Management advice

Jellybean2020

Hi everyone

So I am hoping to get some advice on how to manage a situation that has arisen in my employment

One of my direct reports has made a mistake - one which has meant that we are spending more money than we initially allocated. There is room in the budget for it and if they owned up to the mistake I wouldn't mind so much but The person is telling me they discussed this with me but I have absolutely no recollection of this and it isn't something I would've signed off on without a meeting about it first.  

This is something I have never had happen before and I hate "he said she said" situations! 

Any advice anyone can give on how I handle this would be very much appreciated as I am stuck on how to deal with this 

Dox

Jellybean2020 said:

Hi everyone

So I am hoping to get some advice on how to manage a situation that has arisen in my employment

One of my direct reports has made a mistake - one which has meant that we are spending more money than we initially allocated. There is room in the budget for it and if they owned up to the mistake I wouldn't mind so much but The person is telling me they discussed this with me but I have absolutely no recollection of this and it isn't something I would've signed off on without a meeting about it first.  

This is something I have never had happen before and I hate "he said she said" situations! 

Any advice anyone can give on how I handle this would be very much appreciated as I am stuck on how to deal with this 

You say you would have had a meeting - how would you have done that in the current situation? Is it possible that you a conversation rather than a meeting took place and you quite simply don't recall it? If your direct report is normally a straightforward and honest person, ask them to refresh your memory of when the conversation took place and what was said.

If you still don't believe them, what do you want the outcome to be - and how long has the employee been with you (easier to get rid of someone with under two years of service, but beware they can't claim some form of unlawful discrimination if you go that route)? 

getmore4less

Are you considering disciplinary?

What the documented process for doing things differently from what is on in the plan?

Barny1979

Disciplinary would be an option, if there is no acknowledgement of fault, maybe also a review of processes to ensure it doesn't happen in the organisation/team again.

Brynsam

Barny1979 said:

Disciplinary would be an option, if there is no acknowledgement of fault, maybe also a review of processes to ensure it doesn't happen in the organisation/team again.

You're jumping to the conclusion that the subordinate is at fault. If they stand their ground, particularly if they can provide a convincing account of the conversation they claim to have had, it's going to leave a lot of egg on OP's face. 

oh_really

Barny1979 said:

Disciplinary would be an option, if there is no acknowledgement

Disciplining is not a tool of punishment so why take this route if no acknowledgment?

Op, you should take advice from your manager if you don't know how to handle situation.

Was there adequate supervision?

Is there an organisational culture of disciplining it's way through problems?