Assignment - 3

[Haggard]

I once had an employee (not at a fire department), that could be labeled in all of these categories.

I was given a middle of the road employee, whom had received okay evaluations year after year, proving she could do her job without direct supervision all the time.  After watching this employee work for several months and not seeing any “actual usable” product from her desk, I realized that this employee’s past supervisors did not help her or any would be supervisor by just letting her skate by.  Her past bosses didn’t have the balls to give this lazy, unaccountable, poor performer the rating she deserved.  This employee had been doing this same job for many years.

I set up a coaching session and gave her exactly what my expectations were from her, I informed her the work she was putting out was not correct, and we would revisit her products in three months.  In three months I met with her again and she still didn’t have a clue so we discussed this issues and set a date to meet again in 3 months.  She did not get any better and I moved her out of my section into an easier and less stressful job.

I learned that by giving people a “pass” and powdering their evals, does not help them or anyone else, even if this troubled employee is no longer working for me.

[nunz]

       I was a mentor for many years and have worked with various levels of experience. I found that laziness comes at ever level, I've found that some people got into the fire service because they think we sit around all day watching T.V. Others feel that their experience has given them the right not have to do anything but go on calls. It does take some people to get comfortable with what is expected of them and what their job duties are. There are just plan lazy people who spend more energy to get out of work than it would take to do what they need to do.

       I was working with a guy in his 20's, he was very polite and nice. The down side was that he was very unmotivated and as lazy as they come. If you would turn your head for a second, he was at the kitchen table talking to whoever was there. The laziness continued into the field, we would be on calls and he would just stand at the door and wouldn't make contact with the patient. This was his first day so I figured it was just nervousness and he was still trying to get his bearings. We continued to work on getting him comfortable with his job requirements. This went on for weeks and found that he wasn't getting any better. So I spoke with the shift crew to assist me with helping this guy to get him up to snuff.

       Several more weeks went by with no change at all. The problem was that he didn't seemed bothered by the fact that we would spend hours every shift and he was still progressing. We had a meeting with the Chief and talked about his performance and what we could do to help him. Several recommendations were made and we set a list of goals we wanted him to meet. Several more shifts went by with everybody spending as much time with him as possible. Several weeks later he had made no progress, so he felt it better to quite.

       We set up a meeting and wanted to figure out what was going on. He told us it was too much work compared to his other job, he worked for a security truck. He said he was hoping the fire service was going to be easier than that, in that he would just to have to come in and watch T.V all day. I don't remember what else he said after that and I don't think the firehouse was ever that quiet after he said that. I think everyone was dumb founded by his response.

       I have found that there are people who just need some guidance and time to get comfortable, there are people who are just lazy. Some people need actual help, while others don't want any help at all.

       

[twilson21]

While working at a previous job I was in charge of a small group of people.  Everyone in this group was a high performer...except for one!  This individual fell into every category of bad employee.  Lazy?...absolutely.  Bad performer?...check.  Excuses?...yup, tons of them.  Bad attitude? ...one of the worst.  So how did he keep his job?  His father was an executive with the same company.  he was a highly protected punk.  All previous supervisors turned a blind eye with this employee for fear of retaliation from above.  My plan was different.  I was going to coach this person.  We were going to work with positives not negatives.  After several weeks of trying this is was apparent this person had no desire to be better at anything.  I still stand by my original approach.  I tried to help through coaching not punishing.  No one had ever tried this with him.  Ultimately this failed as he was not willing to change...anything!  I was told by my boss to let it go with him and just concentrate on the team.  This didn't sit well with me but I relented and backed off.  I learned that even though my plan was achievable the person has to be willing to participate and has to care about their job.  I also learned not everyone can be helped. 

*This employee was moved to another group and continued the same behavior.  Soon after that I heard he had been fired...only after his father left the company to pursue other means of employment.           

