Someone returning to work that I am not sure I can work with anymore - Advice?

whereareyouchess

No I am not new to management I have 15 plus years experience. I know you don't become a good manager through courses the training courses I refer to are County Council specific.
I have always tried to do things in a positive, constructive way and always tried to do it then and there but this is not always possible e.g. if other people are around then if may not be appropriate.
In previous jobs I would never take things to formal meetings as far as I am concerned it is much better and easier not to. Unfortunately when you work for a Council it is much more of a case of doing things by the book than in the private sector. Also why would there be regular supervisory meetings in place where we are supposed to go over issues such as I have described - if we are not meant to bring anything up at them?

whereareyouchess

Dmg24 - And I do have regular feedback from my line manager in my supervisory meetings where she brings out notes she has made about me. Supervisory meetings if you didn't know are not really formal by the way.

dmg24 - sorry to bang on about this but I would just like to add that if a member of staff you were managing was having problems with something and you spoke to them about it and it didn't help why wouldn't you provide written or printed notes to assist them and make their job easier e.g. computer procedures, if you don't thats not only poor management its poor customer service when it affects customers.

whereareyouchess

floss2 wrote: »

Has any bullying / harassment policy / procedure been followed? Have you followed all your procedures as her line manager? Do you have records of any / all of these informal meetings with her? Have any of those meetings been supported by HR or has any note of dates & meetings been put into her personal file?
QUOTE]

I think she dropped the bullying aspect of the case because as it didn't happen there was no evidence. Yes I followed all proceduces except that the notes were not in a locked container but there wasn't one provided. No records of informal meetings because I didn't think it would be nessacary and it was mainly just dealing with something as and when it happened, so not really a meeting. We have regular supervisory meetings (informal) every month and are encouraged to discuss any issues then. Not really minutes for them but just an overview as to what was covered.

Initially when she returned I was actively trying to cover everything outside the supervisory meetings rather than save things up. If someone new starts you certainly don't expect them to pick up the job straight away.

bendix

I stopped reading after seeing the words 'County Council' and 'returning to work after ten months off sick'.

I didnt feel up to continuing. It's too depressing.

BOB_A_H

bendix wrote: »

I stopped reading after seeing the words 'County Council' and 'returning to work after ten months off sick'.

I didnt feel up to continuing. It's too depressing.

Sort of backs up my earlier sentiments.

terra_ferma

I'm only too glad to say that the company I work for would not put up with all this nonsense!
Managers have got to manage. They need to have both the tools (e.g. sound procedures, good HR back up) and the skills to manage difficult situations. Both seem lacking in this case.
You may take offence, but I really thought you were a new manager.

There should be sound disciplinary/capability procedures to follow, in a structured way.
And leaving staff files unlocked is a breach of Data Protection. Disciplinary issue, potentially, for an experienced manager.

Sorry, I can't be very supportive in this case.

rachmac_2

whereareyouchess- i know how you feel i am returning to work after been off work for mat leave but before i left a member of my had her purse stolen which she blamed another member of staff which seemed unlikely he would do it as he is very goody goody. but then after that was dealt with i was then acussed of bullying which this women who had her purse stolen said we did bully him!! and so was the supervisor(im the manager) so we were suspended i was very worried about my job and my baby been 4 months pregnant at the time. anyway i was given a final warning(never had one with them but they gave me it anyway )and was told it would be a good idea to start my mat leave then, so i did but the supervisor went back and she has had nothing but hassle from this women who had her purse stolen and i am due back at work next week cant wait to see what fun it will be lol!

Tiddlywinks

My thoughts:

• When Janet originally returned from 10 months sick leave she should have had a support plan in place with monitoring from Occ Health dept.
• Any performance issues should have been raised immediately and not saved up for supervisory meetings - this proactive approach makes it less threatening and more relevant and keeps the issue in context rather than hoping that the event is remembered at the later meeting.
• Given Janet's medical history, closer contact should have been maintained with Occ Health.
• Your notes should not have been left out - anyone could have read them. I cannot believe that you, as a manager, do not have somewhere to lock them away - this is data mis-management and you need to be held to account for this error. Would you like your manager to leave his/her management notes about you in an accessible place?
• Regarding bullying - you did keep notes without discussing them with Janet - this may have seemed threatening to her (particularly when she may already have been feeling vulnerable given her recent return to work from illness). It is very subjective and I think she has a point here.
• In the public sector there are always well defined processes to follow - did you ensure you complied?

Finally, this is a public forum and, although names have been changed, the details are still quite specific - you'd better hope that "Janet" isn't also a member here otherwise you could be on the wrong end of another grievance - you are the manager in this situation so this is not really the appropriate place to consider this issue is it?

terra_ferma

Tiddlywinks wrote: »

My thoughts:

• When Janet originally returned from 10 months sick leave she should have had a support plan in place with monitoring from Occ Health dept.
• Any performance issues should have been raised immediately and not saved up for supervisory meetings - this proactive approach makes it less threatening and more relevant and keeps the issue in context rather than hoping that the event is remembered at the later meeting.
• Given Janet's medical history, closer contact should have been maintained with Occ Health.
• Your notes should not have been left out - anyone could have read them. I cannot believe that you, as a manager, do not have somewhere to lock them away - this is data mis-management and you need to be held to account for this error. Would you like your manager to leave his/her management notes about you in an accessible place?
• Regarding bullying - you did keep notes without discussing them with Janet - this may have seemed threatening to her (particularly when she may already have been feeling vulnerable given her recent return to work from illness). It is very subjective and I think she has a point here.
• In the public sector there are always well defined processes to follow - did you ensure you complied?

Finally, this is a public forum and, although names have been changed, the details are still quite specific - you'd better hope that "Janet" isn't also a member here otherwise you could be on the wrong end of another grievance - you are the manager in this situation so this is not really the appropriate place to consider this issue is it?

Totally agree.
Very well put, clear, to the point, and objective, no !!!!!iness!

Edit: how odd this is self-censoring forum, it changed the letters to !!! by itself.... There was a b, then a i, then a t etc etc

valos_mummy

Since Janet is coming back now, and the OP has stated her behaviour was like this:

Started shouting at me across the room.
Refused to wear her id badge and uniform.
Deleting important emails and work in progress.
Took 1.5hrs to do jobs that should have taken 15mins because she was chatting with friends.
Refused for no reason to do a training course she had agreed to do in her appraisal.
Refused for no reason to do refresher training.
Refused to deal with any customer queries herself and directed them to me.
If I was in the back office doing paperwork and had asked to only be interupted with anything serious I would be interupted every couple of minutes with every little problem.


...when she comes back it sounds like the OP is going to have trouble. Knowing that the OP can't do anything about it there is the risk that Janet might take the p*ss at her job; faff around and make things difficult. Everyone is there to do a job and if Janet's not doing it, OP will be the one getting it in the neck. There has been a lot of posts saying that it's obviously her fault because her management style doesn't work, but that's by the by. She can change her management style, but if Janet won't change her working attitude, what should the OP do?

I get the feeling that's the quesion that OP is asking; if your hands are tied, how would we deal with a worker like this? I can only suggest doing everything by the book - even if you breathe in Janet's direction, then go through higher management so everything is documented. If they can be over zealous then so can the OP, and this way there is no chance of the OP being dragged into another mess if Janet claims OP has so much as looked at her funny.