You have an employee who does what she is told, but never seemsto take much initiative. She occasionally is a little late to work(although she states that she is in the parking lot by startingtime and it is not her fault that her workstation is so far awayfrom where she parks her car), tends to “stretch†her lunch breaks,and routinely leaves her work area five to ten minutes early everyday. She is not a bad employee, per se. She is competent at her joband does what she is told. She is by no means a high performer,though, as she seems to put in only enough effort to do her job ata minimum level without raising flags that would result indiscipline. The frustrating thing for you as a manager is that shewas not always like that. She used to be very driven. After alittle investigation, you learned the employee has complained tocoworkers that, even if she is a high performer and the companysells extra units due to her efforts, she sees no benefitwhatsoever. Additionally, she was tired of putting in a lot of workwhen others around her did little to increase their productivityand they are still being paid as much as she is. Her personnel filedoes not include any documentation of disciplinary action up tothis point.
What do you believe is the underlying problem here?
How would you handle this problem? Do you anticipate“complications†that could possibly be outside of your control?
What follow-up will you conduct on you coaching and remediationplan to ensure the employee’s behavior has been positivelyinfluenced?
Do you believe some type of discipline (up to or includingtermination) is or may be warranted?
