Employee Woes

[fresh]

We have one employee who can be really excellent. On the other hand, she can rush things and make silly mistakes. We never pressure her to do anything quickly, on the contrary, we often tell her to slow down.

Her job is 100% shop assistant. We gave her almost full time hours after seeing how flexible she could be, and we have high expectations that we know can be met. One of her jobs is data entry, mostly just entering new customers into SignVox. Lately she has been making many typos, and even though I've mentioned that she needs to slow down and check her work, the errors continue. I was going to start a new quote today, and I searched for a new client I thought I asked her to enter last week, but it didn't come up. I'm a little confused that it wasn't entered, but no big deal, I go forward and enter it myself. I hit enter and a box pops up saying there is a duplicate phone number. WTF. She entered it, but misspelled their name. AND she didn't enter address information, which I explicitly requested.

Am I being crazy thinking this is a big deal? We don't really need another person around the shop 32 hours a week, but we keep her because she is often helpful. What I do not need is to pay someone to do something, and then have to do it over correctly the next day. Should i give her a written warning about paying attention to details (she has a LOT of typos, and what is the point of me paying someone to do something if I have to spend just as much time verifying its accuracy)?

What would you do? I think she is going to get a letter tomorrow with a formal warning, including what happens at strike two. Maybe I'm blowing it out of proportion, maybe I'm just micro-managing, but its not like i'm asking her to do anything beyond her ability.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

If one of her major roles is data entry, then this really needs to be nipped in the bud.

I was paying a bill last year and the person doing the data entry put my payment down for the year before. That was not fun having to sort out.

I would have a chit chat and then if it continues to happen on a regular basis some culling is necessary.

 

[fresh]

I don't think you're over-reacting, as poor spelling is a pet peeve of mine. It just looks incredibly unprofessional when invoices, estimates, work orders or even emails are full of typos. I don't know if some people just can't spell, or aren't patient enough to proof-read what they type, or just don't care, but either way it bothers me.

I would think if you sit her down and explain that NO spelling mistakes will be tolerated, she may get the idea. It sounds like she's a good employee but may just rush things when it comes to data entry - and needs to understand the importance of completing this task effectively and thoroughly.

This is exactly correct. I know everyone makes mistakes, myself included, but geeeez. We are actually redoing two small signs that had an error last week. Granted, I take no responsibility for typos on customer-approved layouts, but this was a mistake that didn't need to occur if she just slowed down and read what she was doing.

Would it be unreasonable for me to say this: "Next time there are errors, you will be sent home for two days without pay." I mean, that just sounds insane to me. But I don't want to be vague and we've already spoken to her about paying attention to typos. I really think the only thing that will make her slow down is the potential of not getting paid. And she needs the money.

 

[ddarlak]

I think she is going to get a letter tomorrow with a formal warning

you think she's going to get a formal letter??......?????........

how about going up to her and saying, hey, you been screwed up this entry and wasted my time, it's not acceptable, straighten up or else.....

a letter is so puzzy, nip in in the bud seconds after you find the error(s), why wait and build up stress in your life?????, pass the stress on to the stresser i say.......

 

[fresh]

you think she's going to get a formal letter??......?????........

how about going up to her and saying, hey, you been screwed up this entry and wasted my time, it's not acceptable, straighten up or else.....

a letter is so puzzy, nip in in the bud seconds after you find the error(s), why wait and build up stress in your life?????, pass the stress on to the stresser i say.......

1. She doesn't work today
2. We've already spoken about it
3. I want a paper trail

 

[Gino]

I know you don't see eye to eye on a lot of things with me, but you seem to be the person always talking about giving people second and third chances and always being forgiving. That's when it doesn't hit home. In this case, it seems rather apparent this girl is doing things she is not prepared to do and you are throwing it on her to give her hours, so she's around to do mundane things. If she continually messes things up, it would make sense to me to either find something she can do and not expect her to just fit into something she wasn't trained to do in the first place. If someone is misspelling sign information and data entry clerical work, why do you allow her near a keyboard ?? I mean, seriously, it sounds more like a delegating problem. You either need to find her a fit.... or get rid of her.

Before you just off her or give her days off for misspelling.... are you sure she's not dyslexic ?? Hiring someone and finding out later they can't do it all, is not a good reason for no pay for two days. That's kinda cruel, if ya ask me.

• Has she spelled these words wrong on purpose ??
• Has she entered wrong information to screw you up ??
• Does her job description actually involve secretarial skills and such ??

Personally, I think you're being a little too strict. Train her in these fields first, then make your assessment.

 

[Moze]

It isn't a big deal to her because it doesn't affect her. I'm OCD about spelling, records, data entry, etc. Why? Because I'm a one-man show and if I mess up - I suffer the results.

She's messing up but isn't suffering the results. She messes up, gets talked to about it, collects her check and goes home.

I think it can be explained in a civil way to her that her errors are costing others time and money and as a result can negatively affect the reputation of your company and therefore future errors will result in whatever penalty you deem fitting.