[LCarman]

Problem......Lazy Lump

I believe most people that I have supervised over the last 20 years all want to do a good job. But on occasion including my-self will become lazy from time to time. I had a guy that worked for me that always did a great job with every task that I had ask him accomplish. But what I didn't know was that when I wasn't around he would not do a thing except play on his phone and the computer. Other team members would complain that if I was not there he would do as little as possible and would find every excuse not to work. I noticed that if I did not give him an assignment every morning he would do nothing at all but sit around and wait for me to come back in and he would jump up and act like he was doing something. So I pulled him into the office and I told him what is co-workers were saying about him and also what I had observed over the last couple of weeks. I explained to him that he was letting the team down and that he needed to start pulling his fair share and that is behavior is not acceptable. He agreed and after that day I had no complaints are issues with this employee.

[jprass]

If you don't deal with the employees with problems, they will become the problem employees.   Some employees are go getters that need occasional re-direction.  They care about their job, how people view them and they truly want to contribute.  These are the ones you want 13 of but not everyone is the same. Other employees want to come to work, "do their time", get paid and go home. If they are causing problems or being lazy, they will need long term guidance. 

Sometimes I was the employee with the problem.  This was caused by my failure to clarify an expectation.  I thought my expectations were clear but if the employee does not live up to the leader's expectations, some of the responsibility comes back to the supervisor.  Sometimes I did not realize I had a problem until someone I respect approached me and informed me that I had a problem.  I still may not have improved but I determined that I was holding myself and others back and that I was the problem.

I learned that expectations need to be clear and reviewed on a regular basis.  If someone is not performing to the expected level, its time for a chat.  If that doesn't work, its time for a reminder. If that doesn't work its time for written documentation.  I have learned that not every situation needs intervention.  The challenge is to know when to intervene and how to intervene.  These are usually dependent on the situation and the person's personality needs to be considered as the same approach does not work with everyone.

I learned that if you cant change people you have 2 choices.  Change people or accept their problems, work the team around them and accept that there are ducks and there are eagles and you don't send your ducks to eagle school.  (John Maxwell)


 

[kclary21]

A situation I had was with an employee that had a number of issues going on.  There was low motivation and also a lateness issue that was occurring.  After some talks with this employee, I decided to move him and make sure there was a clear set of expectations.  We also found some projects for him to work on that interested him.  This led to him feeling like he got a fresh start.  This sparked an interest in doing things that he was interested in.  He began to take on additional responsibilities that he sought out, and this was beneficial to everyone.  This employee made a huge turn around with a great attitude, and he became a good performer in the organization. 

I know situations do not always work out like this, but a clear set of expectations often makes a difference.  I also do not like to move people around unless there is a reason, and there was a good reason for this move.  We looked at all the parts of this situation, and we put some thought into it, and figured out what could make this better. 

[lsargent.21]

Since I have not been a supervisor long my experiences with problem employees are limited.  One example I can think of, similar to what several others here have experienced, is a employee that had been in the fire service for several years but had a reputation of being a under performer.  This employee was always willing to help around the firehouse, however, rarely took initiative to complete projects on his own.  On emergency scenes he would fade into the background and only assist when directed by others to do so.  Like the employee Toothman encountered, this employee was surprised to hear he was not meeting expectations.  He revealed that he had always played a supportive role in the fire service, assisting co-workers however they directed him to do so.  He had never been expected to make decisions and perform on his own and now lacked the self confidence to do so.

I learned many things from this experience.  First, I learnt how to set clearer expectations.  I also found that I needed a means to assist employees that were having problems meeting those expectations.  I was mentored in how to develop a performance improvement plan and found it to be a great resource.  The employee worked hard, gained confidence and now is a very productive member of the team.

[klalich]

I won't pretend to have a lot of experience in counseling employees as a supervisor, but I have seen many situations that relate to this topic.  I worked with a firefighter that had many years of experience and was in the twilight of his career.  The supervisor we worked for ignored the problem of him being lazy and making excuses for poor job performance.  It was easier for the supervisor to place the burden on the other crew members than to deal with an uncomfortable situation.  After many frustrating months working as this guys partner I realized he wasn't necessarily lazy or unmotivated.  He had been shuffled around the department and felt under valued which led to him being unmotivated.  His supervisors didn't deal with the issue and sent him to a out laying station and had little expectation for him.  After I took the time to talk to him and recognizing he wanted to be more active I started helping him work on updating his skills. I was also able to have him teach myself and another member of the crew from his many years of experience.  It led to the "senior firefighter" feeling like he contributed to the crew and gave him buy in.  The firefighter and I had set expectations for each other as partners and both were able to meet them.  We became a great team and I was glad I didn't write him off as many had.

