Topic: Ask - R(ob)AWK replies

[Graeme]

I wish I had a spare 5 minutes to myself! Probably doesn’t read back very well to be honest. There’s a few other oddities as well that I didn’t go into in my post because it already looked long enough of a post.

[Graeme]

or ... he is a bad guy.  what would you do if you found out he was?

Not say hello to him if we were both outside gardening etc. Left his car boot open a few months back one evening so I bobbed over and told him, wouldn’t do that again etc.

[Graeme]

As a single male who lives on my own, and largely keeps myself to myself, I'd hate to think the neighbours across the street are trying to find out my name because they are suspicious. There are loads of reasons the police could have visited.

Yeah but I already know you’re a weirdo and so do your neighbours

[SamLad]

Not say hello to him if we were both outside gardening etc. Left his car boot open a few months back one evening so I bobbed over and told him, wouldn’t do that again etc.

that'll learn him!! 

[Ghost Town]

Is his surname Radley, first name Boo?

Live and let live, I say

[afc tukrish]

Yeah but I already know you’re a weirdo and so do your neighbours

 

[Elmo!]

He's right to be fair. 

[afc tukrish]

He's right to be fair. 

Self-knowledge is an admirable trait...

[Kenny's Jacket]

Does anyone know how to contact the BBC. about programme content? 
My mate called me , he said there was a show on bbc1 this morning about trials in Eaat London to use new technology to promote movement in your arm.?  Ive no other details

[WhereAngelsPlay]

Does anyone know how to contact the BBC. about programme content? 
My mate called me , he said there was a show on bbc1 this morning about trials in Eaat London to use new technology to promote movement in your arm.?  Ive no other details

Tweet them mate and also keep an eye on the tech and also keep an eye on their Health,Tech and science pages.

The problem with some stories they run is that they often run older stories at the weekend as filler.

Have you checked that it wasn't on Click ? Sounds like their sort of thing.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006m9ry

[west_london_red]

It was on Click, I just saw it now being repeated on BBC News and remembered this post.

You should be able to download from iPlayer

[Kenny's Jacket]

Have you checked that it wasn't on Click ? Sounds like their sort of thing.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006m9ry

It was on Click, I just saw it now being repeated on BBC News and remembered this post.

You should be able to download from iPlayer

Found it on iplayer.  Thanks lads, that's great

[I've been a good boy]

For anyone who does interviews at work. If you get asked a competency based question (eg give an example of a time when you disagreed with your manager) but you can't answer it because you've never been in that situation, do they mark you down?

[Elmo!]

For anyone who does interviews at work. If you get asked a competency based question (eg give an example of a time when you disagreed with your manager) but you can't answer it because you've never been in that situation, do they mark you down?

As someone who hasn't done an interview in almost 10 years.... how is that example in any way a competency based question? Am I missing something here?

It doesn't seem like it related to competence at all. Maybe I'm being a bit thick and missing something.

[I've been a good boy]

As someone who hasn't done an interview in almost 10 years.... how is that example in any way a competency based question? Am I missing something here?

It doesn't seem like it related to competence at all. Maybe I'm being a bit thick and missing something.

They ask some ridiculous shite to be honest. I suppose they're trying to gauge what kind of personality you have and if you're likely to give them problems.

[Crosby Nick]

For anyone who does interviews at work. If you get asked a competency based question (eg give an example of a time when you disagreed with your manager) but you can't answer it because you've never been in that situation, do they mark you down?

Where I work they do them and they’re ridiculously rigid. Normally there’s a question with about 3 sub parts to it and loads for a candidate to even remember let alone try and answer. Then each answer gets scored on how well they answered it. Pretty crap system to be honest.

[Elmo!]

They ask some ridiculous shite to be honest. I suppose they're trying to gauge what kind of personality you have and if you're likely to give them problems.

Personality is totally different to competence though right? I'm fucking glad I'm not looking for a new job.

