Anonymous
Post 06/30/2013 18:57     Subject: Re:advice about letting a new employee go (during review period)
Anonymous wrote:thanks for the replies, everyone. i am, of course, giving her feedback. i've returned most of her assignments with comments and revised, re-submit deadlines. one of things that has me worried in particular is that not one assignment, and i've purposefully given her a wide variety, has come in at the level i was hoping for (and at the level that others in her position seem to have no trouble with). or i guess a better way of putting it, at a level that i can work with. this is a resource poor environment and i just don't have the time to both walk her through every little thing AND have to do her work myself because she is so slow at getting her assignments completed.

as a concrete example, but without going into specific detail about our work, we need folks in this role to have facility with the entire Microsoft suite of software at the intermediate level. in my experience, you can get someone from intermediate to advanced over time and without too much trouble. this person did not know how to insert a page number or center a title in Word. we do a fair bit of work in Excel, though nothing too too complex. still, she turned in a spreadsheet for a basic assignment (think three columns, where two must add to the third) where the calculations were done BY HAND outside of Excel with a calculator because she either doesn't know or doesn't realize how to use formulas.

this is the kind of thing that i just don't have time to work with. but she comes with a master's from a top tier school and a few years work experience.


I worked with someone like that once. He was an unpaid intern who was an inner city kid. I taught him excel and thought I was the coolest dude on the planet. I loved the guy - as did everyone else - and we all bought his lunches and dinners and took him out all the time. As an unpaid intern, the shortcomings didn't matter. As a paid employee he'd not have lasted a week. What you describe is catastrohically bad; hell even this intern figured out that there's a sum, didvide an multiply function in excel ( he is not figure out you could use a plus sign, so his formulas were crazy... Think = sum(a2,a3,mutilpy(b4,b6))...... Frankly his absurd formulas, inefficient as they were, were impressive in their own right.

Another guy I worked with who was a project manager just didn't do things . He'd schedule an hour with you, you'd give him dates to update, he just wouldn't remember to do it. A week later, the dates would still be blank. I tried for months to push him - lets try team updates, okay try 1:1 meetings, okay lets ditch project and you can use excel,... He was just sloppy. Period. I spent three hours with him explaining the goals of the project, going line item by line item, and asking him in no uncertain terms to please start keeping stuff updated. A week later dates hasn't been updated again, despite my sending them in an email three times. I called his boss and said Id had enough- worse, he had alienated everyone on the team because his work output sucked. In a last ditch attempt to explain himself he sent me an 21 page word document he wrote as a project charter - at a time when we were 50% through te project. It was just a worthless document, and like you I just had no more time to coach or help. We pulled the plug. As I told his boss - I can deal with someone being a weaker overall performer than average; but when you hit a point where the persons presence is to the detriment of the team and their output is net negative, you just have to cut.
Anonymous
Post 06/30/2013 18:09     Subject: advice about letting a new employee go (during review period)
Is she over 50?
Anonymous
Post 06/30/2013 17:38     Subject: Re:advice about letting a new employee go (during review period)
Ok, someone who has a masters and previous work experience should know those microsoft office basics.
Signed,
Someone who went to a land grant institution for her masters and knows how to use excel and word
Anonymous
Post 06/30/2013 17:03     Subject: advice about letting a new employee go (during review period)
I am in a similar situation now. Since she has a good attitude and you like her personally, I think you owe it to her (and the reputation of your organization) to give her a chance. But it does not have to be as long as 6 mo. Schedule a meeting with her tomorrow and outline areas she needs to improve. Tell her you are willing to work with her, but you need to see improvement very quickly. Follow up with an email confirming your conversation. Give her a month to improve.
Anonymous
Post 06/30/2013 17:03     Subject: advice about letting a new employee go (during review period)
Anonymous wrote:The problems you have identified are easy to correct -- they are nothing more than a lack of secretarial skills. She can correct these problems in two days of training. I don't think it is crazy that someone with a masters degree might not be proficient in secretarial skills.


+1
Anonymous
Post 06/30/2013 17:02     Subject: advice about letting a new employee go (during review period)
I didn't know excel but luckily i was working for a govt agency and went to a class.
Is there training she could go to? I agree, in a nonprofit it might make sense to have one of the other staffers sit down with her for an hour or two and show her the basics.
Anonymous
Post 06/30/2013 16:57     Subject: advice about letting a new employee go (during review period)
Anonymous wrote:Yes, it is poor management t to fire her without giving her warnings and further training.[/quo


AGREE!!!!
Anonymous
Post 06/30/2013 16:48     Subject: Re:advice about letting a new employee go (during review period)
Anonymous wrote:Whatever you do, make sure you fire her during the probationary period. That will really help protect you and your organization.

I wouldn't give her any more chances, but I would learn from this experience with future employees.


This is just not true, unless there is an employment contract or she is not in an employment at will state. If the employee is at-will, she has no more rights after her probation period than during.
Anonymous
Post 06/30/2013 16:46     Subject: advice about letting a new employee go (during review period)
The problems you have identified are easy to correct -- they are nothing more than a lack of secretarial skills. She can correct these problems in two days of training. I don't think it is crazy that someone with a masters degree might not be proficient in secretarial skills.
Anonymous
Post 06/30/2013 16:01     Subject: Re:advice about letting a new employee go (during review period)
Whatever you do, make sure you fire her during the probationary period. That will really help protect you and your organization.

I wouldn't give her any more chances, but I would learn from this experience with future employees.
Anonymous
Post 06/30/2013 15:52     Subject: advice about letting a new employee go (during review period)
Move on. If she is not a good fit, fine someone who is. You do your non-profit, yourself, and her no favor by keeping her on.
Anonymous
Post 06/30/2013 15:25     Subject: advice about letting a new employee go (during review period)
Anonymous wrote:Non profit work is usually bull shit , how exactly can you fail at that.


Comments like that are always bullshit, so why should anyone bother to explain it to you? I doubt you could cut it at OP's organization either from the sound of it.
Anonymous
Post 06/30/2013 14:59     Subject: advice about letting a new employee go (during review period)
Listen to the self-named "HR Bitch". She writes with wisdom and experience.

Get past the "but she's so nice" and "this will hurt her financially." Your non-profit is not an employment agency. You have a fiduciary responsibility to see that your donors' funding is used judiciously. Give her the 2 week deadline to learn Microsoft Office.
Anonymous
Post 06/30/2013 14:10     Subject: advice about letting a new employee go (during review period)
Anonymous wrote:NP here. Can't you just assign someone else to help her with these things? Like tell her to go to "Suzie" if you have questions about Microsoft. Also, giving her stuff back to have her fix and setting a new deadline isn't letting her know what's wrong. She might just think that is the way things are done.

It wouldn't be right to just fire her out of the blue. Perhaps she can be transferred or assign someone to help her out to get up to speed on how things are done in the office. It sound like she is a nice person, give her a chance.



Um, right. let's assign a non-fuckup employee to do the work for a fuckup employee. Great way to boost office morale.

I don't care if she's "nice." Nice isn't owed a job.
Anonymous
Post 06/30/2013 14:09     Subject: advice about letting a new employee go (during review period)
Non profit work is usually bull shit , how exactly can you fail at that.