This is, in fact, what the problem was, and that is, in fact, what the solution was. In addition to that, I’ve made strong efforts to communicate to the department. I had a bad habit before of holding back info until it was time to tell them; now, as soon as I know something that affects them, I give them a quick heads-up.
Really, after thinking on it some, I think I did surly employee an injustice by bitching like I did earlier. She hasn’t had a complaint since we talked and I modified my management, even though I’ve told her she’s welcome to – and like Guns, she’s the sort of person who’s happy to take up that offer. For all I know, the current resentment might be entirely my imagination and not simply subtle cues I think I’m picking up.
Mucho thanks, from someone else who likes having the whole To-Do list to order and shuffle as needed, rather than work handed out piecemeal. And congratulations on being a good manager.
It’s already a problem. Deal with it now, while it’s small, before it blows up in your face. Call a team meeting to discuss attendance policies or write something up and distribute it. It doesn’t matter if there really is preferential treatment or not, as long as people suspect there is. You need to make it 100% clear to everyone what the guidelines and expectations are for their presences in the office.
Not everyone is comfortable with going to their manager when they have concerns. As soon as you even suspect that something is turning into an issue, you should address it before it develops from a small hurt into a huge, gaping, festering wound. Would you keep running on a stress fracture and wait for it to turn into something worse before treating it, too?
There needs to be another reason? I had a pretty good inkling I was going to get fired at my previous job, which was in the pit of fucking hell, a while before I actually got the axe. But I stuck around anyway, just to get as much money out of it as I possibly could. How do you know she hasn’t been looking for another job and just not turning up anything workable?
1.) Thank you for being the kind of person who makes an offer like this and not only sincerely means it but puts useful feedback into practice.
2.) Please realize that a large percentage of the time actually expressing concernes to a manager about that manager’s work will, at best, have zero effect, and will be fairly likely to get you on that manager’s shitlist, regardless of how valid the concerns are. So don’t take it personally if people don’t give you feedback, and don’t count on them to come to you with problems.
I think it’s great that this was able to be resolved to both “sides” satisfaction. I understand and agree that sometimes things will come up unexpectedly, and as a boss you are expected to make the assignments. As long as she understands that also, it’s all good. It sounds almost as if she had a perception that work was a matter of “stamping out fires all the time”, and if you were able to show her the true picture, excellent. You sound like a good guy to work for.
+1 and thanks from someone else who prefers this as well if given an option. And kudos for recognizing the whole “withholding information” thing. That sort of shit sucks all around for a number of reasons. (There have been plenty of times when what seems like an offhand comment about a mundane detail to one person is actually a highly edifying piece of info for another … like, it helps tie a whole lot of pieces together.)
In addition to that, I’ve made strong efforts to communicate to the department. I had a bad habit before of holding back info until it was time to tell them; now, as soon as I know something that affects them, I give them a quick heads-up.
For all I know, the current resentment might be entirely my imagination and not simply subtle cues I think I’m picking up.