[redbyrdz]

For anyone who does interviews at work. If you get asked a competency based question (eg give an example of a time when you disagreed with your manager) but you can't answer it because you've never been in that situation, do they mark you down?

Unless"handling conflict in the team well" is a selection criteria, that isn't a question you can be marked on. If you've never been in that situation, I'd say so, but try and come up with a.non-work situation that is similar, even if its arguing with the wife/partner, or getting sent off in a game of football.

If they ask about disagreements too much, I'd be wary that there is a proper arse who you'd have to work with.

[I've been a good boy]

Unless"handling conflict in the team well" is a selection criteria, that isn't a question you can be marked on. If you've never been in that situation, I'd say so, but try and come up with a.non-work situation that is similar, even if its arguing with the wife/partner, or getting sent off in a game of football.

If they ask about disagreements too much, I'd be wary that there is a proper arse who you'd have to work with.

That question itself would ring alarm bells for me. They're basically admitting that the manager is a c*nt and want to know how well you'd adapt to him/her.

[Barneylfc∗]

For anyone who does interviews at work. If you get asked a competency based question (eg give an example of a time when you disagreed with your manager) but you can't answer it because you've never been in that situation, do they mark you down?

If you can't answer the question, you'll score 0 for it and likely fail the interview as there will be a minimum pass mark for each question?

[Barneylfc∗]

That question itself would ring alarm bells for me. They're basically admitting that the manager is a c*nt and want to know how well you'd adapt to him/her.

Not really. It could be something as trivial as the manager thinks it would be best for the team to do something in a specific way, but someone else thinks it would be better to do it another way.

An example of that in my work would be the manager asking our team (there's 5 of us) to do a task that involves listening to calls made to employers prior to setting up a deduction order. He wanted us to split it evenly between the 5 of us.
4 of us do part of our job that the 5th person doesn't. So we thought the 5th person could take on the calls task as they don't do the other bit the rest of us do.

[Drinks Sangria]

HR at work have been useless so I'll turn to RAWK for expert advice, as there will certainly be someone who knows.

Long story short I have a failing staff member who has an awful attitude and is utterly unaccountable for her mistakes, attitude and laziness. She blames others, denies pure data that shows she's not doing enough and pulls every trick in the book to get out of work. She's on managed performance because of this and had an informal verbal warning.

It's now got to the point where she's creating a toxic environment because people seem to somehow be aware she's blamed certain people for her failings (she confides in one team member she sees as a mate who then tells everyone, classic office gossip). I've sat down with her multiple times to try and be empathetic and work through it and she basically throws it in my face by saying she's thankful for the support and the things I've done to help her cope with the work and then being crazily lazy.

It's come to a head when (we have a skeleton staff in on Saturdays because they're so quiet) we've come in on Monday and she's done absolutely fuck all working from home on the Saturday, which has put us way back for the week. I'm not seeking advice on how to manage her, but is it legal and acceptable for me to ask her in a supervised meeting 'do you think this is the right job for you?' Or words to that effect. She needs to feel some pressure because she's on a good wage to deliver her JD, she was great during probation and then as soon as she had a secure job she's been awful and it's affecting others in the team. I want to know what's the limit of what I can say without it being tantamount to constructive dismissal or unfair on her.

[Spanish Al]

How long has she been an employee? I am by no means an expert on this or profess to know a lot but I’m pretty sure in the first two years of an employees employment, you can pretty much get rid of them without really needing a reason.

We’ve had a few over the last few years in my place like that and they’ve been given the boot despite nothing obvious or ‘big’ happening that would usually lead to the sack. They’ve just been shit at the job or lazy fuckers or a combination of both.

EDIT: Not saying you’re first port of call should be to sack her btw But if you are able to just rid of someone like that, I’m fairly sure nothing would come of a quick chat to see if she can buck up her ideas or have a think about if she actually wants to be there. We had a woman a couple of years back, lovely woman, but the job simply wasn’t not for her. Pretty sure my manager at the time had a chat with her to see if she thought it was the right job to which she replied yes. She didn’t get any better though so that chat was had again where she admitted it perhaps wasn’t and off she went.

