Managerial Workplace Question

[Rerun]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

In this scenario.

1. Girl A takes more breaks, is on the phone more and still completes more work than Girl B
2. not yet
3. nope

Sorry....
From what you just said, I like Girl B. You go to work, to work.... not to socialize with friends.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

Are either of them temps or on contract or are both actual employees?

If they are both temps or contract simply offer girl A a full time position when the contract runs out and dont offer it to girl B.

Also try to find out the real reason for the work difference. Have IT log both girls surfing time to see if B maybe wastes more time at her desk when you simply dont notice. Or is it that girl B is significantly older than girl A? Maybe their computer skills differ so much that girl A knows more tricks on how to complete the work faster that girl B etc etc.

hmmm... this is not a real story

so in this scenario Girl B is staff and Girl A is contract.
And they're twins.

[speede5]

Regardless of how awesome one employee performs you can really only take action if the slower one is not meeting targets. Is she meeting her quota, was there a requirement to be able to type at a certain speed? If the requirement for the job is being met than she really isn't doing anything wrong. If she can only type 20 words and the requirement is 80 than she needs training or another job.

Everyone works at different speeds but that doesn''t mean they are bad workers.

Rewarding exceptional productivity may keep the better employee happy, but it will be difficult not to offend the slower one.

[speede5]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

hmmm... this is not a real story

But it is a very common issue in the workplace, and it does cause rifts in the team.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by speede5

Regardless of how awesome one employee performs you can really only take action if the slower one is not meeting targets. Is she meeting her quota, was there a requirement to be able to type at a certain speed? If the requirement for the job is being met than she really isn't doing anything wrong. If she can only type 20 words and the requirement is 80 than she needs training or another job.

Everyone works at different speeds but that doesn''t mean they are bad workers.

Rewarding exceptional productivity may keep the better employee happy, but it will be difficult not to offend the slower one.

Girl B is meeting standards, maybe even exceeding them. But Girl A is so fast! How much should Girl A be punished for slacking off but still being faster than Girl B.

[WilsonFourTwo]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

In this scenario.

1. Girl A takes more breaks, is on the phone more and still completes more work than Girl B
2. not yet
3. nope

OK.....interesting. Now I can't help but wonder if you've got "1 Good and 1 Bad Employee" or "1 Good and 1 All-Star Employee". Definitely have different approaches. (Note: I am completely ignoring things like attitude, team-fit, etc for the time being)

If "Girl B" wasn't being compared to anyone else, would her current level of productivity be considered acceptable/good?

--------
EDIT
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Awesome - so "Girl B" is of quality in and of herself. In this scenario you've got an All-Star in the making (Girl A), you're a VERY lucky boss.

My plan would be (in broad strokes):

1. Not change a thing with "Girl B" for now. It ain't broke, don't fix it.
2. Try to identify if there are tangible reasons (beyond simply keyboarding skills) that make "Girl A" so much more productive. Has she found some mental shortcuts (shows time management skills), paper flow methods (shows organizational skills), or batch processing (shows critical thinking skills) that have enabled her to be head-and-shoulders above her teammates?
3. Ask "Girl A" what her aspirations are. The very next step, 2 years from now, 5 years from now.
4. Are the reasons discovered in #2 potential springboards to achieve opportunities in #3?

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by WilsonFourTwo

If "Girl B" wasn't being compared to anyone else, would her current level of productivity be considered acceptable/good?

Yup. And let's say they both have good attitudes.

[burn_this_city]

Originally Posted by Rerun

Sorry....
From what you just said, I like Girl B. You go to work, to work.... not to socialize with friends.

I know plenty of people who apparently work hard but accomplish nothing. I'll take a person who can churn the work out over a "hardworker" who is inefficient.

[habernac]

Girl A needs a promotion, she's bored so she's goofing off.

[WilsonFourTwo]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

Girl B is meeting standards, maybe even exceeding them. But Girl A is so fast! How much should Girl A be punished for slacking off but still being faster than Girl B.

I'd flip that last statement around and focus on how "Girl A" can be motivated to achieve closer to her potential? Remember, your role is to set your staff up for success.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by WilsonFourTwo

OK.....interesting. Now I can't help but wonder if you've got "1 Good and 1 Bad Employee" or "1 Good and 1 All-Star Employee". Definitely have different approaches. (Note: I am completely ignoring things like attitude, team-fit, etc for the time being)

If "Girl B" wasn't being compared to anyone else, would her current level of productivity be considered acceptable/good?

--------
EDIT
--------

Awesome - so "Girl B" is of quality in and of herself. In this scenario you've got an All-Star in the making (Girl A), you're a VERY lucky boss.

My plan would be (in broad strokes):

1. Not change a thing with "Girl B" for now. It ain't broke, don't fix it.
2. Try to identify if there are tangible reasons (beyond simply keyboarding skills) that make "Girl A" so much more productive. Has she found some mental shortcuts (shows time management skills), paper flow methods (shows organizational skills), or batch processing (shows critical thinking skills) that have enabled her to be head-and-shoulders above her teammates?
3. Ask "Girl A" what her aspirations are. The very next step, 2 years from now, 5 years from now.
4. Are the reasons discovered in #2 potential springboards to achieve opportunities in #3?

1. cool
2. just simple keying skills

[Yeah_Baby]

Originally Posted by Rerun

Sorry....
From what you just said, I like Girl B. You go to work, to work.... not to socialize with friends.

But if she busts her ovaries and gets more work done than her partner hasn't she earned a break?

[Pinner]

Girlysports = Girl A

[GirlySports]

Nope. This is not a true story

[Coys1882]

Originally Posted by Rerun

Sorry....
From what you just said, I like Girl B. You go to work, to work.... not to socialize with friends.

I don't know - in my experience people with more 'downtime' at work tend to be better producers. If you keep your employees happy you'll see better results. nose to the grind only makes people jaded.

[wooohooo]

Originally Posted by Rerun

Sorry....
From what you just said, I like Girl B. You go to work, to work.... not to socialize with friends.

So you rather have employees that are slower? For me personally, Girl A is the way to go. If she is that fast, she obviously knows exactly what to do and on top of that she finds time to slack off. If I was her I would be loving my job but at the same time I would love a raise if more was expected of me (extra duties)

[DuffMan]

Have them mud wrestle each other, to see who should get more work.

[GirlySports]

I can see the managing dilemna here regarding Girl A.

Evenly split between...

"the girl is here to work, the faster the better" and
"the girl deserves to slackoff cause she's still exceeding expectations"

What if Girl A and Girl B start complaining about each other?

"She's too slow"
"She's always on the phone"

[Esoteric]

The reason Girl A is slacking of is because of her perceived inequality in the workplace. She understands that she is doing more work, but is being paid the same as Girl B. Until she is properly rewarded from completing this extra work, she will continue such behaviour/come in late/browse the internet/etc in order to obtain some sort of equality.

[GirlySports]

It's the same job. In fact in this scenario, Girl B is paid more than Girl A because she's been there longer and has gotten one raise and one bonus.