Finding a ‘Win-Win’

Situation

I once inherited an employee who was much too junior for the position she was in, and was not able or willing to improve her skill sets to perform the job. I tried working with her, training her, hand-holding, coaching, counseling, establishing improvement plans, etc. No matter what was tried, nothing worked. On the brink of letting her go, we found another position in the company, a more clerical one, that she was better suited for & moved her into that role. 

This was a win for everyone involved. It freed up the spot on my team, so we could hire a more suitably skilled person; it retained the employee for the company; the employee was able to stay employed; the other department was helped out by a better employee-to-role fit, as well as knowledge about the company; and, the other department’s manager didn’t have to go through the time and hassle of the hiring process.

Lesson Learned

A lesson here is that, even if there’s a mismatch like this, whether it’s a skill issue, lack of experience, suitability for a particular role, or simply a difference in personality, there may be somewhere else in the same company that the person could fit well & be successful. This won’t always be the case, of course, but in those cases where you’re able to find a better fit, that can be a win for everyone.