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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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

A 40+ YO with that level of experience shouldn’t need that level of mentoring. Sounds like she’s skated through her entire career

DP. I’m not sure she needs mentoring but she certainly needs regular feedback and clear communication. OP is totally unclear about what “focusing on other’s work” means. Generally people don’t work in isolation, so if she sees some issues or room for improvement in other people’s work, that could be totally normal and relevant to her own work. I would not discount the possibility of her coworkers reacting poorly to perceived criticism by a black woman new to the job. In any event it is clear that OP is not going to do anything to make this better. An internal transfer would be the best move. Termination will likely result in a lawsuit, possibly a successful one, because OP is in fact giving major vibes of treating the employee differently based on race & gender.

I’m really not getting those “vibes” from OP. OP just seems like a lazy manager.

Well laziness is what makes things like implicit bias become more relevant. OP is too lazy to actually train his employee or support her properly. Much easier to blame it on “cultural misfit” in a way that amounts to unequal treatment. I wish OP would say more about the “scope” issues. I bet you anything that the white coworkers are mad at how the black woman “aggressively criticizes” or whatever.

Or maybe she’s just not a good hire.

You can’t advocate for DEIA requirements and then get mad when people strive to meet them.

um what?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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 ?

On a three person team, micro managing the new person into quitting may be her best bet. Not treating employees who have been there for 7 years similarly is defensible. That said, I wouldn't request screen shares bookending every day because that is too obvious

Yea I mean you have to cover your butt too. Everything she does wrong needs to be documented but give her compliments about things way below her level. You can figure this out with a new employee and two tenured ones. Also, will she sue? Quick way to become unemployable. She’s probably taken severance, signed a waiver and peaced out several times.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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 ?

On a three person team, micro managing the new person into quitting may be her best bet. Not treating employees who have been there for 7 years similarly is defensible. That said, I wouldn't request screen shares bookending every day because that is too obvious

Yea I mean you have to cover your butt too. Everything she does wrong needs to be documented but give her compliments about things way below her level. You can figure this out with a new employee and two tenured ones. Also, will she sue? Quick way to become unemployable. She’s probably taken severance, signed a waiver and peaced out several times.

And you are making these statement based on what?

It's more likely that OP sucks as a manager. He might have lucked out with two subordinates who are as weird as he is.

His complaints here show that he and his team are not good communicators.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

Have you ever hard to bring a new person on board and up to speed, OP? What are you comparing this new hire to, besides the colleagues who have been there for 7 yrs?

[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?

I highlighted the bolded because these are three areas where you can do something different.

To answer your direct question, I would push her out through micromanaging her. But you need to be a little delicate because frankly, she's in two protected classes. You need to document, document, document.

Monthly check-ins are too infrequent. You should bump it up to twice a month at least. Out it under the guise of professional development. Do you have a written job description for her position? Is it accurate? Because you need both. 6 months is mid-year review. Point out and document where she is not meeting expectations.

RE: In-person meetings. That's a straight up write-uppable offense. Send a note and calendar invite to the entire team. Warn her twice and tell her she will be written up on the third occasion.

Budget - cut off her access to these approvals. If you can specifically identify items she should not have approved then I hope you've told her that. Make approvals come through you.

This is definitely going to be more work for you in the short and medium run, and it's possible that she will step to once actual consequences are involved. But you need to implement them with a concrete plan.

[Anonymous]

what kind of workshops or training have you offered this new hire? How would this organization support this POC vs a white candidate?

Is there someone at your org that might share the same cultural background as your new hire?

Have you and your team gone through implicit biases trainng?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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

A 40+ YO with that level of experience shouldn’t need that level of mentoring. Sounds like she’s skated through her entire career

DP. I’m not sure she needs mentoring but she certainly needs regular feedback and clear communication. OP is totally unclear about what “focusing on other’s work” means. Generally people don’t work in isolation, so if she sees some issues or room for improvement in other people’s work, that could be totally normal and relevant to her own work. I would not discount the possibility of her coworkers reacting poorly to perceived criticism by a black woman new to the job. In any event it is clear that OP is not going to do anything to make this better. An internal transfer would be the best move. Termination will likely result in a lawsuit, possibly a successful one, because OP is in fact giving major vibes of treating the employee differently based on race & gender.

I’m really not getting those “vibes” from OP. OP just seems like a lazy manager.

Well laziness is what makes things like implicit bias become more relevant. OP is too lazy to actually train his employee or support her properly. Much easier to blame it on “cultural misfit” in a way that amounts to unequal treatment. I wish OP would say more about the “scope” issues. I bet you anything that the white coworkers are mad at how the black woman “aggressively criticizes” or whatever.

Or maybe she’s just not a good hire.