[jscottCCFD]

The Excuse Meister:

We hired a new career FF years ago that came to us from a previous full time position at another area department.  While training and running this new hire through his orientation packet he would make common and expected mistakes of a new hire.  The problem was that every mistake that was made was followed up with a combination of his standard excuses. 1) I did it that way because that's how my old department did it.  2) Flat out denial that a mistake was made. 3) Debating with whomever was training him that the way we were doing things was wrong.  After several conversations with this employee from both peers and supervisors, he was notified that the excuses need to stop and he just needed to own the mistake and learn from it.  After several months of poor performance and consistent excuse making the entire crew sat down together and tried to figure out why this employee had an excuse for every mistake.  We identified two areas that we believe contributed to him making excuses.  This individual was part of the millennial generation and he seemed to feel threatened or made uncomfortable with corrective actions or constructive criticism.  He also seemed embarrassed about making mistakes furthering his need to make excuses.  This employee never changed his excuse making and ended up not making probation. 

[ross.moffitt]

I haven't dealt with to many employee problems. I have dealt with new hire employees being their mentor and sometimes those new hires are considered lazy or lacking the ability to do the job correctly. I was advised to mentor this one new hire and I was told he was the Inherited poor performer. After working with this employee for awhile I realized how bright he was and was an excellent resource for our organization. So once I figured this out I told the other employees about him and how he was very bright and excellence at his job. Once the crew gave the guy some time and opened up to him they found out he was an asset to our team.
I learned a lot from this mentoring job . I wont let other employees sway my opinion about other employees. This employee was on the verge of being released from the academy and turned out to be an excellent person and employee for us all it took was somebody taking the time to become his friend and just listen to him and give him the chance to prove himself. This employee no longer works with us he moved on to a different organization and we lost a good firefighter.

[ross.moffitt]

The scenario I am writing about deals with a combination of excuses and laziness. I do believe they were temporary issues, as the employee typically does outstanding work. On numerous occasions I followed behind a specific employee where I found issues with the equipment. Specifically I found the SCBA empty on one occasion and several weeks later found the regulator not hooked up with the thread cover still on the bottle. At this point I contacted the person to make them aware. His response to me was that he would talk to his FAO to make sure he would do a better check next time. I am definitely not the truck check police, but there are a couple things that are unacceptable and I believe this falls into that category. The issue was handled with a simple conversation. The interesting thing that came out of this scenario was the difference of opinion regarding who is responsible for "YOUR" SCBA. He felt it was the responsibility of the FAO, everybody else in the world thinks that you are responsible for your own SCBA.

Joel,
I agree that some people need to stop being lazy and relying on other people to do their job. I'm a firm believer in checking your own equipment since it is your life safety. I also think you handled this situation properly by contacting the person and discussing the problem you had with him. I think this problem could have gotten a lot worse if complaints were being sent up the chain and it would have gotten blowed out of proportion sometimes handling things at a company level is all that is needed.

[ross.moffitt]

Since I have not been a supervisor long my experiences with problem employees are limited.  One example I can think of, similar to what several others here have experienced, is a employee that had been in the fire service for several years but had a reputation of being a under performer.  This employee was always willing to help around the firehouse, however, rarely took initiative to complete projects on his own.  On emergency scenes he would fade into the background and only assist when directed by others to do so.  Like the employee Toothman encountered, this employee was surprised to hear he was not meeting expectations.  He revealed that he had always played a supportive role in the fire service, assisting co-workers however they directed him to do so.  He had never been expected to make decisions and perform on his own and now lacked the self confidence to do so.

I learned many things from this experience.  First, I learnt how to set clearer expectations.  I also found that I needed a means to assist employees that were having problems meeting those expectations.  I was mentored in how to develop a performance improvement plan and found it to be a great resource.  The employee worked hard, gained confidence and now is a very productive member of the team.

