• cum@lemmy.cafe
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    7 months ago

    I’m really bad at keeping secrets, and I’m a manager who’s supposed to hold on to everyone’s dirty laundry.

    I know a person at work who’s going to be getting fired as soon as we’re less busy, he knows nothing and genuinely thinks he’s doing a good job.

    One of my employees is a chronic alcoholic and goes to AA. He drinks on the job, and I can smell the alcohol strongly on his breath. When he comes back from break, it’s even stronger. It’s a strange situation because I can’t quite confront him about it since I don’t have a way to prove it despite it being obvious. I probably can, but I am just worried about protecting my ass.

    Girl at my work who had been flirting with me decided things went too far and she only wanted to stay at casual flirting. She 180’s one day, turns another one of the guys I’m cool with against me and acts terrified of me. Because I’m management and the boss of those two, it’s messy. She doesn’t even know she has the power in the situation, I have a lot more at stake and am held to much higher standards so I’m the one who should be terrified. However I am pretty popular with everyone at work, and she’s likely scared of that power dynamic as well, but I’ve never mentioned her to really anyone and would even get fired for retaliation if I were to do so. In reality I just try to avoid any sort of interaction with them as much as possible and do not really acknowledge them unless strictly work related.

    My co-manager is married and she is desperately thirsty for another manager, always calling him “her desire” and gets excited around me when she sees him. It had caused her relationship issues in the past with her husband because of it. I don’t say anything, I think it’s okay to still find others attractive as long as you don’t act on it, she’s just a bit too excited but it’s not my business lol.

    In the end, the most valuable lesson I’ve learned about being management is covering your ass. Always make sure your bases are covered and you’re protecting yourself, or shit will hit you much harder since you have much higher expectations since bosses are usually mediators and leaders as well.

    • tributarium@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      he knows nothing and genuinely thinks he’s doing a good job.

      seems like the first step to improving is being given information on how you’re doing, and the second is being mentored/trained?

      • cum@lemmy.cafe
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        7 months ago

        That sadly only goes so far. There needs to be an inate ability there as well. They need to be aware of what they’re doing, otherwise they don’t understand what they’re doing wrong. They also have to have a good attitude and actually try to learn. Attendence and basic time management is a big one as well.

        These are things that are all controllable by the person, there’s not much excuse. These are things you really can’t train, it’s on them to meet standards here.

        If someone is failing in all these areas, then they just might not be a good fit for the job. There’s a competitive market of people looking to get their job.

        • ShepherdPie@midwest.social
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          7 months ago

          You’re getting downvoted but as the person who trains all the new people at my job, you can tell when someone either “gets it” or they don’t and no matter how much hand holding you do, the situation isn’t going to improve.

          • gianni@lemmy.ca
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            7 months ago

            Sure, but you should still have a conversation to set expectations with that individual beforehand.

            If you hire someone who’s incompetent, allow them to believe they’re performing well, and then fire them when it’s easy for you—well, that would just make you an asshole.

            • ShepherdPie@midwest.social
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              7 months ago

              It sounds like in both our situations, all these steps were handled by different people. They said they’re a manager but it doesn’t sound like the decision to fire the guy was theirs.

    • charlytune@mander.xyz
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      7 months ago

      If you know someone you are the line manager for is drinking heavily don’t you have a duty of care towards them? It’s a health and safety issue if nothing else

      • cum@lemmy.cafe
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        7 months ago

        The issue is that unless I have a way to objectively prove, I am throwing out accusations. We don’t have a breathalyzer at my work.