I don't think one error would require a penalty, but maybe something like an unpaid day for every 5 errors made?

It's kind of a not-so-fun part of management, but if people are making mistakes and aren't held accountable for them, there's no incentive to change.

Another option is that if she's just not good at data entry, hire someone who has excellent typing skills and can pass a typing test with minimal errors.

My two cents.

 

[Pat Whatley]

I had a guy working for me part-time for a couple of months. When he was on his game he was incredible, he'd crank out a full days work in four hours, and he was flawless. When he wasn't all here his work showed. Misspelled words, crooked lettering, sloppy work. It got to the point where I was spending more time checking and correcting his work than I would have spent just doing the job myself.

Every time I'd bring it up he'd get defensive and point out how much work he'd done on his good days. I finally had to let him go when it became apparent that no matter what I did his bad days were going to outnumber the good.

 

[SignManiac]

Have you provided her with an eye exam to make sure her vision is fine? Maybe she is dyslexic. Maybe she is blind in one eye and has a hard time seeing out the other?
You just never know.

 

[TammieH]

As an employee/manager...I believe you should choose your words carefully...and try to have a discussion with her

Avoid terms like screw-up

Ask her why she did not omitted the some of the information, ask if she needs some direction for checking her work for accuracy.

Possibly show her how to proofread her work from her hard copy... show proofread marks...etc

Point out if she is in a hurry and does not enter in the info correctly, someone has to take the time later

Maybe she is not happy working for you as well.

Whatever you do, try not putting her on the defensive.

 

[ddubia]

There was an article in SignCraft magazine many years ago wherein the author said he is always hearing, "It's hard to find good employees", but he said he thinks it's the opposite. It's hard to find good owners.

For his example to his reasoning he said that 90% of his employee's mistakes could be traced back to himself in some way. Such as having an employee perform a task they're weren't properly trained to do, asking more work from them on a tight deadline than was reasonable which resulted in mistakes, not making himself clear as to the specifics of a job, etc, etc.

Reading that article back when I did not have people working under me has really helped me in these times when I do often have "helpers". It has caused me to begin very slowly with a new person and pay special attention to their work from the beginning to get a feel for what they can and can't do initially without much training. When faced with training an individual I take it slow and make sure they got one step well understood and can do it right before moving on to the next step. And the big one, I try to be very accurate in the instruction I give someone. Even someone is has been trained and does a very good job at this very type of work. Bad communication by leaving out specifics causes employees to wing it and most times that works. But when it doesn't it's a real headache.

 

[francisco2525]

Sometimes we make mistakes because our eyes and mind automatically correct some mistakes. I would just sit down with her and give her a few examples of where she has made mistakes and cost you and your company money. Explain to her that you want to help her become a better employee, and maybe take a couple days just to check up on her, to make sure that she is taking her time to insure there are no mistake. But if she doesn't improve then you have to be a little more harsh on her to show her you mean business.

 

[fresh]

I'm really glad I started this discussion. To answer a few questions, she was hired as an administrative assistant and data entry was and is part of the job description. We realized pretty early on that she was a quick learner and creative, so we we started training her to do some design. And she has also always helped out with production.

So I'm actually really trying to be a better boss, which is why I think she needs a written notice. And I agree about providing more training. I'm going to bring that up tomorrow. Finally, I'm getting better at giving specific instruction. There are plenty of times that I'm disappointed with the outcome of something, and then I look at the work order and see I left out some important detail. We are all learning. I just want to be a great boss, have great employees, and make great signs for buckets and buckets of money. I'm not asking too much, am I?

We actually all did PIPs a few months ago, I think its time to review our progress. (I guess I'm not going home for a while tonight, my PIP was to not leave any jobs unquoted for more than 48hrs. I have a stack from last week on my desk.)

 

[fresh]

As an employee/manager...I believe you should choose your words carefully...and try to have a discussion with her

Avoid terms like screw-up

Ask her why she did not omitted the some of the information, ask if she needs some direction for checking her work for accuracy.

Possibly show her how to proofread her work from her hard copy... show proofread marks...etc

Point out if she is in a hurry and does not enter in the info correctly, someone has to take the time later

Maybe she is not happy working for you as well.

Whatever you do, try not putting her on the defensive.

This is great advice. Thank you for sharing.

 

[fresh]

Have you provided her with an eye exam to make sure her vision is fine? Maybe she is dyslexic. Maybe she is blind in one eye and has a hard time seeing out the other?
You just never know.

"My eyesight is PERFECT " ... was the response when I asked if she wanted more light working in the back room that is quite dim. But you could be onto something with the dyslexia.

 

[Baz]

I don't think a letter is a good idea. That's a snail's pace of solving a problem.


It's time for a sit down .... All grievances should be addressed at the same time from both you and your employee.

 

[John Butto]

Have you provided her with an eye exam to make sure her vision is fine? Maybe she is dyslexic. Maybe she is blind in one eye and has a hard time seeing out the other?
You just never know.

