Team Member Problem Won’t Go Away

I have an employee who rarely makes it to work on time. Her scheduled time to be at work is 8:30 and she gets in around 8:45-8:50 just about every day. She has been talked to several times about this problem. Her reaction is that she knows she has a problem, and says that she does not even make it to church on time. The problem that I’m faced with is that she has been there for three years doing this and I have only been the manager for one year. I have really tried to talk to her because it is not fair to the rest of the employees, and if they all came in 15 minutes late we would not be able to function. She is an outstanding employee otherwise. Do I write her up? Offer a class on time management? Or just let it go on forever?

The Team Doc Says…

Well, you definitely inherited a problem, but you’ve also had this problem for a year and it hasn’t improved. It’s either time to let it go or take action that will get you to a resolution.

There is no reason for this person to change her behavior as she is not being held accountable for it. Talking to her is not solving the problem. Talk to her and advise her what exactly will happen if she does not arrive on time, the next time. Then do it.

If you aren’t willing to take the action, then let the problem go and live with it.

Here’s some food for thought. If this employee was an underperformer, what would you do? This employee should be treated no differently.