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I agree with the last two posters. There is nothing wrong with doing your job well as long as you keep within your boundaries. To approve PTO when it is not within your scope is being INSUBORDINATE. There must be something in the employee handbook specifically addressing who grants the time off to whom.
I agree with this. In posting my last reply I must have missed reading the part of the OP where the guy approved PTO. That is not OK.
I agree with this. In posting my last reply I must have missed reading the part of the OP where the guy approved PTO. That is not OK.
OK...let me clarify, the "new guy" is not approving PTO requests. When people request days off in advance for vacation, etc. it is a written request and it goes through me and/or my boss. It's when someone suddenly decides that they want to go home early since all their work is done and it's nearing the end of the day, that he will decide for himself to let them. So, when I come back from a meeting or whatever then he's like, "such-and-such asked me if they could go home so I told her yes, it's not busy or I sent such-and-such home." But you are right, the other employees should not be asking him as well. It's only one or two people who have asked him, the majority do come to me first. This situation is getting taken care of.
I had another issue with him today....one of my colleague's called me at work today and told me that while she was working with the "new guy" last night (after I went home) he decided that he did not want to work, she did like 90% of the work and he sat on the computer and decided to file his taxes online which took several hours. I was not there so I don't know his side of the story, but I did tell my boss what I heard. This guy is somethin' else.
All this needs to be documented at the time of occurence.
It could be that since this employee seems to have, or thinks he has, a patron at the level above you he feels he has authority he does not and will be protected from harm.
The sending people home has to be stopped now by you. My question is why do the other employees think this person has the authority to do this? Has he perhaps mentioned his upper level friend?
OK...let me clarify, the "new guy" is not approving PTO requests. When people request days off in advance for vacation, etc. it is a written request and it goes through me and/or my boss. It's when someone suddenly decides that they want to go home early since all their work is done and it's nearing the end of the day, that he will decide for himself to let them. So, when I come back from a meeting or whatever then he's like, "such-and-such asked me if they could go home so I told her yes, it's not busy or I sent such-and-such home."
I am curious: How did you respond when the new guy told you this? Did you just look at him and say "Hmm." Instead, why didn't you say right then and there, "Why did you send them home? You're not in charge. Don't do that ever again. Do you understand?"
First, I just want to respond to the folks who have talked about being too old for your job (even after you've given more info), griping about the situation, you're jealous because he's younger, don't do anything about it and mind your own business and just be a good employee, yadda, yadda, yadda. Nothing is solved by sitting there and doing nothing. And how on earth is someone at age 22 more qualified and more experienced than the senior person in the office?
My opinion: This fella has it in for you. He's ambitious, he wants your job (whether he can handle it or not is irrelevant to him) plus he's younger and probably faster. His greatest ally: your boss who brought him him. His greatest fault: lying and bullsh*ting.
First, as stated by previous posters, there is a definite problem with the chain of command in your office. You said that your boss is giving him assignments directly? Why isn't the boss talking to you and letting you distribute the assignments? If not, is the new guy on the same level as you, a peer and so receives assignments from your boss, same way you receive assignments? If he is a subordinate, let your boss know that it's confusing for the boss to give assignments and you'd like to be the one to assign projects.
In the same situation, why is the new guy giving people permission to others to go home early? Again, he has no authority and the longer you let it go on, the worse it gets. Maybe you need to make an announcement at your next office meeting. Or send an email to the entire staff reminding them about office procedures. . .
Second, you must prepare for battle. Yes, battle. I am surprised no one has used these two words: office politics. So this means that you have to have a strategy and plan and you need to outsmart this rat bast*rd. Being polite and nice and worrying about him ain't doing the trick. You're going to have to stand your ground because right now, Mr. New Guy knows you're weak and stepping all over you and wiping his feet.
Here are a few things to try:
* Do not go to your boss too much. Going to the boss too many times sends a message that you cannot handle what happens in your department and you may be incompetent
* Immediately set (or re-set) the office procedures and inform all of your employee -- including approval of leave and absences, distribution of assignments, who's in charge, scheduling, etc. This can just be a refresher to your group.
* Be outwardly pleasant to the New Guy. Ask him what projects he's interested and see what he'd like to do. Maybe giving him a big project and letting him work on it will give him a sense of satisfaction and he'll calm down a bit. But remember, he needs to report directly to you about the projects and make sure you schedule a time to meet so he can provide the updates. If he does a good job it will reflect on you and your department.
* Monitor everything he does. Write it down and don't let him know you are doing this. If he was spending hours working on his taxes he is wasting company time (= lack of productivity) and is also misusing company property. Write down all the times he was misinforming employees, has made long-distance phone calls, if he takes extended lunch hours, leaves early without permission, spends time on Facebook, looks at porn, whatever. All of this can be used against him if necessary.
* If the new guy steps out of line, call him into the office and talk to him about the problem. Don't accuse him of anything--just raise the issue and let him explain. Do this everytime he does something quesitonable and sooner or later he'll get the message. Another tactic is to call in the entire group when something has gone awry. Don't accuse Mr. New Guy but raise the issue and let everyone have a discussion. By doing this, you are not pointing directly at him but everyone will be suspicious that he is the problem -- it's just not clearly stated.
