I've been a manager for a long time and a group of DRs is having issues impacting their performance that I have never come across before. They are young guys, 2 or so years out of high school that are sharing an apartment. On a fairly regular basis one or more of them will call in sick with stomach ailments. On a visit to one of their work spaces, in an office on the other side of town I think I have discovered the problem, bad food hygiene. There was food that was clearing being eaten that would send a health inspector screaming from the room.
On the whole they are good employees, hard working and willing to learn, but their frequent absence is impacting the work. The office has an employee kitchen with everything you would expect, so lack of facilities isn't the issue. I am not interested in being their dad, but clearly they could use some instructions in how to live without mom in the house.
I am used to training new DR's how to do the work, but in the past they've come to me with the basics of life already in their tool belt. I can include food safety training but it feels a little odd, since the job is computer support. Is it OK to be dad at work?
Perfect topic to bring up in
Perfect topic to bring up in your O3. You can throw it out as a suggestion and/or feedback. You can't cook their food for them or babysit them 24/7, but you can tell them that you've noticed they are eating some foods that are probably best relegated to the trash and that this is likely causing some of their stomach issues. Lead the horse to water....if you give feedback on how their absences affect their work and the impact on the department, and help them to draw the logical connection they are clearly missing, what happens next is on them.
I agree. Their lack of
I agree. Their lack of basic life skills is affecting their work and that makes it your business. I liken this to dealing with poor hygiene - somebody has to pick up where their parents left off. It may not be pleasant, but it has to be done for the good of the organization.
Steve
DiSC 7114
Feedback all the way
You cannot make them change, but when their behavior has a negative impact on their production you must act to change it. If they choose to not comply then release them after giving them every opportunity to stop missing work.
This is a great question.
This is a great question. I think it you need to make it clear that you have their best interests at heart and that means you need to have a good relationship with them. I understand about not wanting to be their dad, though with particularly young people there is some of being dad that that can really help.
It does depend a lot on who they are, how the dynamic of the group is etc. In my team it would not be out of place to say (in a small group) something like - "mate, you're not seriously going to eat that are you? it's gross, you'll be lucky not to end up in hospital!" - which may lead to a slightly wider conversation with others pointing out that it's not healthy. This could be more effective than them feeling like you are lecturing them on food hygiene. Careful though, you have to know whether public 'teasing' is something they can handle and it must be really gentle.
Good luck
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Chief Executive, Connect Support Services Ltd. - London based cloud & traditional IT services for SMEs
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Thanks everyone for the
Thanks everyone for the feedback. I thought I'd follow up with whats happened. The performance problems and food issues did not improve. I decided to go all "dad" on them and be very specific about food safety and how it impacted the business. Upon closer inspection the one gentleman's issues were far deeper than eating questionable food. So I began a weekly meeting where we sat down and set agreed goals to be completed before the next meeting. Compared to other techs doing the same job his performance was dead last and unacceptable. I was moving down the road to termination when he resigned to take another job.
I moved another team into the facility to clean up both literally and figuratively the mess that was left behind. I hear from his room mate that he is liking his new job, and I am happy for both of us.