SignManiac: I am sending you a letter tomorrow telling you to stop making me laugh.
Fresh: Letters, paper trail, mistakes, are you a former nun who taught me in 7th grade. Your not a surgeon and she wrote down the left leg, and you cut off the right.

 

[bernie]

This will probably stir up a response ... but, is the paperwork you are giving her to input written so she can read it properly?
My nephew handed me a couple things earlier today ... his 5's looked like s's ... his 4's looked like 7's or y's ... you get the idea. May have been either the look on my face or my body language as immediately he said "oops ... I will be more careful".

As far as not inputting all the information ... I am also a real poop when it comes to inputting what I what, where I want it and
doing it correctly. Spelling errors are not accepted. Mistakes happen ... consistent mistakes don't.

If its dyslexia ... that is more of a possibility than most would think ... give her a different job.

And while some people may be great at helping out with certain jobs ... typing / spelling may not be one of them.

Bernie

 

[thesignexpert]

A written record of the conversation is important from a clear communication standpoint but, in my experience, ultimately means zilch. The #1 factor here is the employee's attitude about the situation. What is the current atmosphere when you talk, how do they handle it? Is there a ready arsenal of excuses every time you bring up the problem? Like Pat said, the idea that she doesn't seem to care about the issue throws up big flags for me.

Maybe I am projecting from personal experience but boy this reminds me of a previous employee. They started out great as a hard worker with a great eye for detail but slowly the quality (& attitude) degraded. I have always operated under the assumption that communication failure starts at the top (ie. it's the bosses' fault) and tried everything I could think of to help the situation. From casual comments to specific instructions, one-on-one meetings, written lists, job descriptions, write-ups... nothing worked. It seemed like no matter what specific issues were addressed, and no matter how many ways I tried to ensure that the correct behavior was encouraged, they simply found other "reasonable" ways to get around the problem and continue behaving as they pleased. All the while claiming every excuse and blaming every possible thing you could image for the shortcomings.

By the end of their employment I was angry on an almost daily basis. Constant irritation, frustration and a horrible degradation in shop moral. I finally fired this particular individual who went out and promptly filed for unemployment. In Ohio you are not supposed to be awarded unemployment benefits if you are Fired For Due Cause... yep, didn't matter. Despite months of paperwork, signed write-ups, written complaints from clients, a year's worth of constant documentation with chronic attendance problems, a signed employment packet with all of the policies that were violated accompanied with documenation etc. All meaningless. They soaked me for a full run of unemployment pay while simultaneously working another job under the table. The state did not care one bit about the law and the employee's ultimate problem was they simply did not care about anybody else but them. It was always everyone else's fault and nothing I did was going to change that attitude.

At the end of the day it all boiled down to attitude. Now, I have zero patience for a bad attitude from an employee and will confront it immediately. Point blank. Face to face. I will take a mediocre skilled person with a great attitude over the best wrapper in the world who has a horrible attitude. I can teach skill. I can work with a teachable heart. I CANNOT force someone to have a good attitude and will not ever try too again.

Don't let it continue Fresh. Clearly identify the issues, clearly state the consequences and stick to it. Of course, you should also resign yourself to the good chance that you will still be screwed while simultaneously being blamed for the whole situation.

Sorry, this came out more as a vent instead of being totally helpful.

Good Luck!

Tim

 

[ProWraps]

We have one employee who can be really excellent. On the other hand, she can rush things and make silly mistakes. We never pressure her to do anything quickly, on the contrary, we often tell her to slow down.

I didnt read any more of your post, nor the replies (no disrepect to anyone, just got home and busy/tired). but im responding because i was just having a conversation with another great peer of mine who is kinda going through this issue that i quoted. i let him know that consistency is a very important part of any employee qualification. he is a bit hung up on the good then he gets let down by a poor performance, and his business obviously suffers. mistakes do happen, but a pattern of inconsistency in an employees performance is a very tough thing to deal with.

incremental consequences backed up with offerings of fixes to the inconsistencies and its the best you can do. if it doesn't fix itself and you have offered what you can, you gotta move on and so do they.

wish you the best in the situation. its not an enjoyable one either way.

 

[artbot]

i've seen employees get better, stay the same, and get worse. the general rule is that if you ask an employee to pick it up, and that employee doesn't show obvious improvement in one week, don't get excited about the next 52 weeks. it's just the nature of the human animal at work.

 

[GB2]

To answer your question simply, you should not tolerate an employee who fails to perform their assigned duties. Now, how to handle it is another matter. First of all you should have a company policies and procedures handbook that outlines all your expectations, rules, policies, procedures, etc. Also in this handbook would be your disciplinary procedure, which you should apply consistently and uniformly to all your employees, whether you have 1 or 100. All disciplinary actions should be documented. Discipline should be a minimum of 3 steps, oral warning (including a discussion with the employee to be sure they understand what is expected of them and confirming they are properly trained to do their job), written warning, termination. Once you take the time to create such a thing, you will never again have any questions about how to handle employees and will never have a problem after the fact should you need to terminate an employee. You should also check the labor laws in your state to be sure you follow the correct process.