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Work Ethics Question

throwittoblythe

throwittoblythe

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Aug 7, 2006
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I have an ethical dilemma that I'm curious what others would do...

I have a coworker who has been at this company for about a year. He was hired at a position above his pay grade, but the understanding/hope was that he would grow into the role. Unfortunately, he has not grown much into the role. Now he finds himself being far overpaid for the work he is producing. The other day, his boss mentioned to me "well, I think we all know where this is headed." Meaning, he doesn't have long before he gets let go due to performance.

My question: would you tell the person in question about this? If so, how would you phrase it? I want to give him a heads up so he could be looking elsewhere, but I don't want to step out of bounds or cause him undue stress. I don't know that anyone has sat him down about his performance yet, either.

I am not in his line of reporting structure and I wouldn't say it's CERTAIN he'll get fired, but I would peg it at 70-80% likely at this point.
 
throwittoblythe said:
I have an ethical dilemma that I'm curious what others would do...

I have a coworker who has been at this company for about a year. He was hired at a position above his pay grade, but the understanding/hope was that he would grow into the role. Unfortunately, he has not grown much into the role. Now he finds himself being far overpaid for the work he is producing. The other day, his boss mentioned to me "well, I think we all know where this is headed." Meaning, he doesn't have long before he gets let go due to performance.

My question: would you tell the person in question about this? If so, how would you phrase it? I want to give him a heads up so he could be looking elsewhere, but I don't want to step out of bounds or cause him undue stress. I don't know that anyone has sat him down about his performance yet, either.

I am not in his line of reporting structure and I wouldn't say it's CERTAIN he'll get fired, but I would peg it at 70-80% likely at this point.
Click to expand...

His management should be fired as well if he doesn't see it coming.
 
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throwittoblythe said:
I have an ethical dilemma that I'm curious what others would do...

I have a coworker who has been at this company for about a year. He was hired at a position above his pay grade, but the understanding/hope was that he would grow into the role. Unfortunately, he has not grown much into the role. Now he finds himself being far overpaid for the work he is producing. The other day, his boss mentioned to me "well, I think we all know where this is headed." Meaning, he doesn't have long before he gets let go due to performance.

My question: would you tell the person in question about this? If so, how would you phrase it? I want to give him a heads up so he could be looking elsewhere, but I don't want to step out of bounds or cause him undue stress. I don't know that anyone has sat him down about his performance yet, either.

I am not in his line of reporting structure and I wouldn't say it's CERTAIN he'll get fired, but I would peg it at 70-80% likely at this point.
Click to expand...
I feel like the variable is can he improve his output to the point where he could save his job by increasing effort or getting trained or fixing an approach or is he just maxed out. If it's out of his control entirely alerting him just makes his last month miserable and there's nothing he can do to right the ship. It's like the whole I don't comment on someone's terrible haircut even if I am close with them but I will let them know they have toothpaste on their cheek.
 
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throwittoblythe said:
I have an ethical dilemma that I'm curious what others would do...

I have a coworker who has been at this company for about a year. He was hired at a position above his pay grade, but the understanding/hope was that he would grow into the role. Unfortunately, he has not grown much into the role. Now he finds himself being far overpaid for the work he is producing. The other day, his boss mentioned to me "well, I think we all know where this is headed." Meaning, he doesn't have long before he gets let go due to performance.

My question: would you tell the person in question about this? If so, how would you phrase it? I want to give him a heads up so he could be looking elsewhere, but I don't want to step out of bounds or cause him undue stress. I don't know that anyone has sat him down about his performance yet, either.

I am not in his line of reporting structure and I wouldn't say it's CERTAIN he'll get fired, but I would peg it at 70-80% likely at this point.
Click to expand...
Has his boss addressed it directly with him? Or do you not know that detail? I understand wanting to warn someone if you know what's coming, so they aren't in the dark, but if it were me I'd want to hear about it directly. (Also I don't know if the co-worker already has a hunch he isn't going to cut it).
 
