I caught my employee looking for another job

[anika99]

Do you even know for sure that she was looking at that jobs page during company time? Is it possible she had been looking at the page during a break or for a few minutes before the work day began and she just didn't close the page?

 

Where I work our freedoms depend on whoever happens to be in charge. We had a director who had a very relaxed policy on phone and internet use, basically allowing us to do whatever we wanted provided it wasn't affecting our work or being distracting. Then we had a director who took a hard nose no tolerance approach who wouldn't even allow us to have our cell phones out on our desks, much less look at them, and there was no internet use allowed at all. Currently we're somewhere in the middle with the official rule being no cellphone use or internet use allowed unless were on a coffee or lunch break, but they're not really enforcing it. If it's during a slower time of the day.

 

It's kind of laughable anyways because at least half of us work from home where we can do whatever we want. The people who work from home have proven that people don't have to be micromanaged in order to be productive and do a good job. We are often the top performers on the team, yet we're the ones with the most freedoms.

[eleanorrigby]

It's kind of laughable anyways because at least half of us work from home where we can do whatever we want. The people who work from home have proven that people don't have to be micromanaged in order to be productive and do a good job. We are often the top performers on the team, yet we're the ones with the most freedoms.

 

^^^This.

this thread has reaffirmed my decision to get out of the rat race and work from home. Managers that "hawk" like this make me itch.

[guest569]

Hey MX, sorry you didn't get the answers that you wanted or expected. But no half decent HR person is going to say that sacking someone on the spot for this is the way to go. More likely.. Where is your policy on this? Do you actually expect employees to work for 12 hours straight? Is any Internet use permitted? If so, what are the guidelines or rules around this use?

 

And what exactly did you see? Was it 20 minutes, or are you making it up? Is this the only time it has happened? Was she on a break?

 

Honestly, can't believe the overreaction and I think it must be a really tense and toxic culture. Kinda sounds like a sweatshop where they wear diapers because they're not allowed to go to the toilet. People cannot possibly be productive for 12 hours straight.

[d0nnivain]

Do you even know for sure that she was looking at that jobs page during company time? Is it possible she had been looking at the page during a break or for a few minutes before the work day began and she just didn't close the page? .

 

It doesn't matter. She still used a device owned by her employer to search. If she had wanted to be discreet, she could have used her own phone.

 

In a sensitive gov't contractor job that requires clearance, you have to pay attention to details. Not knowing that her employer could probably track her usage is a red flag which raises qualification issues. If you have a sensitive job, you don't go on unsecured websites. You just don't. It's a huge no no. The fact that she violated that protocol alone would make me question her qualifications & ability to do her job.

[JuneL]

It doesn't matter. She still used a device owned by her employer to search. If she had wanted to be discreet, she could have used her own phone.

 

In a sensitive gov't contractor job that requires clearance, you have to pay attention to details. Not knowing that her employer could probably track her usage is a red flag which raises qualification issues. If you have a sensitive job, you don't go on unsecured websites. You just don't. It's a huge no no. The fact that she violated that protocol alone would make me question her qualifications & ability to do her job.

 

I’m familiar with working with confidential data at the federal govt myself, as I have done consulting projects that required clearance (which took a couple of months in my case). Those unsecured websites are already blocked on each computer. All the part-time consultants in the department I was familiar with all had a full-time job somewhere (mostly in academia); it’s impossible to absolutely not look at other websites. Plus, almost everyone had to look up stuff that involved browsing many different websites. I also got to interact with the perm staff there. It would be hard pressed to find someone who doesn’t browse other websites. I have friends working for different govt agencies.

[d0nnivain]

Everybody browses I get that. But during her probationary period with a new employer, if she doesn't have enough sense not to browse a job site on their machine, it would leave me with real doubts her ability to have the skills or discretion to do her job.

[ChatroomHero]

OP mentioned earlier that he was going to talk with her and see if there is something she doesn't like about the job. That is the smart way to handle it.

 

 

I think about anyone you talk to on a new job would say, "I'm not sure about this job" for 6 months until they feel comfortable. They may be still fielding offers or waiting for responses from other interviews from their recent job search. It's not uncommon for someone to have multiple job offers and not have it work with a good timeline, like they may be waiting to see about another offer but forced to accept a job before they hear about another one they were really interested in. Think about any job you have ever worked at and when you first got hired...You were probably like, "I don't know about this job. I'll keep my options open. I feel like an outsider and I am not sure if I like the people or the work..."

 

 

The same as you are trying her out, she is trying out your company and that is pretty normal. Frankly, even if you don't catch them, I guarantee most of your new employees are fielding offers for a while after they are hired. You not knowing or seeing evidence really doesn't change things.

 

 

Simply sit the girl down and talk to her. Tell her what you saw, tell her what you said here that she catches on really quickly, you are thrilled to have her, you know the data entry is bleh for her but it is only a temporary thing based on the unusual workload. Discuss with her what her normal day will be once the data entry is over and give her an estimated timeline with milestones for her training. Remember, she can only see the job as what she is doing today and if she doesn't like it, you have to let her know what the job will in the near future.

 

 

She may think what she is doing today is what she will be doing all the time based on her limited exposure. She may feel it was a bait and switch...like, "You'll be running customer service but for now, start making cold calls"...and we all know how those things work out. You probably just need to reassure her. You may need to give her extra training and task outside of the data entry to keep her interested.

 

 

Basically, your company is asking her to prove herself to you but you have to understand she is looking for your company to prove itself to her. If all she sees is data entry in the near future, she is probably thinking "This is not what I interviewed for and this was not what I was hired for and I hate data entry". I think if you address what you saw and ask her if everything is ok and assure her that the data entry is temporary, it will be a good meeting that probably gives her some comfort in her job.

 

 

Besides, for all you know, she was on the site to deactivate her resume.

[Veronica73]

Everybody browses I get that. But during her probationary period with a new employer, if she doesn't have enough sense not to browse a job site on their machine, it would leave me with real doubts her ability to have the skills or discretion to do her job.

 

I agree with this. If she was going to do it, she should have used her phone, with the WiFi turned off.

[anika99]

It doesn't matter. She still used a device owned by her employer to search. If she had wanted to be discreet, she could have used her own phone.

 

In a sensitive gov't contractor job that requires clearance, you have to pay attention to details. Not knowing that her employer could probably track her usage is a red flag which raises qualification issues. If you have a sensitive job, you don't go on unsecured websites. You just don't. It's a huge no no. The fact that she violated that protocol alone would make me question her qualifications & ability to do her job.

 

At no point in this thread has the OP said there is a company wide policy that employees can NEVER use the internet for personal reasons, not even on a break. If the company has information that is that sensitive they could simply block access to those sites. If this company doesn't know how to protect themselves then I'd have to question their qualifications to run a successful business.

 

In any case if this was about some big security breach the OP would have said so right off the bat. Actually he probably wouldn't have posted in the first place because the employee would have been fired already. You're trying to make this thread about something different than it is. It's about the OP being upset that his new hire may be looking for another job.

[d0nnivain]

You're trying to make this thread about something different than it is. It's about the OP being upset that his new hire may be looking for another job.

 

 

He can fire her for any reason or no reason just not an illegal reason. He could fire her because today is Friday. He could fire her because somebody cut him off in traffic on his way into work. He can certainly fire her because she was doing something other than her job during the work day.

 

Acting rashly when an employee is hard to replace is probably not the best business strategy but in the OPs shoe's I'd be irked too.

[Rayce]

So how did it go today? Did you have your talk with her?