I would seriously look at the employee screwing up. It can be tricky when there are health issues involved. She is causing you a lot of unnecessary stress. With that burden off your shoulders, it may make the rest of it bearable.
Definitely speak to your boss about it. They may have some good ideas as well.
In reply to low_n_slow :
There's not much that can be done. Her husband isn't far from the grave and I'd like to think any of my fellow associates would support me in trying times like these as well. Especially when it's difficult to focus on work duties being the only source to pay mountains of medical bills. She's luckily not incompetent and there are times she is able to help in ways no other employees can. It's frustrating but tolerable. I have a really great team of employees that's taken years to settle into and any annoyances I have with any of them would be drastically worse with whoever they are replaced with. That's one thing I've learned, you can't have perfect in everyone. Not even myself. I've also considered discussing the matter with her but she already has so much on her plate, the last thing I want to do is add more stress worrying about getting the ax. She's already really hard on herself when this stuff pops up. My guess is that would probably amplify the mistakes further.
In summary I think I was trying to add reasons to leave other than just the commute. I also think I just needed to vent.
I did 2 hours each way for years, the money was much better and since I live in the middle of nowhere I drive 30 min for anything anyway. Gas? 30 min. Groceries? 35 min etc
It's a warm, or cool depending on the time of year, comfortable place with music on. It's not much of a struggle really, especially if it's for something you enjoy doing.
The 2 hours each way thing can be a pain, but it could be much worse. I would much rather do that in the car than on the train and on foot, especially in the parts of the year that it hurts to be outside. I did that, and it was not fun. I don't mind driving for that long, but wish I had a different car more suited for that type of abuse.
On the employee with spousal medical stuff going on: There's an old saying that states that you need to leave outside-of-work stuff at the door, and it couldn't be more wrong. It took me a long time to realize and understand that. There's no way to shut that off. As a manager, everyone has their own plate of BS that they have to deal with outside of work, and understanding how to navigate that with your employees is critical. I currently have an employee who has similar stuff going on, and I'm flexible with it, because I've been in that position myself. It does impact work, but when stuff goes down, I find that being flexible helps build trust and engagement more than not. If they are a good person, the work they do when they are engaged more than makes up for it in my experience. YMMV, obviously.
captainawesome said:In reply to low_n_slow :
There's not much that can be done. Her husband isn't far from the grave and I'd like to think any of my fellow associates would support me in trying times like these as well. Especially when it's difficult to focus on work duties being the only source to pay mountains of medical bills. She's luckily not incompetent and there are times she is able to help in ways no other employees can. It's frustrating but tolerable. I have a really great team of employees that's taken years to settle into and any annoyances I have with any of them would be drastically worse with whoever they are replaced with. That's one thing I've learned, you can't have perfect in everyone. Not even myself. I've also considered discussing the matter with her but she already has so much on her plate, the last thing I want to do is add more stress worrying about getting the ax. She's already really hard on herself when this stuff pops up. My guess is that would probably amplify the mistakes further.
In summary I think I was trying to add reasons to leave other than just the commute. I also think I just needed to vent.
Sometimes venting is enough. Good luck with your decision 👍
I know you're just venting, but it's it possible to pitch 4x10s instead of 5x8s? That'd be a 20% reduction in the part that seems to annoy you the worst..
In reply to WonkoTheSane :
We have a weekday schedule from 7:30-4:30. I'll put my thinking cap on and see if there's something that could work. Being salaried it may be a tough pitch but worth a go.
Any chance you can shuffle responsibilities around for the woman dealing with the husbands health issues?
Maybe keep her on the critical tasks that she excels at and provide filler work that needs to be done but isn't mission critical? That may reduce errors if she only has a portion of workload that needs her full attention, or at least the impact of the errors.
In reply to No Time :
No real way to filter what's coming in or out workload wise. The job is customer service based and dependent completely upon who or what lands on her desk. Currently we are just going to ride out whatever is going on and just keep heads above water. It's totally manageable, just an inconvenience.
I think putting in an application for the other job you found doesn't have to be a bad thing. See how the process goes, you can normally tell alot about a company just from their hiring process, and look online to look at former and current employee feedback about the company. Who knows it may be a nice step up and with your background you may be able to negotiate a higher salary or benefits then the one you have. Changing jobs is always scary, especially if you have one your really love, but it can also be very rewarding.
I'd say that you're in good shape to look for a promotion elsewhere - you run a well-oiled machine and you're in a growing city. You also don't have a "burning platform" of a failing company or management issues that'll force you to take the first decent job going, so you can take your time.
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