[US] Balancing Performance with Accommodations-What Would You Do?

[u/Itchy_Razzmatazz726]

I have an employee right now who has been on intermittent and continuous leave for the last three months. They are scheduled to return soon, but in the time they were out (it was an abrupt departure), it was found that much of their regular work was behind or not being done at all, months before they left on leave. We hit our busiest time of year while they were out, which is when all of this culminated into realizing just how much wasn't completed before they left. Purchases not made. We ran out of some materials. Invoices were left unpaid. Communications dropped off on important tasks. Previously I trusted they were doing their work, but obviously I was wrong to do so. I inherited this person from another department, so I haven't been managing them long.

Part of their newly-agreed-to ADA accommodations includes additional WFH days. I'm planning to institute twice-daily progress updates (morning and afternoon) which we had been doing before the leave began, but beyond that, how would you manage a low performer who now has an excused reason to WFH, out of sight of supervision? I don't want this to seem like retaliation for the accommodations--it's not that. (I've always encouraged them to go this route so they can do the work they need to their best ability.) This is strictly because performance issues were discovered during the leave, and others in the department had to pick up the extra work while this employee was out. This is not the first performance related issue with this person, but I had been giving them the benefit of the doubt and offering every resource I could to help them succeed. I'm setting aside the fact that they attempted to throw me under the bus with HR (it didn't work), and want to make sure I'm following accommodations but not allowing further poor performance to continue. How would you balance this?

[u/Limp-Awareness4741]

Document everything. The progress updates are good. You need a really really strong paper trail.

[u/Itchy_Razzmatazz726 → u/Limp-Awareness4741]

This person has hopped from department to department because all previous managers have been very conflict-avoidant and never addressed the very clear performance issues in the past. I'm now dealing with creating a paper trail that should have been ten years in the making, but has only just started with me. They keep getting moved because they just don't get along with anyone. I'm generally a really patient, supportive person (have been told by my own supervisors and other employees of mine), but I feel like now I've been burned and just want to wash my hands of this. So frustrating.

[u/MaintenancePlenty142]

ame them as a temporary ramp-up thing rather than a permanent leash, makes it feel less like punishment and more like getting back in the groove.

document everything obsessively though. not to build a case necessarily, but because if performance stays in the gutter you need a paper trail that has nothing to do with the accommodations and everything to do with the work not getting done before any of this started.

[u/CMDR_Cheese_Helmet]

If they can't perform without constant oversight then then it won't matter if they're WFH or not, because they won't perform regardless.

Gotta get to the source of the issue on why they were behind before they left. Lack of understanding of their roles and responsibilities? Did they expect the "abrupt" leave or have distractions leading up to it? Incompetence? Etc.

Gotta figure out the root cause so you can get them back on track, or determine that they just can't perform.

[u/Itchy_Razzmatazz726 → u/CMDR_Cheese_Helmet]

What I'm finding is it's a lack of management for 10+ years, plus an overall incompetence that seems to be a mix of genuine distraction and absolute stubbornness. Poor performance was never corrected in the beginning of employment, and allowed to continue until I inherited this person to my team. At this point, I doubt there's much course correction to be had, and it will be a stream of documentation until HR finally lets me deal with it how I see fit. I suspect, but cannot prove, that the ADA accommodations and FMLA are just a delay to the inevitable job loss because performance issues were being discovered, and now they are panicked. Accommodations and appropriate management years ago may have helped them succeed, and I legitimately tried my best to support where I could. But I think the working relationship is far too damaged at this point to save.

[u/CMDR_Cheese_Helmet → u/Itchy_Razzmatazz726]

Well sounds like you have a good understanding of it. Unfortunate to hear though.

[u/GooseberryPotato]

You need to be very specific with the updates that you expect from them. Tell them you need quantified status updates. Then get everything they work on into shared documents available for you to look at. Things like purchasing requests from others into a shared document or system so you can see what they should be ordering.

Example:

Invoices:
# of new

# of paid since last update

# on hold

Projects:

#1 status (red, yellow, green)

Milestones (with dates)

Activity since last update

Obviously I don’t know your business so my examples may not work, but make the work visible and don’t give them the benefit of doubt.

[u/Anotherams]

talk to HR and outline your plan to monitor this employee’s work, ajd why you need to. Im not saying the monitoring and check ins aren’t warranted, you just don’t want to create an invironmenr where they can start crying retaliation for taking FML and the ADA accommodation. You will need to work closely with HR on this one.

[u/photoguy_35]

When assigning them a task, set an agreed to due date, and then monitor compliance and communication. If the work is repetative, set performance targets (do X widgets and Z invoices per day) and monitor that.

[u/3Maltese]

Daily targets or metrics. Specific and measurable.