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Patient experience consultants? Are your here?
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Bowl Leader
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I would suggest you meet with her Clinical Director. I would explain what is going on, how her behavior is affecting the work environment and the concerns you have with her performance. Before you get into a meeting with this RT I would strategize exactly what you want to say. I know it feels personal, but you need to focus on the employee and the behaviors not how you feel. I would be very clear about my expectations for her. I would have the conversation witnessed by the clinical director and documented. That documentation needs to lay out your expectations for her and the repercussions of failing to comply. The other option would be to place the employee on a 30-day performance improvement plan. The key to success there is clear measurable goals, weekly documented checkpoints documenting successes and failures. If she proves she can change when the 30 days passes she remains employed with the expectation she doesn't slip back. Because she has proven she can perform and chooses not to meet your expectations. If we doesn't make if through the action plan you can terminate employment.
Thank you all for the advice. In the meantime, I’m just being as professional as possible, have stopped having closed door conversations with them (only in writing) and have been avoiding them as much as possible, without the site or the client’s care being compromised. Not sure what else to do beyond that.
Start documenting every fact that you can actually prove. Not what you suspect or feel but the actual actions and circumstances. The reason managers never touch these things is often because there isn’t a paper trail. If there are behaviors that can impact her performance, document it on her performance reviews. This continues indefinitely.
Second, once you have some facts, then you pull this individual aside and speak to them in private. This is going to be a very delicate conversation. I suggest looking at the book Crucial Conversations, and practicing those skills. You are going to want to document this conversation. You cannot accuse the individual of anything. Yes, they may actually be a sniveling worm, or maybe this situation has been misinterpreted. I would try to open with something like, “I do not want for you to feel like your being dragged into the principal’s office. I do want to try and better understand your feelings and what is driving these events…”(give two pronounced events, do not burry them with a bunch of them), and stick to the facts.
Putting this in context if you saw two individuals you think are arguing, say, “maybe I am misinterpreting this but it felt like to me there was an argument/friction with you and Bob.” Or I noticed that you and Bob had a loud verbal disagreement.”
Another example, “you saw this person ‘steal’ an office chair from another departments chair.” Say, “I noticed you borrowed a chair from accounting yesterday. If you haven’t already, put it back, are you aware why we do not take chairs from empty cubicles even if they are in other departments. It’s because each are depreciated for the cost center for that department. When we move them, it messes with the books…” or whatever the reason is.
Look this is a scary situation having to approach this conversation, but I think with practice you can tackle it. What will make this more complicated, is that this is deeply personal to you. So staying objective is going to be extremely challenging. If nothing else remember to stick to the facts, and “start with heart”. Stay focused on what you want to get out of the conversation, which is going to be understanding the motivations of someone else.
Back to the documentation, if you’re not getting to a place where things are improving, take it up the chain, with the examples you have been documenting. You are showing the actions and consequences of this individual, which will give management the much needed documentation to move forward, if they have the workplace’s culture and employees best interest at heart.
Finally, polish up your resume. If everything your saying is 100% accurate, you should be looking to get away from management that is tolerating this behavior.
It was an easy and enjoyable read for me. I’ve read it numerous times now, and still enjoy it.
Bowl Leader
I’ll be honest, based on your description of the situation, this sounds like a very petty environment with lots of personal issues clouding the work. I think first and foremost, it’s acceptable to remind the individual in question that there’s a mutual goal of running a site successfully to support patients. Secondly, based on what you shared, it’s apparent that this has gotten very personal for you as well and I think that likely places you at a crossroads. I think the crucial conversations framework mentioned is a great next step as it can be very helpful. I would also recommend at some point you evaluating if this is the position you really want and make the best decision for you.
So sorry this is happening to you, but on top of the other suggestions the only other thing I question is who is she connected to in the organization (family or friend) because that could be why she’s still there after all the reports and causing havoc. I had this once and it amazing to see how people hook up their people but with different last names and all it can be thought to tell but I always try and figure it out because that sometimes lets you know how carefully you need to navigate the conversations you have about her with others even superiors. I put nothing above anyone?!
There have been multiple instances of her sneakiness and racism being exposed and even investigated, yet they (upper management) still made her the lead therapist for our site. This time, she’s directed her ire towards me. She found out a therapist (like herself) applied for and was hired for my role at one of our other locations and got jealous. I worked from home one day last week and found out she was asking my direct reports if they knew how much my salary was and in general trying to “get dirt” on me. It’s made the office extremely tense and my staff and even her staff are very uncomfortable and don’t trust her. A few of them have stated that in hindsight/looking back at some past conversations with her, they know now they were done with a malicious intent, trying to sow discord and turn my own staff and others against me, in what I assume is an attempt to get me fired in order to try to take my job. There are quite a few other things, but I just need some advice on how to handle this on site without making things worse and still continue to be professional. She is a proven liar, and was even investigated for making multiple racist comments, and still was not let go. Upper management doesn’t seem to be interested in replacing her or even demoting her so reporting things to them seems like it might backfire on me, like I’m a “tattle tale”. I’ve always been kind to her, and even stood up for her a bit during her investigation in June (was honest about the situation but told them it was much better now and she was working well with myself and everyone on site) so I feel pretty hurt and not sure how to approach this. I do have to interact with her but honestly I’m scared to even have a conversation with her at this point. Help!