Above all, never lose your cool. Be patient but serious. Do not be emotional. Don't let anyone know how much you can't stand this guy. Don't talk bad about this fella even to your most trusted co-workers. Be professional at all times. If you're in charge, you have to be in charge and do all the things a supervisor/leader is supposed to do.
That's all for now but I wish you the best of luck!
* Monitor everything he does. Write it down and don't let him know you are doing this. If he was spending hours working on his taxes he is wasting company time (= lack of productivity) and is also misusing company property. Write down all the times he was misinforming employees, has made long-distance phone calls, if he takes extended lunch hours, leaves early without permission, spends time on Facebook, looks at porn, whatever. All of this can be used against him if necessary.
A manager does have to be careful with things like this. It could easily be evidence used against the employer, if such actions are not implemented uniformly against all staff. Go too far and it could be seen as vindictive.
Using a company computer for something involving sensitive personal data like tax filing is just foolish. But I can't tell from the description of this event if New Guy works a different shift than OP or if he was staying late for overtime. I'm not condoning New Guy's actions, just pointing out that the rules are different if it was overtime. If New Guy works a different shift then his supervisor, it would seem obvious that that will need to change if his behavior is to be corrected properly.
Location: Stuck on the East Coast, hoping to head West
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I just don't see how the new guy is responsible for people leaving early. I"ve worked at places where the boss has left and one of my coworker's will want to leave early and I don't have the authority to stop them. If they ask me if I can handle things, I'd certainly say yes b/c I can. Doesn't mean I'm overstepping boundaries or approving their leaving.
I don't think the new guy is as big a problem as the employees who are leaving against policy. I can only imagine me leaving and then telling my boss that a coworker told me it would be ok.
A manager does have to be careful with things like this. It could easily be evidence used against the employer, if such actions are not implemented uniformly against all staff. Go too far and it could be seen as vindictive.
Good point. And I think the suggestion about referring to HR and/or the HR Manual is also helpful. There may be something that states the ability to proceed with documentation if a supervisor is suspicious of an employee's abusive behavior.
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Using a company computer for something involving sensitive personal data like tax filing is just foolish.
Agree. I once worked at an office where the rule was that you could use the company equipment for "personal" use but only during certain hours (i.e., before you work hours began, during your lunch hour, after work hours and on weekends). This was before the era of Facebook though and it was meant primarily for employees who were also going to school part-time to complete or further their degrees and were just typing up their research papers. And there was a definite rule against things like using it for porn, etc.
I may be perceived in my office as this "new guy" is also. I was hired on as a Mid-career Security Manager (in a department of 5 managers). 2 Managers have bachelors, one has a masters, and the other is incompetent to no end. The 4 other folks in my department are in their mid 30's. I'm 26.
In the first month, I completely outshined the 3 others without breaking a sweat. I have no college degree, and I've never taken a leadership class.
I know my job through late hours at home studying, and hitting the floor with the employee's who receive our security policies and procedures. I know the Government security manuals almost word for word, and can quickly reference a security guideline if needed. I developed our templates, policies and forms myself.
Why am I tooting my own horn? Because I know for a fact that one of the folks I deal with, has been with the company going on 40 years now (just got his 40 year parking), and feels like I "wing" everything. Just because someone is young, has zero bearing on their knowledge level or their ability to outperform you. When my Senior manager is out of the office, I am sought for decision calls and policy guidance, and I've only been with the company for 10 months.
The job market is such a bear right now, that to succeed as a college graduate, you really have to bust your butt, and go 125%. Think about it from his perspective. You may not be giving it your best, because there hasn't been any competition.... but you better believe, I'm not sitting in this position for 40 years myself. Aim High.
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I'm now waiting on my Final Offer for a job with the Government in a Senior position.
Clearly you have no idea what you are talking about. It's MY responsibility as HIS supervisor to worry about what he is doing. Anything that he does wrong or screws up on will come back on me because I'm in charge of him and I have the last say in what goes on. I didn't hire him, he is good friends with the director and they decided to take him on.
This is the last time I will respond to your craziness.
Good! Then don't post here if you don't like what people have to say.
OK...let me clarify, the "new guy" is not approving PTO requests. When people request days off in advance for vacation, etc. it is a written request and it goes through me and/or my boss. It's when someone suddenly decides that they want to go home early since all their work is done and it's nearing the end of the day, that he will decide for himself to let them. So, when I come back from a meeting or whatever then he's like, "such-and-such asked me if they could go home so I told her yes, it's not busy or I sent such-and-such home." But you are right, the other employees should not be asking him as well. It's only one or two people who have asked him, the majority do come to me first. This situation is getting taken care of.
I had another issue with him today....one of my colleague's called me at work today and told me that while she was working with the "new guy" last night (after I went home) he decided that he did not want to work, she did like 90% of the work and he sat on the computer and decided to file his taxes online which took several hours. I was not there so I don't know his side of the story, but I did tell my boss what I heard. This guy is somethin' else.
Give him enough rope then. He'll probably burn out fast, some very aggressive types appear at first to be go-getters but they're not in it for the long-haul. Or their over-confidence trips them up, they make a big mistake because of arrogance and that will do them in.
He's either going to move up, or he'll move out or he'll move onto something else. You see that all the time. He's already moving into he slacker stage and people will catch onto that.
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