Difficult employee that no manager wants

getmore4less

Ella_fella said:

getmore4less said:

YBR said:

getmore4less said:

 A longstanding employee whom was covering this role was deemed as being not at the right level when the job was advertised internally and was also turned down for another similar role so dropped down to a Supervisors job. 
.........
for the past number of weeks he's been on internal training courses so has been flip flopping between shifts. These courses end in a couple of weeks time 

 He's actually starting an ILM Level 5 course next week. 

Good managers would be trying to help and support this person gain the skills and education to step up to the roll.  

It sounds like this person is already getting training. The OP said "he was toxic, very demotivated about being turned down for the roles, unhelpful etc", so that's attitude/character, which I don't think training or education are likely to change.
If he's like this because he resents being turned down for roles, then it's harming himself primarily. It's silly and immature, but oh so common. 
Until he stops behaving like an Eeyore, and becomes more aware of the effect he's having on others, his prospects are limited. 

You would feel like that if 2 new managers came in and started squabbling over which shift you would be on because neither wants you.

They should be supporting them not undermining them.
A good manager can fix this.

 I would also be concerned about my manager if they have said what they were told....
 Neither of us want the person on our shift, I politely said that he is aligned to your shift but the answer I got back was our boss said it's upto us to decide which shift he goes on.

I would be checking just in case the other person made it up and has  been told something different.
certainly look like this other shift manager has taken a lead to get shot of the person. 
OP is now in now probably in catch up mode.

I have to profess I do not recall any conversation about its up to use to decide what shift he goes on, unfortunately seeing as I have no contact with my manager for a whole week apart from sporadic emails when I am a week of Nights this conversation may or may not have taken place as a preemptive strike by my comanager.
In any case it's patently obvious that he doesn't want him anywhere his shift which is the more concerning item to me as he is happy to fob off a problem person onto me so they can have an easy ride and happy for me to deal with it whilst they sit back relaxing.

Both new  month in...
are you getting played?

Ella_fella

getmore4less said:

Ella_fella said:

getmore4less said:

YBR said:

getmore4less said:

 A longstanding employee whom was covering this role was deemed as being not at the right level when the job was advertised internally and was also turned down for another similar role so dropped down to a Supervisors job. 
.........
for the past number of weeks he's been on internal training courses so has been flip flopping between shifts. These courses end in a couple of weeks time 

 He's actually starting an ILM Level 5 course next week. 

Good managers would be trying to help and support this person gain the skills and education to step up to the roll.  

It sounds like this person is already getting training. The OP said "he was toxic, very demotivated about being turned down for the roles, unhelpful etc", so that's attitude/character, which I don't think training or education are likely to change.
If he's like this because he resents being turned down for roles, then it's harming himself primarily. It's silly and immature, but oh so common. 
Until he stops behaving like an Eeyore, and becomes more aware of the effect he's having on others, his prospects are limited. 

You would feel like that if 2 new managers came in and started squabbling over which shift you would be on because neither wants you.

They should be supporting them not undermining them.
A good manager can fix this.

 I would also be concerned about my manager if they have said what they were told....
 Neither of us want the person on our shift, I politely said that he is aligned to your shift but the answer I got back was our boss said it's upto us to decide which shift he goes on.

I would be checking just in case the other person made it up and has  been told something different.
certainly look like this other shift manager has taken a lead to get shot of the person. 
OP is now in now probably in catch up mode.

I have to profess I do not recall any conversation about its up to use to decide what shift he goes on, unfortunately seeing as I have no contact with my manager for a whole week apart from sporadic emails when I am a week of Nights this conversation may or may not have taken place as a preemptive strike by my comanager.
In any case it's patently obvious that he doesn't want him anywhere his shift which is the more concerning item to me as he is happy to fob off a problem person onto me so they can have an easy ride and happy for me to deal with it whilst they sit back relaxing.

Both new  month in...
are you getting played?

It's a possibility I've thought about 

moneysavinghero

Sounds like being back at school and no one wanting to pick the fat kid for their team.

Be the better person. Pick him for your team. Use your wonderful management skills to motivate and inspire him to be the best person on the team. Then you can get extra brownie points at your next appraisal.

