It infuriates me when managers above me turn a blind eye to a dud appointment and make life hell for the rest of us.
I once worked in a department where a newly appointed work colleague was clearly out of her depth in terms of her ability to work to acceptable standards and her ability to socialise with other members of the team.
And I’m not talking about going to the pub after work – she was so prickly, she couldn’t even manage civil day-to-day contact in the office.
The fact that she had not measured up was made clear to line managers, but they still confirmed her appointment at the end of the probation period.
Were they just trying to avoid incurring further recruitment costs?
The team’s morale plummeted as we picked up the burden of extra work and pussy-footed around her to avoid giving injury where none was intended.
Pressure mounted on the line manager to do something. In the end, the employee was called to a disciplinary hearing on a technicality, after which she resigned in some distress.
But having been through the recruitment process and completing her probationary period – as she thought satisfactorily – she had the right to expect better of us.
Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance
Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday
If you appoint someone, a lengthy probationary period should be enough time to find out whether or not they measure up. If they don’t, then let them go.
But once a person is confirmed in a post, we then have to accept responsibility for helping them to do the job.
