Seeking Input
cpech56
Senior Member
Would love to get some advice from a couple of you guys that have been around the block for awhile longer than myself. This is all hypothetically speaking of course but I'm interested in knowing how you guys would handle this situation going forward.
John is the head of maint and custodians at a school and his responsibilities include making sure the building is in tip top shape. Both from a custodial standpoint and from a maint standpoint. If something is broke, there needs to be work done on it soon or a work order submitted for it to be contracted out. John has been with the current district for 2.5 years and when he first took over the building was a freaking disaster.
John has 2 other workers that work underneath him. He is responsible for making sure they're doing theor job as efficiently and effectively as possible. Since day 1, the person that's been in the building the longest Betty (20 years) has been nothing but lazy. There's excuse after excuse as to why this person never has time to get anything done. Ultimately, John voices his frustrations to his manager who does absolutely nothing. He claims it must be a organizational issue. His boss is full of excuses covering for this person.
6 months into John's job the district starts taking a different stance on their buildings. They up the number of evaluations done in the buildings, they begin paying closer attention to how the buildings look. They no longer allow anything to be stored in storage. Basically a full blown crack down on the facility's appearance both inside and out. The building is largely understaffed based on square footage and ultimately John is disciplined and put on 3 month probation where he has to meet with administration to do a walk thru in the said building monthly.
When asked what John did wrong he's told that it's his responsibility to hold the others accountable. When the others aren't held accountable for their actions John is reprimanded. John's opinion differs on the topic. He did everything possible to get his boss to realize that Betty who's been working with the district for 20 years is lazy. She's stuck in her ways from the past and refuses to accept change. When John attempts to change the schedule to make sure that the areas being mentioned in the evaluations are being properly covered his boss immediately shuts the idea down and caters to Betty. Saying John and Edward need to step up their game and that Betty is not the issue.
About a year goes by with marginal gains around the building. The same excuses are heard over and over from Betty. Betty tells John that when she was originally hired she was hired as a "Light Duty Custodian" and that the expectations being put in place for the custodial staff are too much now. The district did away with this light duty role 10+ years ago. John learns to just live with it and continues to point out instances where Betty is lacking in effort. The beginning of a new school year rolls around and the building is in phenomenal shape. Much of the reason is because the facility sits empty in the summer time so the staff has adequate time get the things done.
The school year starts and 3 months into the school year John is being disciplined again because the building is beginning to slip. He's pointed out multiple times that the issue is Betty. She's not willing to work hard and is continually full of excuse after excuse. She spends the majority of her day talking to staff members and not working. His boss continues to deny that Betty is the issue.
13 weeks ago now Betty breaks her fingertip on her thumb while lowering the flag at night. She calls John who is off work and he tells her to immediately go to the walk in clinic and be sure to file paperwork for workmans comp and to tell them the accident happened while on the job. Two weeks go by and finally John is told by his boss that Betty is to remain out for another 2 weeks until her doctor clears her. The entire time John is frustrated because his boss fails to send a 3rd person over to help cover while Betty is gone.This makes no sense for someone who was so upset over the way the building looked. John and Edward are stuck doing what they can with the time they have. The facility surprisingly enough stays about the same in appearance.
The good news is that John's boss eventually hires a substitute to help out while Betty remains out with injury. He hires a 68 year old man named Earl. Earl is a former pastor and currently preaches at care facilities and needed a part time job because of his health issues. Very shortly after Earl starts John and Edward notice drastic changes around the building in Betty's areas. John can't believe what he's seeing for the simple fact that Earl is only working 5.5 hours daily as opposed to Betty's 8 hours. John asks Earl what his secret is to getting all the stuff done in such a short amount of time and he tells John he still has 45 minutes left of his shift where he is helping out Edward finish his stuff.
John talks to Edward about Earl and Edward agrees he's phenomenal but says that he's not busting his gut he's simply doing things are the pace a man for his age should. So there's no secret here where the issue lies. John begins planning for Betty's return by having Earl take a few notes on how long things are taking him. John puts together a new schedule for Betty so that when she comes back her time is better utilized. He brings this up to his boss and his boss wants nothing to do with it. He repeatedly says John is full of excuses. To make matters worse its been 12 weeks now and Betty is unable to come back to work because her broken finger tip still isn't allowing her to lift more than 2 pounds. John isn't complaining because he loves the help Earl is bringing to the facility and is dreading the thought of Betty returning.
The thought that Betty is milking a thumb injury for 3.5 months now is enough to drive John insane but it's just another prime example for John as to the type of person Betty is. John sits down with Earl and Edward to talk about about things and get their suggestions going forward when Betty does return. One thing Edward tells John is that sometimes in the evenings he'll take the trash out and has seen Betty in John's bosses truck. Johns boss's office is at a different building. When Edward asks Betty what those talks are about she repeatedly tells Edward that she's just voicing her concerns about the building to him. John is 100% confident there's no physical relationship between the two but he's awfully frustrated that if he's going to be held responsible for the facilities appearance and his boss isn't willing to listen to his ideas to help change things he simply doesn't know what to do next. Having signed a document for the probation he's really admitted that some of the blame should be placed on him. But that was prior to knowing what he knows now.
What would you guys suggest John does in his situation? He thought for sure leading and working by example would've solved this issue a long time ago but clearly that hasn't worked. Maybe at the age of 31 John is just getting his first dose of a government job... Thoughts?
