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> My question is this: how much time and effort should I put
> into trying to
> get her to improve her work? My boss thinks she is dead weight and I
> shouldn't have to put so much time into editing (which is
> true.) But...
Let me ask back: How much time and effort do you *want* to
put into trying to get her to improve? Your boss is convinced
and supposedly will support you, so if you wanted to you could
get rid of her now. But I suspect you'd have difficulty looking
in the mirror if you did that. So...
If your objective is to really get rid of her, any of the adivce
that's come across the list so far would serve you well. I'd
probably tend toward the "three strikes" plan, myself, if I were
in your shoes. If you choose to follow that advice, make sure
you document each conversation you have with her and involve
your boss and your HR department in every step of the process.
If your goal is to train her and keep her, then sit her down
and develop a list of objectives. Tell her there'll be a monthly
objectives review and she's on 90-day probation. Then really
concentrate on guiding her toward reaching those objectives. Again,
make sure to document every step in the process and involve your
boss and HR. Once the objectives have been determined, whether to
let her stay or let her go is a cut-and-dried decision. Either she
met the objectives and can stay or...
One word of caution. When you're new to management, it's easy to
fall into the trap of being too nice. You bend over backwards to
make all your people happy and to meet your deadlines and you
only end up hurting yourself and your family. Sometimes you gotta
be tough. I've been there and I know that it's just as hard to
be on the handle end of the axe as it is to be on the blade end.
But to be fair to yourself and your company, you just gotta bite
the bullet and let the deadwood go.
Best of luck to you!
-Sue Gallagher
sgallagher -at- akonix -dot- com
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