Heres a rant...needs to be done lol.

I am a supervisor for a call center. Our company sells stuff over the phone, and I watch over the phone reps...make sure they're doing what their suppose to...their boss. We all have computers, and recently announced company policy is no internet. One of our employees has been warned several times..and was finally sent home during a shift as a punishment. I then caught him again about a week ago on the net during phone calls to customers. That is completely unexceptable. I didn't say anything right away because I was busy, and he's difficult to handle.

Now there are 2 people above me (small company)...theres 2 other supervisors equal to me, and then the vice president and president (I call them administrators). The VP is my sister and the President is a family friend..so I'm tight with the whole company. I am very good at my job, I take a large leadership role and try my best to do what I can for the company.

So because the guy was difficult to handle and I was busy, after 5-10 minutes I called the president to ask what I should do. He said mention it to him to get off..and we'll be in (the admins were coming in on their day off to settle it). So i went back to tell him to get off the net and he was already off so I couldn't (now I really wish i did). So we get into the private office together and the President asks him if he was on the net..and he said no..denied it...I then basicalled said "I saw you" and he still denied it...they admins knew he was lieing so they put him on a 30 day probationary period. Now the kid is mad at me (keep in mind he's older than I am by a year or two..I'm 19) because I "ratted" him out.

Another rule is that u cant use a cell phone unless ur a supervisor who uses it for the business. I was on two business related calls and he tattled on me to my sister saying they were personal calls. He also tried to say he saw me on a website about cell phones. I was on a site that gives me the location of area codes...which is business related and ok..but he tried to tattle again and tell my sister I was on looking at cell phones. Then today I get a call from my sister saying that he looked in the history files of the computer and found that I was supposity on FTE. I was on FTE before the official notice of no internet though..so hopefully that's what he was looking at. Evidently, he then flipped out when he saw it (I wasn't there, the other supervisor was)..and asked that supervisor to call my sister. He did and since he was flipping out..she told the guy to go home for the day. He said he was fine..and then asked the supervisor to call the president and talk to him instead. The president was mad that he looked into the files of the computer and told him to take the rest of the day off. I really don't get people..and it's fustrating to me because I have to watch EVERY little thing I do. Don't people like this realise that it just makes them look worse? All of this happened within a week! I never treated him differently after the incident...and he didn't really avoid me or ignore me...we could have kept a reasonable business relationship but he decided to take the hard way. It's not like I got the kid fired..why must he insist on ruining his ability to work at this company happily...stupid people. I am not going anywhere..he can't get me fired unless I did something totally totally wrong. Some people just..I don't understand...thanks for the rant.

 

He's immature (afforded by his reaction) & lacks common sense.

 

I don't even know what I should do. I should probably just continue to keep my mouth shut...do my business and do my best to avoid conflict. I wish my sister would stick up for me and just tell the kid to knock off the tattling and go to work...

 

Why was he looking at your computer anyway? If I ever tried to look at files on my supervisor's computer, I'd have been booted no questions asked. Call centers are definately a different environment than most businesses. I have worked on phone systems for over 10 years, and have spent my fair share of time in call centers working on the phone systems. I think a lot of the people that I've seen in them work in a call center because they can't get a job where they would actually have to deal with someone face to face. Dealing with people over the phone doesn't require any "people skills", just "phone skills" which are entirely different.
I wouldn't worry to much about it. All of the call centers I've ever seen had a very high employee turn-over rate. I would bet this guy will be gone before too long.

 

I reminisce about your pain.

I would have employees would wonder why their hours for the next week were cut, despite the obvious fact that they would do no work!

I eventually stopped being nice about that and just let loose on a few with no reservations....notably, the parents of several never came back in either!

I wish I could help out with specifics, but I backed my manager (she's older than me by about 10 years) and I was the authority in my restaurant....

Heck, I wish some parents would actually tech their brats some responsibility. I fire a kid for doing a lousy job or for getting enough warnings and the lousy mom wants to think of chewing me out--it's that stupid "I know my kid doesn't do wrong, even though I don't watch the brat" syndrome.

 

Isn't that why your the supervisor and he's under you? I don't see where he gets off trying to get you in trouble, sounds very childish and immature to me.