Levi,
My employee situation was similar the guy I had was not given a fair chance by the crews because he wasn't popular or the normal funny guy. Once I had time to work with him and show the other guys he was very bright then the crews opened up to him also. Once the crews were on board the firefighter became part of the family and was well liked by everybody. He also turned out to be one of the most high performing employees always taking on new tasks.

[nullj.21]

The problem:  lazy under performer
This employee is a seasoned ff with many years on the job.  They have a wealth of valuable knowledge and often times could be a great contributor to the crew.  The problem was that this employee seemed to think that since they were "seasoned" and had newer people under them, that they could slack and not meet minimum requirements.  In this case "seasoned" did not imply mastery of skills or high performance as most would think.  Often times this employee was seen in the back of training's and would never participate unless forced to.  When they were forced to participate, their attitude would be terrible and often affect others attitudes.  This could fall into another problem category but to me this was lazy (and selfish) which then lead to under performance. Due to this employee not participating and staying up to date on skills, abilities and new techniques, their performance on actual calls was seen by myself and other members of the crew as poor.  They would use old methods on calls while others were using more up to date methods.

What I learned:
Although i agree that as you near the end of your career you should be able to relax a little and let the new young guys take over, i also feel that you still need to pull your weight and set a good example for the new guys to want to portray.  Once i addressed this with this person, they seemed to understand and not realize that this was happening.  They also did not realize how this impacted others.  No excuses were made.  Performance was brought back up to acceptable and a slight attitude change was noted.

[nunz]

The Excuse Meister:

We hired a new career FF years ago that came to us from a previous full time position at another area department.  While training and running this new hire through his orientation packet he would make common and expected mistakes of a new hire.  The problem was that every mistake that was made was followed up with a combination of his standard excuses. 1) I did it that way because that's how my old department did it.  2) Flat out denial that a mistake was made. 3) Debating with whomever was training him that the way we were doing things was wrong.  After several conversations with this employee from both peers and supervisors, he was notified that the excuses need to stop and he just needed to own the mistake and learn from it.  After several months of poor performance and consistent excuse making the entire crew sat down together and tried to figure out why this employee had an excuse for every mistake.  We identified two areas that we believe contributed to him making excuses.  This individual was part of the millennial generation and he seemed to feel threatened or made uncomfortable with corrective actions or constructive criticism.  He also seemed embarrassed about making mistakes furthering his need to make excuses.  This employee never changed his excuse making and ended up not making probation.

When I was mentoring new hires I would see this alot and it was always the experienced guys. The excuse was always that they did it different at their last department, rather I haven't did that it awhile or even I don't know how to do that. I would have more respect for someone to just say I made a mistake, instead of the ten thousand excuses I've already heard. I know it's hard for us to admit we don't know how to do something but it's better than doing something and getting someone or themselves hurt.

[jscottCCFD]

Several years ago I was responsible for an employee with a horrible attitude. They were competent at their duties but only wanted to do something on their terms. The situation was made more difficult as this person had several past supervisors that did nothing about the problem. Everybody complained about this person but nothing was ever done so this employee felt I was just picking on them and did not like them. It was very frustrating and I admit at times I did not handle the issues properly as they were very good at drawing me into arguing with them. No paper trail existed on this person so I was even questioned by my supervisor if I was treating them unfairly.
This situation was difficult because it involved their attitude (especially towards me) and not performance. Poor performance would have been much easier to address and deal with. It was not easy but I stuck to what I felt was right.
It has been several years since I dealt with this issue and to this day this person still "trashes" me as they truly believe I was unfair to them since it seemed no other supervisor had an issue with them.
What I learned most from this is if a problem employee gets passed from supervisor to supervisor they get harder to fix.

I completely agree with you David.  Sometimes, as supervisors we inherit issues that were poorly managed or not dealt with at all.  This becomes a problem for the supervisor that is attempting to do their job and manage their personnel.  Just because there has been no formal documentation that issues exist, doesn't mean that the issues you encounter as their supervisor aren't credible.  This further proves the importance of not only doing your job as a supervisor, but also the importance of documenting a subordinates behavior both positive and negative.