hypothetical workplace case study
Posted: August 28th, 2006 | Author: Jeff | Filed under: Business | 2 Comments »Situation: An employee isn’t performing up to par (really slacking or screwing up). His or her direct supervisor isn’t doing a good job managing the employee.
Q1: Who’s more at fault?
Q2: Should there be any disciplinary action? If so, how severe?
Q3: How would you rectify this?
Q1: Who’s more at fault?
The supervisor. The hiring process should filter incompetent workers. Incompetent leaders on the other hand, don’t show up right away, and time is not kind to them.
Q2: Should there be any disciplinary action? If so, how severe?
A temporary demotion of the supervisor. Have the supervisor work with another doing the same/similar job. Have them relearn. If they fail, fire them. If they don’t, the situation should eventually resolve.
Q3: How would you rectify this?
I personally would have a total reassessment of both the supervisor and employee. Perhaps a compromise, rearrangement of teams, counseling if personal issues are at fault, or… You’re Fired. ™
Here’s my take:
Assuming that the employee’s performance is consistently bad (not doing anything and has a really bad attitude when asked by others to do stuff), my recommendation would be to fire the employee, because the employee is taking advantage of his supervisor’s negligence and is not being proactive enough–and that’s a reflection on the employee’s character (may cause problems in the future).
The supervisor should be disciplined as well–(verbal warning, required to go through training, or terminated).