 

I have been a supervisor for over 16 years and the frist thing you did wrong is go down to his level. YOU are the BOSS not him you need to make calls (no pun inteneded) as you see them, never wait till later, Before you go to (upper tier management) you need to first confront him or her one on one which when just beggining in your position can be tough. Have all your ducks in a row, document everything, write it down (times seen on the net,etc..) and remind him of company policy, if he then continues to go on the net then you have your case sealed and if you need tpo go higher at least your homework will be done. Supervisor is not an easy job but with time and expericence you will see a change. You are the babysitter,the shrink and the Boss. be considerate and respectfull and they will repay you the same way. Good luck young man and be stern but be aware

 

Sounds like it's time to take the three strikes and you're out approach. He should be written up for spending company time looking into your computer activities, surfing the net, etc unless that is part of his job. When he fails to perform his job or violates company policy, wirte him up for it. Ideally, more than one manager will witness the problematic behavior. After the third round, wait a few weeks, then it's time to let him go. I would expect that your companies application for employment has verbage to the effect that anyone can be terminated at any time and for no reason. Take advantage of this and at the "divorce" party, simply tell him that things are not working out, but never give him a real reason. He will have his three write ups to think about and it will dawn on him that he did it to himself. Make sure that he signs the write ups too, just to protect your and the companies interests.

If needed, buy software that tracks his computer usage. You don't need to show him the results, but keep a record of what you find to support writing up the problem child. Also, those history files track date and time; check it out.

On edit:

You have another weapon at your disposal; it's the performance review. Give him very bland, average reviews. Follow up with no raises. It's a simple way to cause him to look for another job which will make removing him easy for you.

 

Some people just don't understand doing their job. Where I work, we have to have firewatches. Their job is to sit there and make sure I don't light myself or any debris on fire while welding, grinding, etc. I can't believe how many don't get it. They walk away, talk with their friends about 20ft down the boat, don't pay attention, etc. I don't know how many times I have put out a fire RIGHT NEXT TO one of them that they didn't have a clue was going on.

 

I'm dealing with much of the same kind of problem with a guy I supervise. It is fustrating to deal with. I'm going to have to let him go soon. Even my boss is leaning on me now.

 

You're in a difficult situation since you've got family and friends over you. However, it sounds like you have more than enough cause to put the guy away. Compromising somebody else's (especially a manager's) computer at ANY job will get you fired, so that alone should be enough.

It's a shame that some people don't take their jobs seriously these days. A strong work ethic is a thing of the past, but people will throw a fit if they get so much as written up for not doing their jobs. The way I see it, if you aren't willing to do your job, there are plenty of other hungry people who are.

Keep in mind--you're nobody's friend; you're the boss.

 

There is some good advise here. How you can deal with it will of course have alot to do with your "power" as his supervisor.

I am the office manager for a Land Surveying firm & supervise our field crewsfrom the office. I also have full hire & fire power.

When a member of the crew complains about his/her field supervisor (for what ever reason), I automatically back up his supervisor. This helps reduce tattling, ect., and also reinforces "your supervisor knows what he is doing, & you need to follow his instructions". Most of the time with me they say "we could have done it faster" or "He did it wrong", & almost ALL the time, they just don't have the experience to know why this situation is different from another (like him not knowing you may need to use the www for business purposes).

If the crew person does say something that concerns me, I will ask his supervisor about, it trying not to let him know his helper said anything to advoid conflicts betwen them.

I guess what I am saying is... You need full support from the rest of management to back you up at the time he aproaches any of them.


Recently, I had to sit an employee down and lay out the "Boss/employee relationship" I had to tell him that I am the boss & if I say "sit there and don't say a word for 8 hours, then that is what you do because I said so". "If I tell you to dig a hole, burry it, then dig it out & burry it again, that's exactly what you do because I SAID SO." "Your JOB IS TO DO ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING I SAY EXACTLY THE WAY I INSTRUCTED PERIOD!!" I ended up having to fire him about 10 days later for another incident with his mouth.

I hope I don't have to be like that with another employee for quite some time, but there are times you must lay down the law. It's no business of his what you do at work, or how you do it. I would reprimand him for snooping on your computer.

 

Is your company policy of 'no internet use' a verbal notice or posted document in the work area? Is the Internet required to do the employees job? If not block all access to the net. Your best policy is a written policy, which all employees sign off on. I would recommend that you get a memo out to all employees, stating the internet and phone use policy and have each sign the letter acknowledging their awareness of the policy and keep it in their employee file, this will save your butt if you have further problems with the clown, and are forced into court or unemployment hearings.

One other thing you might want to do is document and date any problems you are having with this person and anytime you reprimand anyone make sure you have a third party present to back up what you tell him and to act as a witness, just in case it escalates.

Younger supervisors tend to have problems being the 'boss' as it requires them to separate themselves, to a degree, from their employees. Consistency and fairness will be your best ally.

 

My brothers and I where discussing this a week ago about the quality of employees we have been getting - we came to the conclusion that 6% unemployment is just too low.

 

Agreed, If the politicians expect everyone to have a job, some companies are going to have to hire some pretty sorry people.