Test or release
THE DILEMMA EXPLORES THE PRESSURES OF A MANAGER DEALING WITH A NEW STARTER WHO IS NOT PERFORMING TO PAR AND HAS RECENTLY DISCLOSED THAT HE MAY HAVE ADHD
M
eena joined Dynamics Business five years ago as head of operations and now manages a team of seven. She is good at her job but
has found the past couple of years extremely difficult due to frequent staff turnover, with Operations Team leaders not lasting longer than six months due to the workload and the organisation not looking after its staff or making them feel valued. She has had three different Operations Team leaders over the past year and a half. Hiromi, the latest Operations Team
leader, joined Meena’s team from another department just over five months ago. He fits in well with the team and is liked by everyone. Meena has done her best to support him as she is keen to fill the position long term, but Hiromi is not delivering to the expected level. He is often given work that he forgets about and comes up with excuses when asked. Meena explains the work to him verbally and by email, and adds the deadlines to his calendar, but nothing seems to work. Meena has spoken to him about the issue and raised it again at their most recent weekly meeting, warning him that she will need to extend his probation period if things don’t improve. Hiromi mentioned then that he thinks he has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), which
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might be affecting his ability to focus and deliver, but that he is not 100% sure. He avoided responding to Meena’s question about whether he’d been formally tested. After the meeting, Meena thinks about
their conversation. She wants to be fair and give him every opportunity to improve and succeed and does not want ADHD to stand in the way, but she is also under a lot of pressure to make sure that the department does well. She also wonders whether Hiromi was being honest. While Dynamic Business has a ‘Speak
Up’ framework, its representative no longer works for the firm. Meena therefore discusses the issue with her line manager, who dismisses it and puts more pressure on her to push Hiromi to deliver. Meena is concerned that this may have a negative impact on Hiromi’s self-esteem and mental health. After all, she has a duty of care towards every member of her team. Meena decides to speak to the external
HR company that her organisation employs to support employees. She meets with one of their advisers, explains the situation, and is given two options: she could not extend his probation period, given that he’s not delivering, or the organisation could offer Hiromi a formal assessment, should he wish to accept it. If it is confirmed that he has ADHD, it would be best to keep him in his post and offer him extra support so that he can deliver or find a more suitable post
THE REVIEW SEPTEMBER 2022
// HIROMI IS NOT DELIVERING TO THE EXPECTED LEVEL //
IMAGE: ISTOCK
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