You can’t advocate for DEIA requirements and then get mad when people strive to meet them.

um what?

I didn’t write anything unclear.

DEIA is Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA).

Many organizations are using guidelines for this to make requirements around hiring. When you hire someone of a particular background it’s a positive. So, the goal is not to hire unqualified people of a particular background. It’s to hire QUALIFIED people, which OP stated he believed to have done.

So, saying well you’re so biased and bigoted because you noticed her race is pretty stupid.

The point of DEIA is to notice. Remember if you don’t see color you don’t see me?!

[Anonymous]

If she is working at home this shouldn't be shocking.

WFH is not good for people in there 20s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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

A 40+ YO with that level of experience shouldn’t need that level of mentoring. Sounds like she’s skated through her entire career

DP. I’m not sure she needs mentoring but she certainly needs regular feedback and clear communication. OP is totally unclear about what “focusing on other’s work” means. Generally people don’t work in isolation, so if she sees some issues or room for improvement in other people’s work, that could be totally normal and relevant to her own work. I would not discount the possibility of her coworkers reacting poorly to perceived criticism by a black woman new to the job. In any event it is clear that OP is not going to do anything to make this better. An internal transfer would be the best move. Termination will likely result in a lawsuit, possibly a successful one, because OP is in fact giving major vibes of treating the employee differently based on race & gender.

I’m really not getting those “vibes” from OP. OP just seems like a lazy manager.

Well laziness is what makes things like implicit bias become more relevant. OP is too lazy to actually train his employee or support her properly. Much easier to blame it on “cultural misfit” in a way that amounts to unequal treatment. I wish OP would say more about the “scope” issues. I bet you anything that the white coworkers are mad at how the black woman “aggressively criticizes” or whatever.

Or maybe she’s just not a good hire.

You can’t advocate for DEIA requirements and then get mad when people strive to meet them.

um what?

I didn’t write anything unclear.

DEIA is Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA).

Many organizations are using guidelines for this to make requirements around hiring. When you hire someone of a particular background it’s a positive. So, the goal is not to hire unqualified people of a particular background. It’s to hire QUALIFIED people, which OP stated he believed to have done.

So, saying well you’re so biased and bigoted because you noticed her race is pretty stupid.

The point of DEIA is to notice. Remember if you don’t see color you don’t see me?!

You think the point of DEIA is to discriminate based on race?

[Anonymous]

The fact that you called her a "diversity hire" tells me a lot.

And you're clocking her "personal time"? But you've only checked in with her six times in six months???

Just say you never gave her a shot and be done with it.

If you try to PIP her, I hope she sues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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

A 40+ YO with that level of experience shouldn’t need that level of mentoring. Sounds like she’s skated through her entire career

DP. I’m not sure she needs mentoring but she certainly needs regular feedback and clear communication. OP is totally unclear about what “focusing on other’s work” means. Generally people don’t work in isolation, so if she sees some issues or room for improvement in other people’s work, that could be totally normal and relevant to her own work. I would not discount the possibility of her coworkers reacting poorly to perceived criticism by a black woman new to the job. In any event it is clear that OP is not going to do anything to make this better. An internal transfer would be the best move. Termination will likely result in a lawsuit, possibly a successful one, because OP is in fact giving major vibes of treating the employee differently based on race & gender.

I’m really not getting those “vibes” from OP. OP just seems like a lazy manager.

Well laziness is what makes things like implicit bias become more relevant. OP is too lazy to actually train his employee or support her properly. Much easier to blame it on “cultural misfit” in a way that amounts to unequal treatment. I wish OP would say more about the “scope” issues. I bet you anything that the white coworkers are mad at how the black woman “aggressively criticizes” or whatever.

Or maybe she’s just not a good hire.

You can’t advocate for DEIA requirements and then get mad when people strive to meet them.

um what?

I didn’t write anything unclear.

DEIA is Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA).

Many organizations are using guidelines for this to make requirements around hiring. When you hire someone of a particular background it’s a positive. So, the goal is not to hire unqualified people of a particular background. It’s to hire QUALIFIED people, which OP stated he believed to have done.

So, saying well you’re so biased and bigoted because you noticed her race is pretty stupid.

The point of DEIA is to notice. Remember if you don’t see color you don’t see me?!

You think the point of DEIA is to discriminate based on race?

DP. Please enlighten us as to what the point is instead of being all “um what” and feigning ignorance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The fact that you called her a "diversity hire" tells me a lot.

And you're clocking her "personal time"? But you've only checked in with her six times in six months???

Just say you never gave her a shot and be done with it.

If you try to PIP her, I hope she sues.

