A member of my team asked to meet with me to discuss her performance. She had started working for me six months earlier. In that time, we had several conversations—verbal warnings—regarding her inconsistent attendance, late arrivals and constantly changing remote work schedule.
On this day, after another spate of missing days, late arrivals and another remote work schedule adjustment, I had planned to give her a written warning. Before I could connect with her, she emailed me asking to meet.
In that meeting, she talked about her life and apologized for her inconsistent schedule. She and her husband have young children, twin girls, and they were struggling to find suitable childcare, which is why I had been so accommodating when she began having trouble at work. Her husband works as a short-haul truck driver and doesn’t have a set schedule, which further complicated support at home. She then proceeded to ask for yet another schedule adjustment. After some thought, I told her we couldn’t make any further accommodations. The first three schedule changes—yes, there were three in less than a year—were to help her maintain some sort of work–life balance. Now, we needed to put business first. Besides, her colleague, who does the exact same job, was always present and reliable and her absences impacted him as well.
We wrapped up this meeting with her resigning, agreeing she could no longer manage the expectations of the job. I told her we appreciate her efforts and she was leaving on good terms. I also told her we’re a growing company, the medical field is constantly expanding, and to keep in touch because there likely would be something available once her home life had settled down, which she predicted would be in the fall when her girls were old enough to start school. Finally, I told her we would be recruiting immediately because the position is so valuable.
The very next day, she submitted her resignation letter, as discussed. She reiterated a sense of relief because she felt like she wasn’t doing a good job. We showed her some grace and told her she could stay on payroll for 30 days, which was reflected in her letter. I also reminded her we would be recruiting to fill her position.
The following day, she called and said she was working to find ways to settle her life so she could continue to work. I told her I admired her for that.
Still recruiting.
Another day later, she was having lunch with other staff members where she shared her desire to stay on board, but she couldn’t manage the expectations of the job.
Still recruiting.
A few days later, she emailed me asking to talk. In that meeting, she told me she was surprised we were moving so fast to fill her position. She thought we would wait to see if she could find more support at home. I reiterated we were clear about our intentions to fill the position. She also reached out to my boss, who echoed the same sentiment. With the submission of her resignation letter, I reminded her, we were free to move forward. And we did.
We are starting the interview process.
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