Troublesome staff

[Ringmaster]

How can I convince my boss to quietly move a member of my staff to another area of the business without much explanation?

This person gets on my nerves but that alone would not be enough to convince my boss as I know he likes this chap. Other managers over the years have despaired of him and I ended up with him. His work is good but after 3 years of dealing with his mood swings, bringing his personal problems to work, not knowing what each day may bring when I get to the office etc, I've had enough. Senior managers have ignored all the above.

Doing it the official way would involve a mountain of paperwork and more mood swings while managers took their time deciding. I've seen other people moved on the quiet, so its possible.

What could I say that would have the desired effect on my boss? I'm not the sort who makes a fuss, that's probably how I ended up with him and others got rid of him.

Honest advice please anyone.....

[Ringmaster]

Anyone had a similar problem?

[missfire]

He's negatively impacting the productivity of your department. If you're spending time and energy on him you're spending less time and energy doing what you're being paid to do. Time at work, and energy, are finite!

[Hanuman]

You need to remove the boss.
I had 2 characters back in my engineering days who could not be let go for all the valid arguments, and they were disruptive in the extreme. But next up the chain management had a weak spot for people, even temps, and not wanting to put them out of a job, no matter how bad they were. So they stayed.

[Hanuman]

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stran..._a_Train_(film)

I always liked this movie.

(Thread drift off!)

[theschmallfella]

Originally Posted by Ringmaster

How can I convince my boss to quietly move a member of my staff to another area of the business without much explanation?

This person gets on my nerves but that alone would not be enough to convince my boss as I know he likes this chap. Other managers over the years have despaired of him and I ended up with him. His work is good but after 3 years of dealing with his mood swings, bringing his personal problems to work, not knowing what each day may bring when I get to the office etc, I've had enough. Senior managers have ignored all the above.

Doing it the official way would involve a mountain of paperwork and more mood swings while managers took their time deciding. I've seen other people moved on the quiet, so its possible.

What could I say that would have the desired effect on my boss? I'm not the sort who makes a fuss, that's probably how I ended up with him and others got rid of him.

Honest advice please anyone.....

Thats a problem alright, these are the people that make your work life even more difficult. I was unfortunate enough to have worked with someone like this, unfortunately for me she was my immediate boss and she was (and still is) bet up the arse of the MD. What made it more difficult was apart from me she was the only other Irish person working for the company. I endured months of mood swings, open ridicule in the office environment and eventual bullying. I did all I could to keep my composure and be professional but I eventually left the job as I couldn't tolerate her behaviour any longer. In your case I would say this, be diplomatic, both with the person and management, but have a strong case to present to management and examples of how he is being disruptive to both your work and the work environment. Don't demand anything from managemnet, but make suggestions of what can be done with this guy. You could suggest councilling, one to one sessions for the guy with management to discuss his issues outside the company and to discuss ways of managing his issues to so that they don't effect his work. That kind of thing. I hope it works out for you.

[styler]

start eating that rotting fish in a tin.... they'll ask to BE moved..

[Isimmo]

Originally Posted by Ringmaster

How can I convince my boss to quietly move a member of my staff to another area of the business without much explanation?

This person gets on my nerves but that alone would not be enough to convince my boss as I know he likes this chap. Other managers over the years have despaired of him and I ended up with him. His work is good but after 3 years of dealing with his mood swings, bringing his personal problems to work, not knowing what each day may bring when I get to the office etc, I've had enough. Senior managers have ignored all the above.

Doing it the official way would involve a mountain of paperwork and more mood swings while managers took their time deciding. I've seen other people moved on the quiet, so its possible.

What could I say that would have the desired effect on my boss? I'm not the sort who makes a fuss, that's probably how I ended up with him and others got rid of him.

Honest advice please anyone.....

This is quite tiresome, (BTDT many times) but you've got to do it properly... Firstly, read the company policies on poor performance, discipline, discrimination, grievance and harassment. Then record everything in meticulous detail, every last conversation, word or comment, late arrival, cock up, lost productivity or cost to the business. Slowly building evidence of non compliance, indiscretions or general tardiness in contravention to the company policies. Then apply the policies via the HR department or appropriate senior manager. You'll never win at an industrial relations tribunal unless due process is followed.

Also, make sure everyone in the department is aware of the policies before you start...

[Emjay]

If you're saying his work is good, thus assuming productivity is where it should be, timekeeping and other stuff is acceptable then I think it's gonna be in your hands to handle the work relationship you have with him. If your bosses see nothing untoward then I doubt he's gonna get moved on anytime soon.

I've had a few instances where I've had to deal with staff who werent able to bum along together it wasn't tolerated for long by myself, and my message to the parties involved was to get their act together. How they felt personally about each other was for them to deal with in private and not to disrupt the other members of the team.

End of the say we all have to work with people we don't particularly like or get on with, we just have to try and make it work somehow.

If there are any specific performance or work related issues such as harrassment, bullying, sexism etc then you do need to follow due company process as Simmo has rightly pointed out. But from what you have said and without more information it sounds like a workplace personality problem which you will need to deal with one to one

[Hanuman]

And! there's always an and.

If he did get moved, who knows what the replacement would be like.
Go for a pint and hash it out.