Hard employee to work with.
By SuperSpiph
@SuperSpiph (5)
United States
December 11, 2011 6:28pm CST
I work as a domestic violence advocate and at my place of employment we work in shifts and must wait for relief before we can leave the building, it is staffed 24 hours.
This employee has constantly been late, broken confidentiality of clients, caused them to feel bullied and harrassed and is a terrible advocate. She has also yelled at several employees (including our executive director), not shown up for shifts so people have had to work doubles, doesn't do any of the physical work that is required, misses meetings and still can't correctly document her work. Every time she works I have a client come and voice concern to me about how they don't feel safe, fairly treated or how they felt harrassed by this staff member.
I am considered management but have no real responsibilities when it comes to staff members other than directing them to tasks that need completion.
Talking to upper management has done nothing except convince them that I don't like her. There was another manager on the same level as me who voiced a complaint as well but that didn't help either.
We are at our wits end.
I suppose I'm wondering if anyone out there has had similar situations and/or has any effective tools for dealing with these things.
2 people like this
7 responses
@Robswife2006 (1208)
• United States
12 Dec 11
Is there no one else you can turn to, higher up then these managers that can deal with this employee once & for all? It's very hard for people who are in a domestic situation to trust people & if dealing with this staff member is turning them away from getting help then they might not come back & this could put their very lives in danger. Maybe if some of them wrote out a written complaint maybe the higher ups would listen to them if not you. It's worth a try anyway.
@SuperSpiph (5)
• United States
12 Dec 11
The person I've talked to is the one who hs the final firing decision. She has had at least two written compaints by clients. There was one instance where my boss was gone for a few days and another manager had to make a decision regarding this staff member. She had gone into a clients room, shook her awake and made her remove laundry from a dryer - the client felt like it was a power play and was humiliated in front of others. The alternative manager put her on suspension and when our manager returned she gave her shifts back to her.
@cripfemme (7698)
• United States
15 Jan 12
That sounds like a hard situation, especially because of the people you deal with, who are already so vulnerable and in need of help. Have you talked to your boss or tried to intervene with the employee directly. It may seem obvious to you or I, but perhaps she doesn't know what harm her actions are causing. If all of that doesn't work, perhaps it's best to let her go.
@KrauseHome (36448)
• United States
12 Dec 11
Wow!! Seriously, someone who is an advocate for Domestic Violence is like this and no one is doing anything about it? Is she related to some of the upper management? Personally this is unreal, and I really think this is uncalled for, and someone there needs to be a way to get rid of them. Not showing up and then when they are there treating people like this is Wrong. In time everything will come back around, but to have them continue to expose others to this is like WOW!!
@nicanorr (1789)
• Philippines
12 Dec 11
Hello!, SuperSpiph, good morning as it is morning here in Philippines. I understand your predicament or the company's problem. The employee at issue is truly a bully. I am 100% convinced that he came from a broken home. I also suspect that he has a special relationship with one or two of the company's bosses that's why no amount of negative reports about his work performances will fire him out of the job.
Your point here is to make the problem employee amend his manners, character, work habits, etc. so he'll become an asset to your company. Am I right? I believe in the saying that no matter how hard a stone is, it will disintegrate if it'll be exposed even to small but constant rain. In this light, I suggest that you (everybody) do your level best to positively straighten the crooked employee that he has become. Like the proverbial stone, his bad manner and performance will be replaced in no time with love, passion and respect for both his fellow workers and his work from which he derived his bread and butter. Hope this helps.
@wadabski (761)
• Philippines
12 Dec 11
In any job there are always employee with different attitude and personality. Just do your best and show that you are a good worker, sooner or later good records will be the basis of any promotion or bonus. It is really hard trying to understand co-workers like that.
@tang888 (23)
• China
12 Dec 11
we work every day ,job is very import,In china most people like working in company of USA or in europe. Chinese say them work effect busy and happy.some poeple who work in chinese company say his rewards being low,but them work easy.So we can say that most companys is good.
@kingparker (9673)
• United States
12 Dec 11
You should reflect such incidents and what happen to your human resource director, or your superior about your concern. If you feel that her attitude and her action interfere your effectiveness of your work performance and others too, you should really talk to your superior about it, and consult his/her opinion for further advice. That is the best you can do for it.
