distracted coworkers

[chemgirl]

I didn't want to threadjack the over parenting thread with more talk of my helicopter parenting assistant.

In summary she does everything for her 20 year old daughter including walking the dog during work hours (daughter is in school to be a vet). It is causing her to drop important tasks like sending samples to clients.

I find it frustrating on a daily basis. I have outlined the issues in her performance reviews, but she technically has two supervisors. Her other supervisor gives her glowing reviews because he is not confrontational. On a funny note, she thinks I'm leaving the good reviews and totally bashes my colleague to anyone who will listen.

She has been with the company for 19 years and has been in the same position for 18 years. She applies for every promotion, but never gets them due to her low productivity.

At one point she arranged a meeting with HR and the VP to demand a promotion to executive assistant. She was told sure, but only if you complete a training course. She said she doesn't have time for a weekend course because of her family, so she is stagnating and getting very bitter.

She's started doing crazy things like comparing my phone bill to a male coworker's. He called me once on a weekend and she told the other assistants about it. They like me so they let me know. Now if I have to call him I use my personal phone, but it feels sneaky and its so rediculus.

Between the family distractions and the gossip she gets nothing done.

Anyone want to blow of steem, provide insight?

 

[MMtwo]

I'm sorry Chemgirl. I didn't mean to pull the last thread off course. As a co-worker I would be annoyed and mad. As a boss I think I would write her up. Literally keep a list of the issues (walking the dog on company time). I would write her up and have her sign it and put it in her file. After a few such write ups, you would be free to let her go for cause. It MAY have a positive impact or may help her see the wisdom in finding a new job. Your write ups in evaluations weren't being taken to heart. Those sort of complaining negative types hurt morale terrible. No one needs to come to work to someone's relentless personal drama. I don't mean those unavoidable temporary crises that everyone must work through and need support (death or a spouse, divorce, etc) but drama as a lifestyle choice.

My beef: I had an ex boss who hired her daughter. The darling daughter used up her sick leave and still was absent (without effect to her paycheck). At the end of the year when I was doing the time off for the files (we are salary) I asked for a list of her days off. I was told her and her mom "worked it out" and she worked extra hours to make up for all of that time. My hands were tied.

There was a good deal of resentment around the office. The coworker then took a couple of months off after an operation, still receiving a paycheck while an intern did her job. When she came back, she was allowed to work from home...or the pool, by phone. Her coworkers get to watch her post from the pool during her "working" hours. On top of that, she is supposed to be doing some work in the computer in tandem with her job. She has complained that the people "aren't showing up" in the program. I offered to look at it and she declined. A few months ago, I received a promotion and now work as an administrator for that program over a large area. I pulled a usage report that shows how often users sign in. She never signed in to the program after completing training a year ago. That could have something to do with the people "not showing up".

Saying that, the boss helped me in my career and that job was a stepping stone to this one. I feel slightly disloyal in complaining. However, wrong is wrong.

 

[LaraOnline]

Australian work culture lobbies hard for 'work from home' and other so called 'rights'.
The fact that a fall down the home stairs in work time is then written up as work compo (happened in australian work compo case) diesnt seem to bother anyone.

 

[ckrickett]

I had a situation very similar to moneymeister.

I used to work for a retail store and was a GM for awhile. I worked with the owners of the company to build good training and incentive programs to help with productivity, and I was flown all over the country to train and help save failing stores. I quit after awhile and after a few years I went into a location (this was a franchise location I previously worked at) and they offered me a job to help turn the store around. My manager was a baby very young with no experience (we all listened to her and gave her ample respect, she had a lot of drive to do good and in the beginning that was really great to work under), she also hired her older sister to work there as well. Everyone was nice, but my manager felt entitled to give her sister raises although her sister would throw tantrums in the store, insult customers and her and her sister would leave early for shopping excursions. Now when we were slow I would leave early b/c I was hourly to help keep pay hours down, but we would always have ample coverage. She was salary and would leave early and come late everyday, but would tell me I could't leave early because I was needed. My thoughts, you are a gm and on salary it is your job to schedule correctly, come in when you schedule yourself and pick up the slack. When I was salary I worked 15-20hours a week over what I should have if there were issues. She was supposed to work 45 hours and was averaging 30 (but would add the hours in when payroll was sent in).

Between her sister getting the raise I had asked for (I was above her in rank, and I made more money they she was productivity wise, her sister never made her goals) and was not given because they couldn't "afford" to.
Her not taking any of the advice I was hired to give her (my job wasn't supposed to be sales but a consultant to help them get their store on track, and I started selling to help out as well)
and all the back room politics between the sisters I quit.

No surprise she ran that store into the ground.


Funny, she works as an assistant manager now and complains about all the hours she has to put in and can't leave early and it's "unfair"

 

[azstonie]

I've seen this situation at work both as a fellow employee and as the supervisor. This is my experience/opinion.

She knows she is never going to be promoted. She is unhappy about that. So she is going to spread her unhappiness around her workplace by watching what everyone else does, their comings and goings, etc., and commenting on it to anyone who will listen/read (emails). She says negative things about the supervisor who gives her good reviews? Then she also says negative things about anyone else who supervises her, works alongside her, comes in contact with her.

The supervisor who is giving her good reviews is hoping she will use them to leave the company or leave his/her supervisory chain if she continues on with the company. Its not a bad strategy but it won't work due to age/time with the company on the part of the unhappy employee.

She is going to track attendance, time on the phone, lateness to work and back from lunch, anyone leaving early, web surfing, you name it, whatever she sees that is not correct workplace behavior/use of time and resources.

What can you do about it?

Nothing. This took years to create. ALl you can do is create a zone of privacy around yourself from her, nothing more than polite exchanges at work, and while she's stirring the pot keep an eye on your own status, don't give her anything to frag you with, particularly the easy stuff like attendance, late/early, you get the idea. When she starts talking trash about other staff/supervisors, cut that off within a few words by saying you have a teleconference, phone call coming in, whatever your office culture supports. THEN WALK OFF.

eventually she will get the idea that you aren't up for her downloads anymore.

 

[baby monster]

chemgirl, I'd start keeping a list. If her behavior is affecting the clients, then you need to get HR involved. It's one thing to goof off once in a while, but when the business relationships and contracts are feeling the effect of her inactions, HR should step in.

 

[TC1987]

I didn't want to threadjack the over parenting thread with more talk of my helicopter parenting assistant.

In summary she does everything for her 20 year old daughter including walking the dog during work hours (daughter is in school to be a vet). It is causing her to drop important tasks like sending samples to clients.
...
She has been with the company for 19 years and has been in the same position for 18 years. She applies for every promotion, but never gets them due to her low productivity.

At one point she arranged a meeting with HR and the VP to demand a promotion to executive assistant. She was told sure, but only if you complete a training course. She said she doesn't have time for a weekend course because of her family, so she is stagnating and getting very bitter.
...
Between the family distractions and the gossip she gets nothing done.

It's women like that who ought to be fired. They are black eye to all serious career-minded women. You go to work to work. Not yak on the phone, read the Internet, buy/sell on ebay, walk your daughter's dog, or drag any of your family affairs or personal business whatsoever into the workplace. Where I used to work, we had a Reverend who spent a good 60% of his workday on the phone doing church work and making arrangements to do weddings and funerals, and then quite often he'd take 2-3 hours off from work without permission and go minister to patients in hospitals, etc., but count it as work time on his timesheet. Management was afraid to do much with him because he was a minority. But they eventually built a case and fired him.