John is the head of maint and custodians at a school and his responsibilities include making sure the building is in tip top shape. Both from a custodial standpoint and from a maint standpoint. If something is broke, there needs to be work done on it soon or a work order submitted for it to be contracted out. John has been with the current district for 2.5 years and when he first took over the building was a freaking disaster.
John has 2 other workers that work underneath him. He is responsible for making sure they're doing theor job as efficiently and effectively as possible. Since day 1, the person that's been in the building the longest Betty (20 years) has been nothing but lazy. There's excuse after excuse as to why this person never has time to get anything done. Ultimately, John voices his frustrations to his manager who does absolutely nothing. He claims it must be a organizational issue. His boss is full of excuses covering for this person.
6 months into John's job the district starts taking a different stance on their buildings. They up the number of evaluations done in the buildings, they begin paying closer attention to how the buildings look. They no longer allow anything to be stored in storage. Basically a full blown crack down on the facility's appearance both inside and out. The building is largely understaffed based on square footage and ultimately John is disciplined and put on 3 month probation where he has to meet with administration to do a walk thru in the said building monthly.
When asked what John did wrong he's told that it's his responsibility to hold the others accountable. When the others aren't held accountable for their actions John is reprimanded. John's opinion differs on the topic. He did everything possible to get his boss to realize that Betty who's been working with the district for 20 years is lazy. She's stuck in her ways from the past and refuses to accept change. When John attempts to change the schedule to make sure that the areas being mentioned in the evaluations are being properly covered his boss immediately shuts the idea down and caters to Betty. Saying John and Edward need to step up their game and that Betty is not the issue.
About a year goes by with marginal gains around the building. The same excuses are heard over and over from Betty. Betty tells John that when she was originally hired she was hired as a "Light Duty Custodian" and that the expectations being put in place for the custodial staff are too much now. The district did away with this light duty role 10+ years ago. John learns to just live with it and continues to point out instances where Betty is lacking in effort. The beginning of a new school year rolls around and the building is in phenomenal shape. Much of the reason is because the facility sits empty in the summer time so the staff has adequate time get the things done.
The school year starts and 3 months into the school year John is being disciplined again because the building is beginning to slip. He's pointed out multiple times that the issue is Betty. She's not willing to work hard and is continually full of excuse after excuse. She spends the majority of her day talking to staff members and not working. His boss continues to deny that Betty is the issue.
13 weeks ago now Betty breaks her fingertip on her thumb while lowering the flag at night. She calls John who is off work and he tells her to immediately go to the walk in clinic and be sure to file paperwork for workmans comp and to tell them the accident happened while on the job. Two weeks go by and finally John is told by his boss that Betty is to remain out for another 2 weeks until her doctor clears her. The entire time John is frustrated because his boss fails to send a 3rd person over to help cover while Betty is gone.This makes no sense for someone who was so upset over the way the building looked. John and Edward are stuck doing what they can with the time they have. The facility surprisingly enough stays about the same in appearance.
The good news is that John's boss eventually hires a substitute to help out while Betty remains out with injury. He hires a 68 year old man named Earl. Earl is a former pastor and currently preaches at care facilities and needed a part time job because of his health issues. Very shortly after Earl starts John and Edward notice drastic changes around the building in Betty's areas. John can't believe what he's seeing for the simple fact that Earl is only working 5.5 hours daily as opposed to Betty's 8 hours. John asks Earl what his secret is to getting all the stuff done in such a short amount of time and he tells John he still has 45 minutes left of his shift where he is helping out Edward finish his stuff.
John talks to Edward about Earl and Edward agrees he's phenomenal but says that he's not busting his gut he's simply doing things are the pace a man for his age should. So there's no secret here where the issue lies. John begins planning for Betty's return by having Earl take a few notes on how long things are taking him. John puts together a new schedule for Betty so that when she comes back her time is better utilized. He brings this up to his boss and his boss wants nothing to do with it. He repeatedly says John is full of excuses. To make matters worse its been 12 weeks now and Betty is unable to come back to work because her broken finger tip still isn't allowing her to lift more than 2 pounds. John isn't complaining because he loves the help Earl is bringing to the facility and is dreading the thought of Betty returning.
The thought that Betty is milking a thumb injury for 3.5 months now is enough to drive John insane but it's just another prime example for John as to the type of person Betty is. John sits down with Earl and Edward to talk about about things and get their suggestions going forward when Betty does return. One thing Edward tells John is that sometimes in the evenings he'll take the trash out and has seen Betty in John's bosses truck. Johns boss's office is at a different building. When Edward asks Betty what those talks are about she repeatedly tells Edward that she's just voicing her concerns about the building to him. John is 100% confident there's no physical relationship between the two but he's awfully frustrated that if he's going to be held responsible for the facilities appearance and his boss isn't willing to listen to his ideas to help change things he simply doesn't know what to do next. Having signed a document for the probation he's really admitted that some of the blame should be placed on him. But that was prior to knowing what he knows now.
What would you guys suggest John does in his situation? He thought for sure leading and working by example would've solved this issue a long time ago but clearly that hasn't worked. Maybe at the age of 31 John is just getting his first dose of a government job... Thoughts?
Comments
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I would also meet with John's bosess boss. Phrase the meetings as "Suggestions for improvement" as opposed to "Bitch session about Betty / John's boss"