new bloke already on more than one occasion with no success and if you can present your boss with something that the new boy can't just dismiss as a personality clash you might get the boss wondering (as I am) why he left a large city job to work in a smaller operation in the first place. He may have been unable to do the job properly at that firm too, and yes, your boss needs to be making it clear as to whether he is answerable to you or not, and also if he's got any sense, making a few discreet phone calls to check the accuracy of the CV he provided.

A thought just occured to me (rare event, get out the champagne...)

If he's trying to find short-cuts etc, for business reasons (however naive or ham-fisted), at least it's nothing personal against you.

Use the business-efficiency angle.

I work for the NHS and everything is documented. We've been signing training and induction sheets, we have re-training schemes, we have Knowledge and Skills Framework, Supervision and Personal Development, which at the end of the day all mean- if you don't qualify you don't get a raise.
This attitude does work for most people- maybe you should adopt it too.

While I appreciate that colleagues from hell are not good and it is stressful and so on, and I honestly think he's just being a sexist know-it-all, I do sympathise with him.

I've been in the position of being ambushed by management about my issues in merging with the existing company culture and lack of ability to do my job. I'd had no training, no systems were in place and nobody ever bothered to talk to me if I did something wrong or rubbed someone the wrong way. Clearly I did lots of those things, but the first I ever heard of it was when I was presented with a warning. Everybody 'told' on me, straight to the MD, who of course felt he had to deal with this completely unsuitable person he'd hired - never mind my side.

Now, I'm not perfect, but I'd been working without problems in other jobs in other places, so I thought my rough edges had been somewhat smoothed off. To find myself invited into a meeting room to what turned out to be the ambush (I'd been told to come and minute something - my own verbal warning) was a massive shock and it completely undermined any hope I had of ever fitting into that company. I managed to last 6 months before walking out and I do mean walking out.

I'd like to hope that the difference between me and that guy is that I know I was trying my best and he doesn't sound like he is. But with all due respect we are only hearing your side of it - his side may be just as reasonable.

I don't necessarily think it is, but the possibility should not be discarded.

eh - what do i know.

ismarah

Yeah - I'm trying not to be hard on him becasue I've been on the warning end of a verbal disciplinary in two different jobs. One of which I hated, and hadn't understood or necessarily been included in the relevant training, and another where my boss just wanted to pick on someone younger and girlier than himself. The .

I'm trying to give him the benefit of the doubt without being too benefit-y, if you see what I mean. The job is technical and requires accuracy - I'm really worried about the cutting corners aspect. We've been here before with an ex-member of staff and I'm still cleaning up his messes a year on. I'd really rather tackle that attitude before it takes hold and becomes habit.

give him the messes to clean up...

Thing is, you cant be accused of ambushing him out of the blue if you've clearly attempted to help, advise and re-advise, if there's a manual and he's been given lots of benefit of the doubt and constructive criticism and help.

If you go via your boss and explain that people are having to do his work, he's resistant to practices that are necessary for audit purposes etc and you're concerned that his actions/lack of experience are going to land someone and possibly the whole company in hot water, then it's all there, it's up to them to talk to him and make decisions. Keep personal opinion out of it unless explicitly asked, just report the facts as far as customer service, company policy and legality are concerned. It's horrible to have to do but at the same time, it's down to you to make sure this guy shapes up or ships out by telling those who need to know. If I'm doing something wrong at work, I'd rather be told what's wrong than just told I'm terrible and shipped out. If your manager has all the info they can take the opportunity to do that and give him a chance to fit in or air his grievances (he doesnt feel trained, he's out of his depth, doesnt understand the procedures etc)... While everyone's scared to talk about problems, nothing gets solved and people get away with putting extra pressure on others.

How are things today?

I'll find out tomorrow - not at work today, took a duvet day as the decided that 3 am was a good time to chase a spider out from under the cabinet and then sit howling at it until someone got rid of it. *yawn*

Carer's leave?
Enjoy the duvet...

Okay, things are rubbish today and apparently the guy has been complaining that I have not been taking phone calls (I refused two on Friday because I was in the middle of a priority job) - the MD today asked me "not to refused any phone calls coming through from X because that means he might have to deal with them."

No mention of the times I've picked up this guy's clients, spent fifteen or twenty minutes explaining stuff on the phone to them, all because the man is away from his desk talking about holidays or getting a cuppa or whatever.... GAH!! So frustrating!

Well, whatever. I'm just going to have to continue to pick up whatever comes my way as well as all the rest of the work I have to do. So much for fair division of labour.

If you are serious about this guys poor performance you need to get it documented and referred upwards. It may feel good to get it off your chest to us but it isn't a solution and

From your last post he is building a case against you. If you do not act soon when the time comes to do so it will increasingly appear to be revenge as he has complained about your performance. Be very careful.

i agree with the wandering albatross.... be very careful...... although it sounds like the MD has reservations of his own if he's worried about mr X answering calls....

...or was the MD worried about taking the calls himself? I`m not sure which 'he' you refer to. I agree, you should act soon.