Timeline for How to deal with a demanding and moody employee
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
31 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Mar 12, 2017 at 20:17 | comment | added | Alvaro | This question is amusing. I consider myself a very responsible and result driven developer. However, there is not a single chance in this universe in which I would work for a company that thinks that working on weekends is productive and mandatory. | |
| Mar 10, 2017 at 22:34 | comment | added | Daniel C | If it were a few years ago, I'd suggest a few lashes to bring your slave back into submission. Since nowadays that is illegal, I suppose the only thing you can do is fire him. (On a side note: Your team appears to be working a lot, but if they agree to it without being pressured to do so, and are remunerated accordingly, I don't see a problem with that; in which case you can forget about that part with the lashes and all...) | |
| May 3, 2015 at 3:55 | history | tweeted | twitter.com/#!/StackWorkplace/status/594711777260208128 | ||
| Apr 21, 2015 at 13:56 | comment | added | JamesRyan | This seems like an awful company to work for and doomed to failure if it doesn't wake up. The way to deal with people who are burnt out and dealing with grief is by giving support not ultimatums which add to the stress. A good manager is someone who helps his team work effectively, not one who demands his team work effectively. Learn the subtle difference. | |
| Apr 21, 2015 at 13:44 | comment | added | Alexander | "working our asses off", "work the weekends if required". Could you please elaborate how often your average employee works on weekends, how long your average employee works per week, and what is stated in the work contract to that regard? | |
| S Apr 21, 2015 at 12:53 | history | suggested | Peter Mortensen | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
Copy edited (e.g. ref. <https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Saturday#Noun>).
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| Apr 21, 2015 at 12:30 | comment | added | Lilienthal♦ | I almost can't believe you have the gall to bring up his visits to a terminally ill parent(!) during the weekend(!) as one of his "problems". I hope you claimed to be fine with it twice because you really are and not to avoid the criticism such an absurd demand deserves. It seems like this employee lacks professionalism to a stunning degree but the way your company treats its employees is a much more pervasive problem that will quickly erode morale and work output. | |
| Apr 21, 2015 at 11:12 | review | Suggested edits | |||
| S Apr 21, 2015 at 12:53 | |||||
| Apr 21, 2015 at 8:11 | history | edited | gladiator | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
What i did...
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| Apr 21, 2015 at 6:21 | comment | added | Giacomo1968 | His parents have health issues, he visits his girlfriend to relax and you folks work on weekends? Given those choices, which would you choose? Work with a team of non-stop workaholics—being “driven” doesn’t mean working 24/7—or deal with family and friends? You need to find a new employee to replace this employee; stop playing games. But you must also reassess how your company works. This seems like a very passive/aggressive environment structurally—“Here, take time off… But then work 24/7… But we do not like you taking time off.”—so your workplace is very unattractive. | |
| Apr 21, 2015 at 6:17 | history | edited | Giacomo1968 | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
deleted 13 characters in body; edited title
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| Apr 20, 2015 at 22:20 | answer | added | HLGEM | timeline score: 12 | |
| Apr 20, 2015 at 18:10 | comment | added | thanby | The guy is burnt out and not handling it well, as others have noted, and should probably be let go. That's not the main issue though. He won't be the last to go through this change. I've worked for similar high-stakes startups and I can tell you from experience, the way to succeed is not pushing people to meet every deadline, it's having the experience and foresight to know how to estimate work appropriately ahead of time so that no one needs to push that hard. Otherwise teams will almost always collapse. Get rid of the person setting unrealistic expectations (probably the boss or sales). | |
| Apr 20, 2015 at 18:10 | comment | added | ps2goat | Some countries limit work to 30 hours per week for a better quality of life for its citizens. | |
| Apr 20, 2015 at 17:14 | comment | added | Philipp | @Blam For more information, follow the link in my answer. | |
| Apr 20, 2015 at 16:42 | comment | added | paparazzo | @Philipp Where do you have data when people work more than 40 hours a week, their weekly work output decreases? I have seen studies the incremental productivity goes down after 50 but that is a far cry from weekly output deceases at 40. | |
| Apr 20, 2015 at 16:32 | vote | accept | gladiator | ||
| Apr 20, 2015 at 15:34 | comment | added | gladiator | @Phillip We work on weeknds when nearing a milestone and if it seems we can't meet deadlines. We revise the deadlines but sometimes you cannot justify a revision because people are underperforming.As a startup we also give them leaves whenever they want without any paycut.This employee has already taken 15 days of leave(this year) .apart from weekends..when we reach a milestone we give extra days off before starting next one. This is communicated to people before hiring.I just need 6hrs of productive work.~50 lines of code per day. i don't think i am asking much when i code much more myself. | |
| Apr 20, 2015 at 15:08 | answer | added | Philipp | timeline score: 24 | |
| Apr 20, 2015 at 14:55 | comment | added | Philipp | @BillLeeper So you mean because they are a startup they can make management errors like ignoring decades of research and practical experience which have clearly shown that when people work more than 40 hours a week, their weekly work output decreases? | |
| Apr 20, 2015 at 14:44 | comment | added | Bill Leeper | @Philipp this is a startup with high pressure, high risk, and high reward. Not everyone is cut out for that, but most know the demands going in. Working weekends is par for the course in these situations. | |
| Apr 20, 2015 at 14:41 | comment | added | user8365 | What is a "monthly leave"? | |
| Apr 20, 2015 at 14:40 | comment | added | user8365 | You don't fire employees. They do things to get themselves fired. | |
| Apr 20, 2015 at 14:22 | review | Close votes | |||
| Apr 29, 2015 at 17:21 | |||||
| Apr 20, 2015 at 14:14 | comment | added | HLGEM | I know you are a startup but you need to read this artile and think hard about your ridiculous work schedule, weekend work is counterproductive: alternet.org/story/154518/… | |
| Apr 20, 2015 at 14:06 | answer | added | Myles | timeline score: 7 | |
| Apr 20, 2015 at 14:05 | comment | added | Philipp | You are working through weekends? Don't be surprised when you burn people out that way. | |
| Apr 20, 2015 at 14:03 | answer | added | The Wandering Dev Manager | timeline score: 29 | |
| Apr 20, 2015 at 13:55 | history | edited | Bill Leeper | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
added 49 characters in body
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| Apr 20, 2015 at 13:52 | answer | added | Bill Leeper | timeline score: 40 | |
| Apr 20, 2015 at 13:47 | history | asked | gladiator | CC BY-SA 3.0 |