OP is enough of a crap manager without the piling on the unnecessary racist charge. OP was clear that it “diversity hire” was a bonus. And it’s clearly relevant because you’re all begging the hire to sue based on protected class blah blah blah.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The fact that you called her a "diversity hire" tells me a lot.

And you're clocking her "personal time"? But you've only checked in with her six times in six months???

Just say you never gave her a shot and be done with it.

If you try to PIP her, I hope she sues.

OP is enough of a crap manager without the piling on the unnecessary racist charge. OP was clear that it “diversity hire” was a bonus. And it’s clearly relevant because you’re all begging the hire to sue based on protected class blah blah blah.

Well to be honest - being a crap manager is what gets you sued in this scenario. And it’s entirely possible that OP and his team are treating her more harshly than they would treat a white man. Particularly the stuff about her not staying within her “scope.” That’s a classic situation- a man acting exactly the same way is “showing initiative.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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

A 40+ YO with that level of experience shouldn’t need that level of mentoring. Sounds like she’s skated through her entire career

DP. I’m not sure she needs mentoring but she certainly needs regular feedback and clear communication. OP is totally unclear about what “focusing on other’s work” means. Generally people don’t work in isolation, so if she sees some issues or room for improvement in other people’s work, that could be totally normal and relevant to her own work. I would not discount the possibility of her coworkers reacting poorly to perceived criticism by a black woman new to the job. In any event it is clear that OP is not going to do anything to make this better. An internal transfer would be the best move. Termination will likely result in a lawsuit, possibly a successful one, because OP is in fact giving major vibes of treating the employee differently based on race & gender.

I’m really not getting those “vibes” from OP. OP just seems like a lazy manager.

Well laziness is what makes things like implicit bias become more relevant. OP is too lazy to actually train his employee or support her properly. Much easier to blame it on “cultural misfit” in a way that amounts to unequal treatment. I wish OP would say more about the “scope” issues. I bet you anything that the white coworkers are mad at how the black woman “aggressively criticizes” or whatever.

Or maybe she’s just not a good hire.

You can’t advocate for DEIA requirements and then get mad when people strive to meet them.

um what?

I didn’t write anything unclear.

DEIA is Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA).

Many organizations are using guidelines for this to make requirements around hiring. When you hire someone of a particular background it’s a positive. So, the goal is not to hire unqualified people of a particular background. It’s to hire QUALIFIED people, which OP stated he believed to have done.

So, saying well you’re so biased and bigoted because you noticed her race is pretty stupid.

The point of DEIA is to notice. Remember if you don’t see color you don’t see me?!

You think the point of DEIA is to discriminate based on race?

DP. Please enlighten us as to what the point is instead of being all “um what” and feigning ignorance.

I’m not feigning anything. I made the point that OP and team may actually be acting in a biased way, and PP tried to make an idiotic gotcha point about diversity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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

A 40+ YO with that level of experience shouldn’t need that level of mentoring. Sounds like she’s skated through her entire career

DP. I’m not sure she needs mentoring but she certainly needs regular feedback and clear communication. OP is totally unclear about what “focusing on other’s work” means. Generally people don’t work in isolation, so if she sees some issues or room for improvement in other people’s work, that could be totally normal and relevant to her own work. I would not discount the possibility of her coworkers reacting poorly to perceived criticism by a black woman new to the job. In any event it is clear that OP is not going to do anything to make this better. An internal transfer would be the best move. Termination will likely result in a lawsuit, possibly a successful one, because OP is in fact giving major vibes of treating the employee differently based on race & gender.

I’m really not getting those “vibes” from OP. OP just seems like a lazy manager.

Well laziness is what makes things like implicit bias become more relevant. OP is too lazy to actually train his employee or support her properly. Much easier to blame it on “cultural misfit” in a way that amounts to unequal treatment. I wish OP would say more about the “scope” issues. I bet you anything that the white coworkers are mad at how the black woman “aggressively criticizes” or whatever.

Or maybe she’s just not a good hire.

You can’t advocate for DEIA requirements and then get mad when people strive to meet them.

um what?

I didn’t write anything unclear.

DEIA is Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA).

Many organizations are using guidelines for this to make requirements around hiring. When you hire someone of a particular background it’s a positive. So, the goal is not to hire unqualified people of a particular background. It’s to hire QUALIFIED people, which OP stated he believed to have done.

So, saying well you’re so biased and bigoted because you noticed her race is pretty stupid.

The point of DEIA is to notice. Remember if you don’t see color you don’t see me?!

You think the point of DEIA is to discriminate based on race?

DP. Please enlighten us as to what the point is instead of being all “um what” and feigning ignorance.

I’m not feigning anything. I made the point that OP and team may actually be acting in a biased way, and PP tried to make an idiotic gotcha point about diversity.

PP made the equally plausible point that maybe the hire is actually performing poorly…