Direct report not doing what he was supposed to do

Question

We recently hired a person that reports under me in the ecommerce department. He was intended to handle ppc marketplaces , analytics and website updates and he was up for it. However as soon as he started he wanted to redesign the websites that were not ecommerce. This has taken up 70% of his time and is a year long project. I would like to outsource the rest of web design so he can focus more on what he was intended to do, but he doesnt seem to be open to it nor does he embrace learning it.

How can I approach getting this person to do the tasks he's supposed to be doing?

Answer 1

You tell him what he needs to be working on and was hired for and you discipline him if he doesn't.

The danger is he leaves, but it's not a huge loss since he isn't doing the work anyway. At the end of the day this guy seems to be unable to do what he was hired to so is making busy on stuff he can do. Even then a year to redesign sites? Seems a long time for a professional.

Answer 2

Based on your username, it seems that you're new to management.

In most organizations, a person's manager is responsible for determining what tasks they work on. If an employee doesn't like their assigned tasks, they are typically welcome to provide that feedback, but ultimately, it's the manager's call, not theirs.

On the one hand, you want your employees to be happy and to do work that they enjoy. On the other hand, you - as a leader - have specific work that needs to be done. When those two priorities don't align, you can consider the following:

• First, make sure you have clear work assignment practices and you are making clear assignments, along with some type of guardrail in terms of expectations (due dates, format or content of the deliverables, and so on).
• Make sure you have some sort of feedback loop so you know what work your employees are doing, if they're having issues, and if they're on track. This may seem obvious, but if you're giving someone a year long assignment, don't wait a year before you check on how it's going.
• Speak to the employee to determine why they don't like an assignment. There may be things floating under the surface that you're not aware of. Maybe they don't like someone on that team, or they don't understand the work, or they don't understand that it's important, or they think they don't know the right technologies, or something else. If the feedback is actionable, take action on it.

Ultimately, if you're setting clear expectations, making specific work assignments, and helping your staff navigate any obstacles, you're basically doing what's expected of you (as a manager). If your staff are not happy, and they choose not to do what's expected of them, you need to address that. This may mean any of the following:

• Get the person the training, tools, or support they need to do their job
• Work on potential re-assignment to a department where they would be better suited and happier
• Work on a performance improvement plan to formally coach them on improving their ability to do their assigned tasks

Before you do though, you need to be ready to accept that fact that some people just don't work out in some positions. Going back to the two objectives above, it's ideal when someone's interests and skills align with the work you need them to do, but when that doesn't happen, it may be best for everyone if the person finds another job.

Answer 3

It sounds to me like this person is basically refusing to do the work you assigned to him.

This is a serious matter and you need to cope with it right away. Why?

• You're responsible to see that your team's work gets done in budget and on time.
• It's not fair to the rest of your team to have a co-worker who doesn't do his work.

If you can, put aside any personal frustration about this and treat it as a matter of business.

Presumably he knows what's expected of him. If not, remind him firmly. Give him instructions. Use imperative verbs. "Please do thus-and-such. Please try to finish it by Thursday at 5pm."

If he does know what he is supposed to do, write him a written warning: a message to him saying what you expect him to do, and explaining how he is not doing it.

Before you send it to him, get your HR people to work on it too. They know about written warnings. Work with HR to give him a deadline (a couple of weeks, maybe? ask them) to straighten out and do his work.

Enter into this process with the attitude that he will straighten out and do the right thing, and that if he does, all will be well.

BUT: If he doesn't straighten out by the deadline, fire him. Use HR as a resource for this work.

You have my sympathies; hitting this kind of mess early in your manager career (or anytime) is unpleasant.