Documentation of poor performance

[k3am]

My analyst is in a written PIP. She sucks. Big time. Crazy boss lady is on vacation for the month - prior to her leaving, I told her I thought it's best if we let her go, Crazy boss lady asked me to document all her short comings and we will likely let her go when she returns. (Her PIP is up at the end of the month, I think?)

Since CBL left, the analyst has asked me to have daily meetings with her to keep her on task because "it's the only way she can stay motivated to stay on task". No one else requires this. I told her we could do 2x/week, but that it was a temporary arrangement and she needs to learn to self motivate. As part of this, I told her we need to track her workflows on a daily basis so I can get a better idea of how she's spending her time. (Why crazy boss lady wasn't doing this already, I don't know).

So far, she's been late to or rescheduled 2 of the meetings (we've only had SIX scheduled - and she's the one who picked dates/times), one of them she just plain missed, she's been late to work >30 mins 3 days, her workflows only add up to 4-7 hours per day, and she is apparently doing the same thing for the same clients on multiple days, for timelines that are longer than they should be. (ie: for 4 different days, she marked down ABC project for client X, 90 minutes. That's six hours for one task that, at the longest and for the most complicated clients, takes about an hour.) The only conclusion I can come to is that either she's exaggerating and really only doing about 2-3 hours of work a day or she's completely incompetent. Maybe some mix of both.

How much effort should I be putting into this? I've discussed her time management/showing up late/missing meetings with her, but I haven't called her out on the fact that her work flows just don't make sense - and she can't even realistically fudge them enough to make them add up to a standard 8 hour day. 

[supertrooper1]

If I were you, I wouldn't waste much of your time with this since you're most likely leaving. Sounds like CBL won't do much and might never fire her. In my experience with PIPs, if someone involved in the documentation leaves, the other parties involved fail to push for improvement. Just document the shortcomings like CBL asked, but don't spend too much time doing it.

[shakinros]

Feb 20, 2015 10:55:51 GMT -5 supertrooper1 said:

If I were you, I wouldn't waste much of your time with this since you're most likely leaving. Sounds like CBL won't do much and might never fire her. In my experience with PIPs, if someone involved in the documentation leaves, the other parties involved fail to push for improvement. Just document the shortcomings like CBL asked, but don't spend too much time doing it.

All of this. You're leaving. Document but don't waste time on trying to improve an unimprovable employee.

[ericalee27]

Feb 20, 2015 10:59:08 GMT -5 shakinros said:

Feb 20, 2015 10:55:51 GMT -5 supertrooper1 said:

If I were you, I wouldn't waste much of your time with this since you're most likely leaving. Sounds like CBL won't do much and might never fire her. In my experience with PIPs, if someone involved in the documentation leaves, the other parties involved fail to push for improvement. Just document the shortcomings like CBL asked, but don't spend too much time doing it.

All of this. You're leaving. Document but don't waste time on trying to improve an unimprovable employee.

This x 1000

[k3am]

I'm hopefully leaving. Still no offer letter, still no guarantee that if/when it comes it will be where it needs to be for me to make a move.

If - and it's a big if - I stay, I want her gone. And even if I go, it's in their best interest for her to be gone.

[pitta12]

All you can do about it is document it. You don't have to hold her hand. Just document what is going on and then turn it over to CBL to do what she will (or won't).

[mustardseed2007]

I would wait until Tuesday or Wednesday and then bring up to her that it doesn't make sense, and document you told her that. Because Tuesday you should hopefully have your offer letter. 

The added benefit is that the boss lady will be back at the end of the month, and you're bringing up the workflow issue towards the end. It gives her a little time to address the issue, which she won't, and then your boss can take over or not. 

[2chatter]

I might be overzealous about documentation, but it's because my employer requires a crazy amount of documentation to take the next step on the PIP.

I email people to let them know anything that is not meeting standards - including late entry, missed meeting, inadequate time tracking. HR here is big on us pushing the improvement with the employee and proving there is not. As I prefer to 80-20 rule manage (sorry, losers of the world who have to report to me at some point before they are managed out) this meets the documentation need and isn't a proactive, mentoring time suck.

It sounds harsh, but there it is.

[mommyatty]

I'm a huge believer in getting rid of poor performers. At this point, I would document that she asked for help and why (seriously? You're past jr high and you admit you need someone to ride your ass to keep you on track?), you offered up help twice a week, she's failed to take advantage of the help, she presented a document that shows she has no clue how to manage her time or do her job, and she still has crap attendance. But I wouldn't try to help her. She isn't taking advantage of the help you've offered. Keep attending the twice a week meetings when she bothers to come, point out it appears she's spinning her wheels or exaggerating how much time she's taking on tasks if she asks for feedback, but let her fail. Some people can't be saved.

[billybumbler]

My field is pretty different from yours, and I don't know what a PIP is, but I say document. I wouldn't talk to her about the work flow, just show your boss. It would be especially good if you could compare her flow with someone else's. People like that drive me crazy, they manage to look busy while doing almost nothing.

[Deleted]

waste no time on this employee. Document everything, do not meet with her everyday- she is on a PIP for a reason. Spend your precious time with high achievers.

[mommyatty]

PIP = Perfprmance Improvement Plan. AKA "Get your shit together or get fired" document.

[akafred]

Do you work at my company? They make the PIP so cumbersome for the bosses that they don't want to do them and no one ever gets fired. There's an analyst I work with who is just awful. He has 2 special needs kids (who don't live with him so are not the cause of poor performance, but do rely on his income), so they will never fire him. And nobody else will take him.

That said, agree with the advice to document and not waste your own resources on this. Analyst wants to make this your problem (as in, I wanted to meet daily and she would only meet biweekly). Don't give her fuel. Just do what you were asked and move on.