Submitted by peterhiebert on
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Hi. I have been hired recently to revamp a distribution materials branch. Small operation of 7 people.
Opperational discipline is lacking and ERP system still in Beta mode.
Warehouse efficiencies lacking and in need of remapping.
Current staff overworked due to the above. Growth is required to become profitable.
All is possible. Plan is already in place for streamlining the Warehouse efficiences, Office reno's in the drawing stages. Office structure for admin support being reviewed and revamped. Staffing increase is on the radar and moving forward. Currently have hired 3 new people.
Here is where I am looking for advice.
I hired one young (late 20's) high energy gentlemen that I believe is the type of person I want on my team. Good attitude, pleasent, good education. He accepted my offer as a detailing engineer and it was explained to him that we are in a big transition and it will be a bit ugly until we get through the transition. One being new offices. Patience was asked for and he said he understood.
When he started we were in the process of getting him a temporary office. IT still hadn't sent in his computer and the trainer was on holidays. To get familar with our product I asked him if he would be ok with assisting with an inventory precount. We had someone work with him to show him what to do and he was away working. I stopped in with him about 3 times a day to talk about how it was going, asked him about interests, etc and asked him if overall everything was ok. He always smiled and said it was going good and understood this was a temporary situation.
Yesterday while I was in a meeting he told my receptionist that he wasn't feeling well at left at noon. This morning he didn't show up and didn't call in. I called him around 9:00 am (we start at 8:00). He answered right away and indicated that he wasn't sure if he wanted to continue working at our operation because he said he was all alone and felt ackward with the staff as they seemed "un-happy".
I need some guidance on what I should be looking at right now.
Did I make a bad hire? His comments almost red flagged to me a very high maintanance employee who needs to be spoon feed. On the other hand maybe their is an underlying tone in the branch I haven't seen and need to deal with.
Not calling in, leaving without discussion and lack of trying to discuss concerns with me, are making me wonder if I want to pursue keeping this employee. We did have a discussion regarding his concerns on the phone, however I advised him I would prefer a face to face meetin to discuss his concerns.
Any feedback please.
Peter Hiebert
I'd ask him to resign
I wouldn't pursue him. Regardless of his skills, he's not professionally mature enough to be a good hire long term for me.
I would tell him I considered his statement that he didn't wan to continue working there as a resignation, and I would file a memorandum for record stating that.
I would NOT fire him - though there are subtleties here. I would tell HR or whomever that he resigned, and send him a final check, and tell him he needn't include this job, as short as it was, on his resume.
Mark
He resigned
I totally agree with Mark here - he's most likely not worth the extra effort to get moving, and I'd let him go. I've seen this happen before, and although I struggle to understand why they allowed themselves to be hired, I do believe that most of them never really wanted the job in the first place. Time is money, you didn't lose too much with him yet. :)
To avoid any legal payments or severance or etc, def. a resignation.
Adam
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Trigger Networks:We are Global ERP/CRM Cloud Computing Consultants
Is there an underlining problem in the company.
I have and the unfortunate opportunity to work at several high turn over places where the problem for management was the staff that stayed on was covering their own incompetence's by finger pointing at others.
A case in point is the director handpicked an individual out of college to join his team of engineers. At the end of a month with the company, despite the director offering a large offer, the individual went with another company. What this individual wanted was a great working environment which the director wanted but could not make due to the more senior people. So is there and underlining problem with the company.
I doubt you can say that
I doubt you can say that with two days experience
Tim
in conclusion I would say there might be a problem with the staf
"Operational discipline is lacking and ERP system still in Beta mode.
Warehouse efficiencies lacking and in need of remapping.
Current staff overworked due to the above."
(Tim) Based on the facts given listed above, and having experience with incompetent management with competent employees. for instance a good shop can cover for a bad manager. These kind of systems listed above would have naturally gone into place if the company had employees who wanted the company to succeed. Else people would only do what they were told, and the company will only grow at the competencies of management alone. Any experience person will state if the leader does not have support of the supporting staff then the leader will fall regardless of how competent the leader is. So in conclusion I would say there might be a problem with the staff staying on.
Blip
So long as he's the only one he's just a blip. It happens, c'est la vie. When you get two, three or more in fairly rapid succession (you said you're hiring) then start to worry; then give your company and yourself some serious analysis.
As it stands you don't know why he quit. Maybe he got a better offer on another job he'd interviewed for, you were his second choice. Maybe his previous employer phoned him with an offer to double his salary, give him more leave time and/or improve his working conditions. Maybe he discovered that one of your current employees is someone who abused him in his early teens and he still doesn't feel strong enough to deal with them. Maybe he just decided he doesn't like the commute and wants to find something closer to home.
One is a blip, more than one could be the start of a pattern.
Stephen
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Skype: stephenbooth_uk | DiSC: 6137
"Start with the customer and work backwards, not with the tools and work forwards" - James Womack