Provided by: Judge Ruth B. Kraft
Nobody’s perfect but all of us have had subordinates or superiors who went beyond the normal in a negative way but weren’t necessarily bad enough to fire. I get calls on this order every week. You wish that they would leave, but they aren’t headed out the door. Interestingly, a CareerBuilder survey found that younger bosses, in Gen-X, were much more likely than us baby boomers to wish an employee gone. After all, we managed to put up with them as adolescents so you’d think that they might play the favor forward! The survey disclosed that dissatisfied managers were likely to do the following:
42% issue a written warning
27% point out shortcomings
21% reduce responsibilities
12% hire another worker as an eventual replacement
8% move the worker to another work area
8% keep the worker out of the loop
7% communicate largely by email rather than in person or on the phone
6% not inviting the employee to meetings or assigning him to projects
3% not inviting the employee to social gatherings with coworkers
Constructive action is fine and this should always be documented in writing. However, it is also important not to single out a disliked worker for corrective action. A performance improvement plan should be put into effect which identifies the shortcomings and sets a time frame for improvement. I always use language to put the employee on notice of what will happen if he doesn’t improve.
Inconsistent treatment of workers can form the basis for a cause of action on the basis of discrimination. A reduction in responsibilities can be considered an adverse employment action for the purpose of the law, even if the salary and title remain the same. I do recommend, however, that you use email as a backup to reflect verbal communication, rather than on its own. Some workers, who may have latent disabilities of which you are unaware, respond better to written or visual cues rather than verbal instructions.
Also, keep in mind that some of those Gen X managers may be spectacularly smart people but need to grow into their managerial roles. Instead of chalking it up to inexperience or perhaps their discomfort at supervising people old enough to be their parents, they may need to acquire better skill sets appropriate for the position. Or, if your internal policies are weak, they don’t have a cogent, clear set of operational principles with which to impose fair and appropriate corrective action.
Often, it is much easier to make recommendations from the outside than to be involved in the manager/worker dichotomy.
Have a question or comment?
Contact Jennifer at Jennifer@Kirschenbaumesq.com or at (516) 747-6700 x. 302.