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Rabbuk said:
I feel like the variable is can he improve his output to the point where he could save his job by increasing effort or getting trained or fixing an approach or is he just maxed out. If it's out of his control entirely alerting him just makes his last month miserable and there's nothing he can do to right the ship. It's like the whole I don't comment on someone's terrible haircut even if I am close with them but I will let them know they have toothpaste on their cheek.
Click to expand...
He's in the wrong role, in my opinion. They put him in a spot hoping he'd grow into it, but he hasn't. He needs to be shifted into a new role, but I don't know if one exists and/or if it would be at the same pay.
 
cyclones500 said:
Has his boss addressed it directly with him? Or do you not know that detail? I understand wanting to warn someone if you know what's coming, so they aren't in the dark, but if it were me I'd want to hear about it directly. (Also I don't know if the co-worker already has a hunch he isn't going to cut it).
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This was the one action I took. I left my conversation with his boss saying that I agree he's struggling and not performing, but he has to be given the chance to right the ship. I don't believe he has, to this point.
 
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As much as it sucks, I would hesitate getting involved. You slip a word to him and he's fired later; you never know what happens. He decides to include you in a wrong firing lawsuit or tells management you warned him, now you are in a bad position. Too many bad things can happen.
 
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BCClone said:
Recession is looming, he’s probably toast either way. You could talk about that and ask if he’s thought about looking?
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Didn't put this in my initial post, but I did try that. I got contacted by a recruiter and actually referred the recruiter to this guy. He didn't seem terribly interested. This is where my dilemma lies because I don't think he got the hint.
 
throwittoblythe said:
Didn't put this in my initial post, but I did try that. I got contacted by a recruiter and actually referred the recruiter to this guy. He didn't seem terribly interested. This is where my dilemma lies because I don't think he got the hint.
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And if you want to get super evil the manager could deny everything and call HR. Say you are spreading nasty things while playing CYA
 
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His manager should be working with him on it. I work for a large company (well huge now, Oracle just bought us this year) and we have formal Performance Improvement Plans that require monthly updates to HR. It's a year tops once you're on one to improve or you get shown the door.
 
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IF, and this is a big IF, you want to do something; approach the situation with this employee as a mentor. Maybe approach him and say that you've noticed that you have been struggling a little related to his job description and that you'd be willing to mentor him if they are willing to do so.

With that being said, I would shy away from trying to help as it is not part of your work responsibility and you could be butting your nose in to something that you shouldn't be.

With that being said, what ever happened to your situation with bunking with other employees on work trips?
 
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TitanClone said:
His manager should be working with him on it. I work for a large company (well huge now, Oracle just bought us this year) and we have formal Performance Improvement Plans that require monthly updates to HR. It's a year tops once you're on one to improve or you get shown the door.
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I worked for a large corporation right out of grad school. They had a similar PIP. I never saw anyone get out alive, though.
 
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SCNCY said:
IF, and this is a big IF, you want to do something; approach the situation with this employee as a mentor. Maybe approach him and say that you've noticed that you have been struggling a little related to his job description and that you'd be willing to mentor him if they are willing to do so.

With that being said, I would shy away from trying to help as it is not part of your work responsibility and you could be butting your nose in to something that you shouldn't be.

With that being said, what ever happened to your situation with bunking with other employees on work trips?
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I basically decided I'm not doing it and they can fire me over it, if they want to. Thankfully, 95% of my travel is alone, so it doesn't really factor into my world. I've also seen that most staff people are ignoring the rule.
 
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Unless it was an actual close friend I wouldn't say anything, last thing I'd want is for him to say something like "throwittoblythe x weeks ago that you told him I was going to be fired" to his boss or something on the way out.
 
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I wouldn't say anything to your co-worker, but I would talk to that supervisor and 1.) make sure that they've talked to them/been working with your co-worker to get them on track and 2.) make it clear that you don't want to know things like "it's just a matter of time" because of the awkward position that puts you in. Saying something like that to an employee about another employee is just brutally bad management.
 
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