Staffing issue..

Staffing issue..

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I have a young person who has been with me for 11 months, and this was their first job. They do bank analysis, basic SAGE processing etc and the hope was to be able to build their knowledge to do basic sole trader accounts prep, understand VAT returns in SAGE, maybe even payroll.

They are currently paid £5.50 per hour,

However, it is apparant that the said person cannot go any further, they simply cannot understand anything more and can't do it after a number of attempts.

The person is trustworthy, as sometimes they have to be in the offfice alone -only him and I at the moment, though coming in the door at 9.02/9.05am is a regular occurence.

There is no great enthusiasm in this person although they can do the basics that are asked of them.

My dilema is do I serve notice as he in under a year employed and look for someone else, or should i keep him accepting that he can do what he is doing and that olny, and look for a part timer to come in and to the work that he cannot do. My business is still growing so there will be more work anyway hopefully.

Replies (8)

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By mrme89
24th Jan 2013 12:14

It’s hard to believe you are

It’s hard to believe you are only addressing this issue after employing him for 11 months.

 

Had issues been addressed earlier, it may have been beneficial for both parties to part mutually.

 

Have you had a sit down with said person formally or informally to raise your areas of concern? If not this should be at least a  starting point.

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By andrew.hyde
24th Jan 2013 12:18

Are you saying...

... that this person is (to be blunt) intellectually challenged.  Or just not motivated?

If it's the former, then the way forward is maybe to tell them that this doesn't seem to be the right career for them.  Ask about interests and so forth, and offer what help you can.  You might have someone there who would be an excellent painter and decorator, gardener, plumber...

If it's about motivation, then I might not be too motivated at £5.50 an hour.  They might just need a bit of a carrot.

(Of course if they appear to have no talent or motivation for anything they may have to try politics.)

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By refs8
24th Jan 2013 12:28

Have a honest chat with them

I think you just need to have a "frank exchange of views" with this person. You need to be polite and professional but firm. I learnt the hard way this year when I should have got rid of someone earlier and it dragged on.

It will not happen again, we have now a good team and are learning to change we do things for the better. Good luck staff issues are never easy.

 

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Teignmouth
By Paul Scholes
24th Jan 2013 13:53

Use examples

Agree with the above that an honest face to face discussion, is always the best policy.

The trouble is that sometimes the person genuinely believes they are doing OK and so it's best to have a few examples of where they didn't manage something properly or didn't take it perhaps as far as you had expected.  In this case I'd also give them a couple of examples of what you would wish them to be doing in a few months time and ask them whether they think they can achieve it (or even want to achieve it!).

Keep in the back of your mind when approaching this sort of thing that in any relationship it's very rare for the problems to come just from one side.  The employer is responsible for guidance, support and motivation and it's all too easy not to be up to scratch.

If this is the first such discussion then I always feel you have to bend over backwards to be fair and give them a chance to have a go if they really want to get it right, but this will only be possible with a structured review say in a month's time and at the end of each piece of work to see if they are moving in the right direction.

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By murphy1
25th Jan 2013 08:21

Thanks.

The person came straight out of school, so no previous knowlegde experience. They have been able to learn drawing up Bank Rec's, processing in Sage and have performance has been reviewed every three months and verbals given over lateness.

My dilema is basically should I keep him to do the mundane work that I trust but know they cannot progress any further, or get rid of him and look for someone who can do the mundane and more. They are left alone in the office if I am out and the person can be trusted which is good. I would have learn to trust an individual alone in the office if I get rid of him.

Is trust and ability to churn the 'crap' out worth keeping for £5.50 an hour?

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By redman7
25th Jan 2013 08:41

Scale
Depends how much you are going to grow I guess ? If you expect substantial growth then you'll need someone to do the basic stuff and admin and at that price it seems damn cheap !

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By murphy1
25th Jan 2013 08:49

@ Redman, yes it does sound cheap, but they are 18 and were a school leaver, so is all relative.

Worried that I may regret keeping them, but then again, as you say, it is better to pay someone that amount to do the basic, than pay higher and ask them to do it.

Thanks again

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By Democratus
25th Jan 2013 08:58

Regular reviews with targets will help, though you should have done this earlier. It's difficult for an employee to accept that they haven't performed to expectation if yoiu haven't either told them what you expect and when you expect it.

This will either allow you to really measure the degree of capability and decide on the stay/go position or actually have a properly trained amd motivated member of staff.

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