Dakta

moneysavinghero said:

Sounds like being back at school and no one wanting to pick the fat kid for their team.

Be the better person. Pick him for your team. Use your wonderful management skills to motivate and inspire him to be the best person on the team. Then you can get extra brownie points at your next appraisal.

This is sort of what I was thinking - no point getting famous for being the manager that couldn't 

bartelbe

You're both avoiding the real issue. The employee is toxic and poor at their job. You have to gasp the nettle and deal with their poor performance, if they are unwilling to change, you need to get rid of them.

moneysavinghero

bartelbe said:

You're both avoiding the real issue. The employee is toxic and poor at their job. You have to gasp the nettle and deal with their poor performance, if they are unwilling to change, you need to get rid of them.

OP has only been there a month and for most of that this employee has been away on training courses. Are they really toxic or is OP just buying into to what they are being told on the internal gossip tree? OP has already stated that they have no problem with employee personally.

Savvy_Sue

Are both you and the other manager new to the company? That's how I read your first post?

If so, how do you know what he's like? Can't you work with him? Acknowledge he was acting in this position, say you'd like to see him develop to be ready for any new opportunities, and observe.

I've worked for a new manager doing a job I'd applied for. It wasn't a problem. I've also had warnings about people on my team: once I've observed the behaviour I've challenged it and seen improvement.

HampshireH

Ella_fella said:

getmore4less said:

YBR said:

getmore4less said:

 A longstanding employee whom was covering this role was deemed as being not at the right level when the job was advertised internally and was also turned down for another similar role so dropped down to a Supervisors job. 
.........
for the past number of weeks he's been on internal training courses so has been flip flopping between shifts. These courses end in a couple of weeks time 

 He's actually starting an ILM Level 5 course next week. 

Good managers would be trying to help and support this person gain the skills and education to step up to the roll.  

It sounds like this person is already getting training. The OP said "he was toxic, very demotivated about being turned down for the roles, unhelpful etc", so that's attitude/character, which I don't think training or education are likely to change.
If he's like this because he resents being turned down for roles, then it's harming himself primarily. It's silly and immature, but oh so common. 
Until he stops behaving like an Eeyore, and becomes more aware of the effect he's having on others, his prospects are limited. 

You would feel like that if 2 new managers came in and started squabbling over which shift you would be on because neither wants you.

They should be supporting them not undermining them.
A good manager can fix this.

 I would also be concerned about my manager if they have said what they were told....
 Neither of us want the person on our shift, I politely said that he is aligned to your shift but the answer I got back was our boss said it's upto us to decide which shift he goes on.

I would be checking just in case the other person made it up and has  been told something different.
certainly look like this other shift manager has taken a lead to get shot of the person. 
OP is now in now probably in catch up mode.

I have to profess I do not recall any conversation about its up to use to decide what shift he goes on, unfortunately seeing as I have no contact with my manager for a whole week apart from sporadic emails when I am a week of Nights this conversation may or may not have taken place as a preemptive strike by my comanager.
In any case it's patently obvious that he doesn't want him anywhere his shift which is the more concerning item to me as he is happy to fob off a problem person onto me so they can have an easy ride and happy for me to deal with it whilst they sit back relaxing.

Why is this more concerning?

You will get people in all walks of life who have an attitude that they will do the bare minimum for maximum reward. Some do, others find out the hard way it's their downfall.

However you shouldn't be concerning yourself with what others do. You are new to your promotion so make yourself stand head and shoulders above your peers by taking ownership of the situation, making a decision and seeing it through.

Your counterpart may see it as a win (and it maybe) but the biggest win will be the staff member performing again and finding their motivation. That win will benefit you, them and the employer.

Indigo_and_Violet

No-one has mentioned it so far, but in addition to having them on my shift I'd probably also try to have a direct conversation with them that acknowledges they applied for the role and didn't get it, and asks them how you can work together so that they're in a better position next time. In general I've found that when you get into an awkward situation at work it's often better to have an open 'this is awkward, what should we do about it' conversation, rather than just pretend it isn't there. 

oh_really

Whats the state of play with this op?