[Elmo!]

As long as there is no hint of getting rid of her for any protected characteristic (race/sex/disability etc), yeah you can get rid in first 2 years for any reason other than that.

[John C]

HR at work have been useless so I'll turn to RAWK for expert advice,

There's a lot of considerations and unknowns for us to give you thorough advice mate and please note I'm not a HR expert, just a senior manager.

Assuming its quite a large organisation because you have a HR dept. Despite you not getting sufficient advice from HR you still need to adhere to company policy, find out where your Performance Policy is and get fully familiar with it. It sounds like you've already had informal 1-1 chats so the soft management route (which I always recommend) has been exhausted. It sounds like you need to meet with her and her TU rep (if applicable). Again depending on Policy you still might want to make this informal, an honest chat without inviting her in writing to attend.
Before I make the next point you'll have to consider your own position in the company, what status do you have, can you impose an action plan without her ignoring it or the TU undermining it. If so then be completely honest and gently ruthless and tell her you'll need to micro-manage her if there isn't a tangible improvement within 2-weeks which must continue or you'll invoke the disciplinary procedure.
You'll need to set targets and expectations without singling her out, you may need to apply them across the team but still tell her its her that being monitored.

You can discuss with her whether the structure she works under is fit-for-purpose and that you'll introduce a review if the team isn't performing overall and that may impact her (although team reviews are not the best way to manage performance - you should be tackling it).
You need to make sure she is unequivocally aware that she has placed a spotlight on herself and you have a duty of care to the other staff to manage the situation.

If she fails, again, you'll need to know the disciplinary policy as you may need to step back from that and someone neutral takes over an investigation.

Record everything if you don't already - from today, not Monday, write everything down.

I'd advise anyone going in to management who suspects they have a poor worker to keep a diary of that person from day 1. Even if you can never use all of the information formally because it looks like you're case building it serves as a reminder and you can at least contradict an employee if they ever deny doing anything months after an incident - we all forget stuff.

I empathise mate, I had a very long, overdue and ruthless chat with one of my team last Friday morning. At first he threatened to leave the meeting and I told him if he is not receptive to my ideas we've got a bigger problem than I thought and he is going to make himself very vulnerable as an employee.

Happy to help via pm if you want but as I say I'm just an experienced manager not a HR expert.










typos edited

[Jiminy Cricket]

Bit of an odd one this, please bear with me.

Bought a new build property about 18 months ago. There is an older gentleman lives alone in the property opposite me, probably mid 60’s and keeps himself to himself. Doesn’t go out much and gets no visitors. Nothing wrong with any of that. What did strike mean as odd though, he was visited on 2 occasions a couple of months back by what I can be almost certain were plain clothed police officers. If anybody wants me to go into detail about how I can be sure I’m happy to, but for arguments sake let’s say I’m correct.

It was at this point that I started to wonder why this was. If he’s been a victim of a burglary etc then it would have been uniformed officers that visited. I want to be clear that I’m not accusing the guy of anything whatsoever, my intention really is to rule him out of anything dodgy not to accuse him of it. Out of interest, I did a land registry search on his house, I was just looking for a name so I could allay my concerns, but that shed no light on the matter because the house is owned not by a person but by the Liverpool Roman Catholic Archdiocesan Trust. As far as I’ve seen in 18 months this chap doesn’t attend Church on a Sunday or any other day for that matter.

Am I being too suspicious and should just leave the guy alone? I’m by no means a curtain twitcher but I’d just be more comfortable knowing who I’m living opposite but I can’t even find a name

I'm a bit late to this. But, for what it is worth, maybe your neighbour feels he is being watched and stalked by a neighbour. And as such, requested that plain clothes police officers attend.

[Ghost Town]

I'm a bit late to this. But, for what it is worth, maybe your neighbour feels he is being watched and stalked by a neighbour. And as such, requested that plain clothes police officers attend.

