Made a terrible hire, trying to keep my team together.

[Anonymous]

Why did you wait after 90days to make this decision?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This one’s 100% on me. We had funding for an additional position finally be approved about 3-4 years of ‘no not right now’ and pulled the trigger on a candidate who was incredible on paper (great education, great work experience, interviewed well) and was a diversity hire(simply a bonus, based off interviews she 100% was the best candidate). My team said ‘wait it out and let’s do another batch of interviews’. Last we did that, funding was pulled.

She has now been in role for about 6 months and is no better off than she was a month in. I’m constantly reminding her of her scope of work, to stop focusing on things that aren’t hers, and our monthly check ins don’t seem to be working. She refuses to assimilate to company culture (coming in for team meetings/executive engagement), & takes plenty of personal time during the day. It’s all around a bad hire.

My two other employees have been at the company for 7+ years, they are at wits end with her. Not only is she bad at her job, she approves things from our budget without reason & is condescending to the other people in the office. I’m not even sure how to handle this, completely over my head. This lady is in her 40’s so has been around the professional world for a while but she seems to function more like someone fresh out of college.

Do I push her out? Do we PIP her? I’m afraid if she isn’t removed, I’ll lose two other people on my team who are great. Anyone dealt with this before?

Why did your team want to continue interviewing?

[Anonymous]

Is she a diversity hire just because she’s a woman or is she also POC?

If just a woman, I think you can go ahead and fire her. What you’re describing is a wrong fit culturally with her personality and isn’t going to get better. It’s not a training issue.

If it’s a POC then I think you need to document your concerns in a formal eval to give her a month to try to adjust (knowing that she won’t be able to). Get HR involved to cover yourself legally.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is she a diversity hire just because she’s a woman or is she also POC?

If just a woman, I think you can go ahead and fire her. What you’re describing is a wrong fit culturally with her personality and isn’t going to get better. It’s not a training issue.

If it’s a POC then I think you need to document your concerns in a formal eval to give her a month to try to adjust (knowing that she won’t be able to). Get HR involved to cover yourself legally.

Eh, I’d document either way. We fired a low-performing white woman and she filed a sex discrimination complaint even though her boss and many colleagues were all female too.

[Anonymous]

^^^ to be clear, her boss was also a white woman

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There was one red flag with her from the beginning and others were trying to tell you without saying it but they didn’t succeed
When they suggested another round they really meant don’t go with this candidate we smell a dud
That’s my take

What was the red flag?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you have well written performance standards? Detail how she's not meeting them. Step 1 is to have a meeting about all the issues you're having with her performance and document it.

Sounds like she needs weekly meetings (not monthly!), nonstop mentoring. You need stop gaps if she's approving budget items that shouldn't be approved. Why didn't you tell her no the first time?!

"Constantly reminding her"- what does this mean? Maybe she needs bullet points in an email. You are wishy washy and she's ignoring you way too easily.

I've taken great managerial trainings on things like this, you need more training.

I think anyone who is working remotely needs weekly meetings. Otherwise they are just in a void.

[Anonymous]

OP what is the line of work? May help to know what typeof work she is doing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There was one red flag with her from the beginning and others were trying to tell you without saying it but they didn’t succeed
When they suggested another round they really meant don’t go with this candidate we smell a dud
That’s my take

What was the red flag?

I don’t know for sure but it was there or they wouldn’t be pushing for more interviews

[Anonymous]

You don’t sound very empathetic as a boss. Maybe she’s dealing with personal or health issues. Have you had any one on ones with her? How often? Has she understood the nature of work being done? It takes time for people to adapt. 6 months is too short to evaluate.

[Anonymous]

I don't understand how you call someone a diversity hire and then say she was the best candidate you interviewed.

Are diverse candidates always diversity hires to you people even when they meet all your requirements? Should we be surprised that you think she is not doing well working with a biased ahole like you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There was one red flag with her from the beginning and others were trying to tell you without saying it but they didn’t succeed
When they suggested another round they really meant don’t go with this candidate we smell a dud
That’s my take

What was the red flag?

I don’t know for sure but it was there or they wouldn’t be pushing for more interviews

So your team cannot even articulate their concerns. You are a bunch of incompetent fools. Micromanage her out of this position. She will find a place where people are capable of proper communication.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like you have put zero effort into mentoring her. This is going to be on you, boss.

Someone who is credentialed and in their 40s should have it figured out alone. Some people are just duds and it sound like OP found a dud

Totally disagree. I'm 40 and midcareer, very experienced and was a high performer in prior role. My manager met with me weekly when I changed jobs, for almost a year. Multiple times a week at the very start. I knew my subject matter but not the company, culture, people, new relationships to form, who covers what across a huge company, etc. A lot of this stuff is processes that people need help and time to figure out.

Also this seems dysfunctional. We have processes for approving expenses etc - I handle big budgets but I don't just do whatever I want on my own - we have a central admin process, manager approval etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you’ve got to micromanage her. Definitely weekly check-ins, ideally daily (just 15 mins). Status updates on everything, copy you on communications related to most significant projects, etc. Maybe it will improve her work product, maybe it will inspire her to start looking elsewhere, or maybe it will have no immediate effect. But it should be good for the other employees’ morale. They’ll see you’re doing **something,** and you’re handling the messes rather than them.

+1. Hopefully she hates being micromanaged and will start looking for a new job.

This. I’m a lot like her (though people don’t poorly review me and seem to like my work). I expect extreme flexibility because I’m taking a lower position than I’m qualified for because I’m mommy tracking. That being said, I’m responsive and I also am nice to everyone. I certainly don’t ever punch down.

Your girl will hate micromanagement. Make her do the work while you watch her as she shares her screen at least a few hours a day, ideally first thing in the morning and last thing of the workday. Start calling her for fire drills at all times.

She’ll quit soon.

Micromanage her into a harassment/discrimination lawsuit ?

[Anonymous]

OP: You are not a good manager. You have had it too easy managing just two very experienced employees. Write yourself a PIP or promote her.