In response to yesterday’s Ask Tom, if a new team member is still struggling after five months, it’s time for graduation. Excellent comments were posted by Michelle Malay Carter, Varun Malhotra and Chris Young. Read the comments here.

My turn.

You have two things working against. Both need to be fixed, though it’s too late for this person.

First, you have difficulty making the termination decision because the performance standards for the role have not been set. Everyone knows this person is underperforming, but without a standard, we are all left with only our opinions. Tough to terminate someone based on an opinion without a standard.

So, take this opportunity to create a standard. Heck, create a certification process. Get your team involved to create a performance protocol. All new hires should be considered to be on probation until they meet the standard. Set a time limit and move on.

Second, you don’t have anyone waiting in the wings. If you had too many people vying for that chair, the decision would be much easier to make. For this position, you need to be trading up. -TF

Greetings from Toronto.
From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:

I was recently promoted to supervisor. It’s been a challenge, but I definitely think I can grow into the role and learn to handle it successfully.

Before I was promoted, a new technician was hired. It has been almost 5 months since, yet he is still in training. That’s 5 times longer than any other new hire we’ve had. Other technicians who are working with and “shadowing” him in training continue to report that they do not trust his ability to proficiently handle his duties. With my own firsthand observation, I feel the same way. Had I been promoted earlier, I would have strongly objected to his hiring.

It’s always the same story: the job required a stronger technical background than he thought so it’ll take him longer, and he will continue to do his best to learn the ropes and gain the trust of the other employees. He cannot provide a timeframe when he thinks he would be ready.

If it were strictly up to me, I’d get rid of him. Keeping him diverts technicians and resources from other projects, costs the company his hourly wage, and most likely lowers our customer satisfaction ratings as many of our callers quickly pick up on the fact that he is “new” and unsure of himself. My manager, however, would prefer not to take that route, for fear of the consequences that can follow termination. Yet, I feel like he’s pressuring me when he says things like “He STILL isn’t ready yet? He’s been here for 5 months! Why is it taking so long?”

What should I do? Would I be justified in setting a deadline by which he must become proficient? When should I say “enough is enough?”

Response:

Actually, I am curious about how others see this. Please add a comment below. -TF

Job Description
Job Title: Supervisor
This is a Stratum II Position. This role in the organization is to make sure the work gets done.
Key Result Area 1 – Scheduling
Prescribed Duties: By Wednesday at 5:00p, post the team work schedule for the following week.
Time Span – 4 weeks. This task requires the supervisor to look ahead on a rolling 4 week basis, to anticipate changes due to team member vacations or other circumstances that will affect the team members attendance; and to look ahead on a rolling 4 week basis, to anticipate changes due to production fluctuations which may require a reduction in shift personnel or overtime. The supervisor will use discretionary judgment to create the schedule based on those circumstances. Overtime must be approved in writing by supervisor’s Manager.

“So, just posting the schedule on Wednesday isn’t the half of it,” Corina flatly stated. “I have always accepted that if the schedule got posted, the job was done. Now I am beginning to see that Supervisor effectiveness occurs way before Wednesday. Also, the boundary is very clear for discretionary judgment. Overtime requires approval.”

Corina thought for a minute.

“What about me?” she continued. “As a Manager, my job is different. How would discretionary judgment be stated on my job description?”
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Our next Leadership Program in Fort Lauderdale begins Wednesday, March 19. For more information, visit www.workingleadership.com.

Question from the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:

How do you incorporate discretionary responsibilities into the job description?

Response:

This discussion hinges on the difference between prescribed duties and discretionary duties.

Prescribed duties are easy. Those are the ones you are told explicitly to do.

But do we pay an executive, who writes a letter, for the mechanics of pushing a pen to make ink flow onto a piece of paper, or pressing keys to make letters appear on a screen? Or do we pay an executive for the discretionary thinking that goes into the message of the letter?

Do we pay a machine operator for the prescribed duties of moving a piece of metal into position and pressing a button to cut the metal? If that were the case, we would simply purchase robotics. Or rather, do we pay the machinist for the discretion of how raw materials are organized to enter the work area, the cleanliness of the scrap produced by the machine, the attention paid to the preventive maintenance to keep the machine operating?

Indeed, effectiveness in a position may have more to do with discretionary performance than prescribed performance.

So, how do we build discretionary performance into the expectations of the job? Can it be done through the job description document? Comments? -TF

Greetings from Austin. It’s warmer here.
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“What should I expect from my accounting department?” asked Roland.

“I don’t know, what do you expect?”

“We have a job description for each position, but it’s just a list of things that have to get done,” Roland continued.

“Is it sufficient to clearly communicate what you expect?” I asked.

“I thought so, when we wrote them up, but now I don’t know. You have been talking about Time Span. How does that figure in to all this? How can it be helpful?”

“Okay, let’s look at your Accounts Payable position. When you look at the work that has to get done, does your job description accurately describe the tasks?”

Roland pondered for a minute, “Yeah, but even if my A/P person does all the things on the list, even gets them done before they are due, they could still be doing a lousy job.”

“Oh, really, how so?”

“The job description says that all the invoices have to be recorded into the computer system and coded to the various expense accounts. And check runs are supposed to be finished by 5:00p every Thursday. But the person could still be doing a lousy job.”

“Tell me more,” I continued.

“They could do all the prescribed duties okay, it’s the discretionary things, like looking to see if we could take a discount if we paid early, or making sure we don’t pay the same invoice twice in the same month. Stuff like that.”

“So, it’s the discretionary part that’s not made clear in the job description.”

Roland thought some more, “You’re right, the job is really bigger than what is reflected in the job description. How do you put that stuff in the job description?”