My direct report is dating a C-level above me

In My Humble Opinion (IMHO)
#1

Heres a fun one for you kids:

I have a direct report who is dating a C-level in my organization. The C-level is also responsible for HR. My direct report did disclose it to me.

Within the past 2 months I have had 3-4 complaints brought to my attention about my direct report - things that are showing me that this direct report might think they are teflon. Note that only myself and maybe 2 others in the organization know about this relationship btw.

So I’m in a dilemma. Write up my employee with HR which means going to my direct report’s significant other, or just shut my mouth. I’m frankly ready to fire this direct report for insubordination and just pure laziness.

Rock and a hard place.

#2

Document, Document, Document.
Often just doing that is all it takes.
But doing that is a vital first step in anything that comes afterward.

#3

I’ll come back after I’ve looked up what a direct report and a c level are.
But firing someone for “insubordination” does sound awful silly, whatever it is that he or she has supposedly done wrong.

#4

Really? Insubordination (the act of willfully disobeying your superior) has been a gross misconduct offense (subject to immediate termination) at every job I’ve ever had.

#5

How bad do you need your job? Test it by firing the CEO/CFO/COO’s girl/boy friend.

Who do you report to? This one needs to go straight to there. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200.

And, as others say, document the hell out of it, and be as absolutely dispassionate about it as possible, using third party references such as “this person” rather than their name.

#6

Don’t don’t write up or fire this direct report. I don’t believe that only maybe 2 others already know. My experience is all the c-levels know, even if they will never admit it. Your direct report isn’t just Teflon coated, he/she’s diamond coated. Help get the direct report promoted out of your division. (Sounds like someone who should work in HR.)

#7

This sounds intriguing! Now if someone could please translate, that’d be great.

#8

Definitely document this to the nines.

Now, do you know a c level you can have an off the record with? A rabbi?

And what’s the level of insubordination? Irritating? Not pulling her weight? Others are getting upset? Causing an insurrection? Does your company have a clear I win you lose mentality (she skates but someone has to get whacked to cover her not doing her job)?

Ambivalid, translates roughly like the employee that I manage is boning a real big wig executive (c level means CEO, CFO, CMO, CIO or any other “C”). Usually everyone on the “C” team know the dirt if there is some inter company hanky panky going on. Since the “C” suite are the big kahuna’s, they all have dirt on each other and no one wants to upset the gravy trail they are mutually on, then this means the employee in question can do whatever the fuck she wants short of a felony on camera within the workplace. Therefore the best option is to go with the flow, promote the employee (thus earning goodwill with the C level crew), and make said employee some other suckers problem. Win-win. Avoid the downside. Career +

#9

If I’ve got the terms right:

Flunky is making the two-backed-beast with the boss of HR, considers themselves untouchable because of it, and is acting like an ass to others in the office.

The other higher-ups probably know about it but don’t really care as it isn’t bothering them in any real way. If push-came-to-shove the OP would most likely be the one to get fired as that creates less trouble for the higher-ups.

Therefore, the OP should try to get the flunky shifted to another area so their attitude *does *become a problem for the other bosses and the flunky gets themselves the boot (sort of a workplace “suicide-by-cop”).

eta…damn ninja’d

#10

This is as I understood it when I worked in middle management for a big corporation. (It was not a long or successful career for me.)

C-level. Some sort of corporate level exec. CEO, CFO, CIO etc. Might go down a little further depending on the corporation.

Direct report. Literally someone who reports directly to you, but often more restrictively used to refer to someone who reports directly to a c-level, or to maybe even just any senior position. In this case the OP means someone who reports to the OP.

#11

Is “direct report” a standard term for employees?
I figured it out from context, but it just sounds silly.
A report is a file of papers, stapled in a plastic folder.

This reminds me of Mitt Romney’s gaffe in the last election when he referred to his female staff as “binders of women”.

Use of jargon when posting questions
#12

I don’t understand your confusion. Have you never heard “report” used as a verb? It’s extremely common.

#13

I’ve watched c-levels get her in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate…

Besides documenting (though not necessarily overtly–don’t file a formal write-up yet), there’s an off-the-record discussion to be had. If the direct report felt comfortable or responsible enough to tell you about a relationship that’s ostensibly hidden from the rest of the staff, you should go to him/her and have a casual conversation. Start with something like “hey, there’ve been a few rumblings that I’d normally follow procedure on, but since this could cause a bit of awkwardness between you and your C-note I thought to just let you know what you need to do to correct it so it doesn’t elevate.” There are plenty of variations in there, but avoid things like saying “I’d be uncomfortable bringing it to the C-Monster”; phrase it so the Directed Repartee understands you’re doing them a favour. Otherwise, you could be reinforcing the Teflon idea.

#14

Of course I know that report is a verb.
And I also that the report is a noun.

But I have never known a report which is a human being. :slight_smile:

#15

So… everybody but me knows what a “C-level” is, I guess?

#16

But then it should be pretty clear where the term derived from: the verb “report,” not the noun.

#17

Sure, of course it was clear to me. By reading the context of the Op, I figured it out.*
I even figured out what a C-level was.**

But I still think it’s a silly term to use for people. Sure, they directly report to you, by typing reports. But they are employees, not reports.

(Employees sometimes have sex at work. Reports only get to fraternize with the other papers in the file. )

  • After all, I’m a Doper, so I’m really, really smart :slight_smile: :slight_smile:

** See what I mean? :slight_smile: :slight_smile: :slight_smile:

#18

But it’s just a politer way of calling them scum, underlings etc.

Just like C-level is a less grovelling version of the more common and grander sounding C-suite.

Hopefully both will soon be in common use in Australia in the corporate space.

#19

Oh cmon, if this was a post about football, you wouldn’t have people coming in here making fun of fourth downs and offensive lines.

Direct report and C-level are both well defined and well understood technical terms in the business world. Just like how eskimos have 500 words for snow, businesses have 500 words for different types of employees.

#20

It sounds incredibly boarding-school or military. I don’t think I’ve ever heard the word uttered seriously in real life or seen it in any policy document that’s crossed my desk. The phrase “willfully disobeying your superior” makes me giggle. I mean, I do have a manager, but the idea that she’s a superior to be obeyed is hilarious.

As to the OP, is part of your job forwarding complaints about your team? We have an entirely separate channel for that. Have you received formal complaints, or just rumblings? Do you do regular performance assessments that involve documented feedback from your “report’s” coworkers? I’m trying to paint a picture here.