In the Spring, a new person was hired to fill my previous position. I've been promoted to a new role. From day 1, he did not seem interested in the position. I trained him for weeks and created new detailed guides and documents to support his position, but not much has changed. I don't even think he has read a single resource provided. I've given him a lot of grace..... Continued in comments...

Follow your normal performance management policy. Rate him on his goals and place him on a verbal warning plan of support.

It’s okay to find a better fit if necessary

I definitely agree with everyone above that you need to follow normal procedure and he should be put on a PIP. That being said I don't think it would hurt to sit him down and talk to him and ask him what is going on. It never hurts to check in on someone and their mental health.

and even continued to lead his area the first few months of him joining so that work didn't fall through the cracks, on top of my own work.

At this point, I can confidently say that he does not want to be in this position. He does the absolute bare minimum, and on numerous occasions, colleagues have had to follow-up with him to get updates on projects. I've also noticed that when I assign/remind/transition tasks to him, he is very slow to respond or does not respond at all. He's selective with responses; for example, tasks that are simple and straightforward get a quick response, but this is not the same for anything else. He is friendly but not dependable.

Additionally, I've noticed that his Teams status is always (literally always) 'away', and he is rarely ever available. The only reason I've noticed this is because at times I need to contact him and he is not available. He's also supposed to work from the office 1-2 days per week, but hardly comes in. Any advice on what could be going on and what I should do next? I was planning on having an open conversation with him and also sharing feedback with his manager. Overall, the team, his manager, and our department lead are very supportive and really great. I really want to see him succeed, but I don't think he's the right person for this position, unfortunately. It just seems he does not want to be here. My take is that he is either planning to leave, working multiple jobs, or trying to get away with doing the least amount of work. Any input would be appreciated, thank you!

Are you his direct supervisor? I agree with the comment above to follow your company’s performance guidelines. If he’s underperforming, document it appropriately and put him or a PIP or let him go.

First things first, congratulations on the promotion and career growth! We can't overlook these successes😊💜


Now back to your corporate toddler😒 There may or may not be potential external impacts to performance that include:
*Medical
*Financial
*Job Stacking (which I strongly suspect is what is going on)

Regardless you have gone above and beyond to support him in being successful in the role he applied for. From my understanding, you have-
*Trained him extensively
*Provided supplementary support during his on-boarding period.
*Repeatedly had to follow up on minor & key tasks
*Received feedback about his negative impact to the rest of the team.

So a few ways to attack this.
Option 1: IMMEDIATE TERMINATION but only if the answer to the questions below is YES.
1. Does your org have a probationary period?
2. Is he still within the probabtionary period?
3. Are you in an at-will state/region?

If he is no longer within the probationary period you still have both cause & legal grounds for termination in at-will states.


Option 2: If the first option does not apply to your region/organization, I agree with the first respondent PERFORMANCE MANAGE him out of the role.
1. Verbal Warning with email to reiterate.
2. Ensure that there is a staggered assessment of performance:
- First 30 days after verbal warning he is required to be in-office full time, timelines for deliverables cannot be missed, submissions will be assessed in weekly 1-on-1 performance meetings.
- Next 60 day cycle, WFH permitted 2 days a week, all other performance requirements remain the same.
3. Proceed as per his performance.


I suspect that once you put him on a PIP, he will self-exit without you needing to terminate his employment. But....if there are extenuating factors then you will have ensured that legally you did your due diligence.



Best of luck dealing with this headache🙏🏾💜

Why or how is this your responsibility?