ItDepends wrote:Yes the job is hard, but the 2 other admin employees do not make so many critical mistakes.
After several mistakes over the last 15 months and attempts at coaching the employee on these issues, the employee:
1) Sent a full set of payroll tax returns and UI docs (filled with salaries, W2s, SS#s, etc to the wrong client) via sharefile. Then didn't tell us. We discovered it later and cancelled the link, no thanks to her. Instead she kept it from us and we only saw it in the sent folder because she sent another email saying to disregard the first, and here are the correct docs.
We have coached her SEVERAL times to triple check all docs before sending them. And to have us check her drafts. And we said several times, "there is no pressure or hurry to send these things, go slow, ask us to check them first, there's no quota on your production, quality over quantity, sending the wrong docs to the wrong clients is the worst mistake you can make, etc".
2) She inattentively told a client the wrong day when scheduling them. I batch several appointments into small blocks of time so I can get things done at other times. Having 2 clients show up at once is VERY hard to deal with when there are several back to back appointments proceeding.
3) An hour later, she handed the wrong docs to a client picking up. For example, she gave John Smith's docs to Tom Smith (totally unrelated). Fortunately, my partner checked them and "grabbed" them out of Tom's hands. Could you imagine telling John Smith that we cant find his docs? Or the bad review and loss of confidence from Tom (if he bothered to look at them when he got home)?
There have been several patient attempts at coaching. So this was the last straw, and I wrote her a very blunt warning that says if she cant fix these issues and prevent these mistakes, that I would terminate her. I also gave her more patient and polite coaching in the letter and verbally as well. But the gist of the letter was very blunt. "We've told you several times, and you must fix it immediately or your employment is terminated."
I was very professional, but unfortunately now..... viola, she is crying - and I feel like a jerk.
I politely fired her for cause (poor performance) and gave her the last paycheck.
She sadly agreed with me, apologized, thanked me, and said she learned a lot working for me.
I watched her out of the window as she walked slowly down the sidewalk with her head down toward the bus stop while my (wife's) Lexus sits waiting for me in the parking lot.
I'm sure that it had to be done. Since my previous posts, she continued to make these mistakes.
But I'm not sure why I see the Devil when I look at my reflection in the CPU monitor.
