Subject: Dealing with difficult employees

In answer to the second question: I think in principle people should be allowed to criticise their employers.  This is relevant in terms of whistle-blowing where employers engage in practices that they really don't but it's also relevant in that somebody who's generally happy at work should still be able to make specific criticisms.

Having said that, there are plenty of times when criticising your employer would be highly unprofessional.  For instance when I worked on software development projects, way back, one of the guidelines for dealing with clients was that you never criticised your own employer and you never criticised a client, which occasionally led to some rather difficult choices of wording when you needed to discuss a problem without criticising either side.  And constant criticism can be corrosive: if there's a culture that everybody moans all the time, it can sap morale, and also can mean that criticisms just get ignored because they are part of the background noise.

Henry's sexist remarks about his colleagues and his moans about CRB checks (which aren't a matter the charity has any choice about) also come across more as general grumpiness than about specific complaints against his employer.  And - given that he's characterised as somebody who likes to do his own thing - I wonder if he just dislikes the thought of being part of a team, and really doesn't want his friends in the cafe to work with him.  He might even be wary of working with them for fear of having an argument with Bill and the others.

None of which is going to help get everything ready for the Christmas party.  Still, as Millcaster's somewhere in the Midlands, snow before Christmas is a fairly rare occurence, and Siobhan will need as much help as she can get in keeping paths swept etc.  So maybe she can put a gloss on her meeting with Henry in the morning, pointing out to him that she really needs some extra help, and that if he knows there are people around who've recently been made redundant, they could constiture a useful pool of casual labour, and she can also try and find out - perhaps through the job centre - whether there are others around willing to do some voluntary work.

Great comment!

I think Henry is probably threatened by the thought of new people coming in who might upset his world even more than Siobhan does!

After reading the second part of the story, I just hope that the A & E department at Millcaster Hospital is all set to cope with slips on the snow and with the possibility that Siobhan's paracetamol comes back to haunt her...

My reaction to the first part was that a quick conversation would have been appropriate, a written warning wouldn't have been necessary, and suspending Henry would certainly be over the top.  If anything, I feel that more strongly in the light of this second part .  But it looks as though it's possible that Henry and Siobhan can make up their differences and the children will get to see a grotto.  Happy Christmas everybody

Martin

Preparing for confrontation

Wow! Lots happening at the home! my Blub! From an HR perspective Siobhan should have met with Henry informally first to find out Henry’s version of the incident. Following on from that if Siobhan felt the matter should be investigated further and for Henry to be formally disciplined; then she should have written to Henry to inform him and invite him to a disciplinary meeting, informing him of the date, time, venue, who will be at the meeting, why he was being asked to the meeting and his right to be accompanied to the meeting by a work colleague or union representative. The meeting should be managed according to the organisations disciplinary procedure. After the disciplinary meeting if a disciplinary action is to be issues such as a verbal/written warning its important to confirm in writing to Henry stating clearing the duration of the warning and consequences of breaching it and his right to appeal against the decision and the appeal process and a copy of the letter should be kept on file until the end of the specified time.

Was Linda right to suggest suspending Henry?

The incident at most comes under bringing the organisation into disrepute the action taken depends on the organisations standing on such conducts and the severity (at most its misconduct). It doesn’t fall under gross misconduct so I would say Linda suggesting a suspension is a bit over the top.  Suspensions are applied where it is believed that this course of action would be in the best interest of the organisation, having regard to the circumstances of the particular allegations or complaint. Suspension itself is not a disciplinary sanction and should not imply pre-judgement. Secondly Siobhan did not follow any of the protocol for suspending an employee when she told Henry he was suspended.

The full picture

It seems to me that Siobhan and Henry’s working relations is poor.  It is worrying that Siobhan does not seem to know very much about what Henry is doing, whilst other staff members do.  I think they need to improve their communication of information between them. This is very important especially for Siobhan as a manager; her lack of awareness of Henry’s injury says a lot, I won’t go into the implications. I think she needs to deal with Henry’s behaviour generally with support. Henry barking at the children is inappropriate perhaps a lesson in emotional intelligence for Henry and a lesson in managing difficult people for Siobhan.

News year’s resolution

I would suggest a meeting to discuss their working relationship and agree an improvement plan moving forward. It seems to me although Henry is a difficult employee he is committed to his job, perhaps a bit more praise and constructive feedback may help with his behavior and their relationship with Siobhan. Unfortunately I think Siobhan’s managerial skills are poor and perhaps needs support to manage Henry effectively and some training.

How explicit should your employee handbook or contract of employment be about not criticising the organisation in public?

It needs to state the organisations position on such actions by employees and the consequences of such actions. I know of a few incidents when employees have gone as far as to criticise their organisations to funders which impacted on some of these organisations.

Would Henry have had the right to be accompanied by a colleague to the meeting with Siobhan?

Yes as Siobhan, it appears was formally disciplining him. Not necessarily if it was an informal meeting, however Siobhan would have had to record and confirm what was discussed at the informal meeting in a summary and given a copy to Henry. It is Best practice – to keep a record trial of all disputes whether dealt with informally, formally and verbally.

Happy Ney Year everyone!

Interesting consideration in terms of criticising your employer of whether you'd be bringing the organisation into disrepute.  It's also important to think of why you say particular things.  I was recently travelling with a low-cost airline and there was no food, except for minimal snacks, available on the plane.  The pilot did announce this, mention that the airline hadn't provided enough food at the start of the day, and encourage passengers to compain using the airline's website if they were unhappy about it.  Mild criticism of his employer maybe, but commonsense, and also the right thing for the cabin crew as the pilot didn't want passengers taking out their complaints on the crew.

Martin