That did strike me as well, but I wasn't going to say it...

[Drinks Sangria]

John, that’s a great reply with some good info for me thank you. There’s a lot in there I’ve done already but some crucial elements I’m yet to and will absolutely incorporate into our next ‘chat,’ on Monday.

I agree with your advice on documenting everything - years ago when first in a junior management position I got fucked over in a he-said-she-said where another staff member was lying but I lacked the proof to back up my less-plausible but entirely true side of the story. Learned the hard way and am now meticulous with it.

What you say about the micro-management is particularly interesting and I think has that firm edge needed with these sort of things. It’s got to the point now where other team members are complaining to me frequently, barely masking their contempt and she’s been inconsistent at best in implementing the performance plans I’ve put in place. Her etiquette and consideration of others is disgraceful. Appreciate the help John, some good stuff for me to unpack and use.

Al, she’s been with us around 9 months, so does lack the legal protections that come with greater longevity. I suppose some of my confusion came from feeling there needed to be some big individual incident in order to give her a final written warning, but conscious incompetence over time when already on a warning is surely enough. She was pretty good during her probation, then as soon as she passed it was like we had a completely different person in the team.

[rowan_d]

Has anyone here got experience of going to Alton Towers in the week leading up to Halloween? Going for two days with my brother and nephews this year but get the feeling that the weather might just destroy the entire trip.

Also, is the maze experience worth the extra money? £32 a head is steep as fuck. Will probably do the Dungeon at least.

[Drinks Sangria]

Has anyone here got experience of going to Alton Towers in the week leading up to Halloween? Going for two days with my brother and nephews this year but get the feeling that the weather might just destroy the entire trip.

Also, is the maze experience worth the extra money? £32 a head is steep as fuck. Will probably do the Dungeon at least.

Maze is mint but £32 is daylight robbery. I'd say if you're going, do it properly as a treat but I'm not going to pretend it's poor form from the location.

I'd get a plan of action in place and decide what rides you want to do and hit them in a logical fashion, because it's manic during Scarefest and they don't tend to cope well with the level of crowd they can get.

[rowan_d]

Cheers

Can't decide yet whether to make the itinery thing on the app, I'm basically there to babysit one of the nephews who isn't tall enough for the big rides so might just play it by ear, for the first day at least.

[WhereAngelsPlay]

Cheers

Can't decide yet whether to make the itinery thing on the app, I'm basically there to babysit one of the nephews who isn't tall enough for the big rides so might just play it by ear, for the first day at least.

Well what you need to do is,get him really excited when you see the swans,tell him you're getting on the next one,then go to the pub next door,takes 15mins at least for them to go around the lake.


Not that I would ever do something like that.

[Drinks Sangria]

Cheers

Can't decide yet whether to make the itinery thing on the app, I'm basically there to babysit one of the nephews who isn't tall enough for the big rides so might just play it by ear, for the first day at least.

I would recommend making a decision on the maze one way or another before you get there - it will be sold out if you don’t pre-book.

[reddebs]

Is it bad or sad that I've never been to Alton Towers and have no intention of going either?

[Tesco tearaway]

Is it bad or sad that I've never been to Alton Towers and have no intention of going either?

Neither 

[reddebs]

Neither 

I hate big rides but thankfully I can just about get out of being forced on them due to not quite being tall enough   

[Tesco tearaway]

I hate big rides but thankfully I can just about get out of being forced on them due to not quite being tall enough   

I did all that sort of stuff years ago; can't be arsed with it nowadays 

[reddebs]

I did all that sort of stuff years ago; can't be arsed with it nowadays 

I don't like heights mate and I went on a big wheel with a guy who was pissed many years ago. 

We were first on so it stopped at each car for the next people to get on and when we got to the very top he decided to stand up and start swaying the damn thing like a fucking swing.

Needless to say I was histerical and never went on another again.

[KillieRed]

Reader, she married him.

[afc tukrish]

Needless to say I was historical and never went on another again.

Quite the tale, Debs...