Thoughts on exposing bad workers
greentooth
So, what do you guys think?
Not delivering on time, failing to make changes, outright disappearing in the middle of work. There should be some public accountability for gross misconduct, no ? Have you guys had any similar experiences?
No NDA stuff please!
Not delivering on time, failing to make changes, outright disappearing in the middle of work. There should be some public accountability for gross misconduct, no ? Have you guys had any similar experiences?
No NDA stuff please!
Replies
Of course if what he's doing affects you directly, then take it up personally with this person, and if that doesn't work, then take it up with your boss. Otherwise, it's not your job to review other employees.
Especially if it's someone you work closely with, all you might end up doing is making them resent you and not actually improve their performance. If you tell someone in seniority and keep it discreet, then they get it down the chain of command which they should respect, or risk the consequences.
If someone is really performing badly and it's either affecting you directly or having an adverse effect on the project or studio as a whole, then you should take it up with (depending on the size and structure of your studio) their lead or senior first, then the producer, a director or HR.
What aesir said. Feel confident in your work to carry you and let others' lack of good work do the opposite for them, if that makes any sense. No need to become the office snitch.
From a management stand point: It's in everyone's best interest to handle those things discretely and positively. If the person can't come around after being talked to in a constructive helpful manner then they need to go.
From an outside stand point: It's entertaining as hell to watch people implode. People turn out in droves to watch a good public flogging. Highly destructive to all involved but the world loves destruction, especially if the person is a hypocritical, unrepentant, asshole. You might as well sell tickets.
The fact of the matter was, I WAS an un-professional bastard, but THOUGHT I was doing a good job. I have learned my lesson, and my place, since then, but what if that art director had posted on the net how much of a slug I was? That could have given me a bigger black eye for a longer time than was reasonably necessary. So I say leave ti to the folks in higher positions to make the call.
If the guy seems to do this on purpose and hinders your work, go to your boss.
Otherwise it's not really your job to monitor performance of your peers.
If you are a boss and someone doesn't live up to your standards or set expectations, you mention it to them, give them time to improve. If they don't improve, you cut them loose and move on to the next new employee. End of story. If someone asks you later on to comment on the employee's employment with you, like doing a employment check for a new job, then feel free to comment on how the employee in question performed for you. You never know, the person in question may just not have fit in your work environment or worked well with some part of your corporation which attributed to their poor performance.
Again, if the person was using stolen art, stealing teammates art, stealing money from the company or any of these things, then yah, a public shaming may be in order. Just doing a poor job? Nah, not worth the effort.
You sir, just blew my mind.
Like you as a freelancer telling an employer about the work habits of another freelancer?
They really don't have a reason to trust you outside of verification. If they currently work for the company they could be total trash you're trying to get rid of and are talking them up. Or they could be a nice person you feel bad for but a horrible worker...
DURRT.
Everything else I said still stands. :P
Since it's your company, what you say directly reflects how the company as a whole is maintained. It might keep some prospects at a distance because they don't want to be involved or associated with it.
I would be rather upset.
I always tell people to their face what my point of view is.
no one likes a tell tale, particularly when there might be times in the future when you might fuck up something yourself.
If someone was not working properly I would try and help them first, try and spell it out without being too much of an asshole about it.
If it's a peer co-worker, unfortunately it can suck but you really have no recourse but to worry about yourself unless your work is affected by them and then it should go up the chain, not up to you to call them out.
I've had front row tickets.
Those are the bestest co-workers. =P
Bring it up, just don't be an asshat about it.
For good info on dealing with outsourcers and such I tend to look to Jon Jones' blog. New entry recently turns out.
http://www.thejonjones.com/
This post, from a few years ago, is right on topic for what you're dealing with
http://www.thejonjones.com/2007/04/06/a-few-tips-for-dealing-with-contractors/
no it doesnt...
Also your not being very discreet about this whole thing Peter Kojesta of Exis Interactive. Lots of people read these forums. Just my two cents
Here's the question: Do you save lives on your job? Is what you do incredibly important to the happiness of others? If yes, then yeah, i'd say you're obliged to those who depend on you to make sure your boss is running a tight ship. But lets face it, most jobs aren't of an tremendous importance and we all just do our thing and everyone's pretty happy at the end of the day, i think we can take solace in that.
If you personally want to work with better employees, it's best to find a company that actively seeks those employees rather than trying to change your company to be like others.
But I can relate. I work in the tech department of a school and noticed the new guy skipping out on some things, leaving work at random to roam the city, and leaving classified info in the library... The classified info thing I told to our boss, but the other stuff I left out until my boss approached me and told me to let him know of anything he does that's particularly lackluster or incompetent...
So I'd say let him know personally to get his shit together. If he doesn't, then I'd say bring it to the attention of your higher-ups in private... Like that one guy said, public humility is pretty harsh...
Although, now that I think about it... (S)he'll be so embarrassed that either they'll get in line or quit.
Ultimately... My post is useless... good night
Indeed.
Do your own job. They'll reap what they sow and so will you.
Yea i have to agree on this point.
In my experience, its best not to air your dirty laundry in public :S
On the other hand.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restorative_justice
Heh, the boss gets them to come out at a meeting and admit their laxness to all.
Its somewhat the opposite of discretion. Or having others talk about it publicly behind the persons back. You make the person doing it have to fess up in front of all.
There's sites out there that rate companies, and there is a FICO score for companies to use in determining a candidates credit. I wonder if there is something for contractors and so forth. By "bad worker", I don't mean someone who is sluggish, I mean someone who causes financial / marketing problems for a company; through bad work (quit mid work), or through leaking documents or media.
I am looking at this from a management and ownership perspective; sure, you can fire someone, but wouldn't knowing beforehand save you time/money/headache? I think Jon mentioned that in his post about contractors. plus, who the hell wants to fire people, I'm not a publisher looking to make pretty balance sheets. This thread is about industry stuff, not any personal nonsense.
In terms of the topic, I think we know the score on this sort of thing. There is a lot of informal talk about people, and the game dev world is really small. I like to know the what is up with any group I work with. Reputation counts an awful lot, and I have worked hard to keep a good one.
I don't think there is any need to publicly out people. The system in place works just fine.
from the management perspective, you would want to work with the employee to highlight the problems and suggest steps to improve. Disciplinary action/Termination should eventually follow if they are not improving/not making the effort. Publicly outing the dude may be cathartic but it will scare your other employees and make them distrustful and more likely to hide problems rather than talk about them openly for fear of the same treatment.
Successes should be announced and shared and publicized, failures should be private and behind closed doors. Joe Mediocre isn't going to be inspired by you telling his peers that he sucks, he's going to be hurt and resentful and at best is going to start looking for another job. Morale across the team will drop, both because now they know that Joe sucks and they know that management has no problem throwing people under the bus, when in reality management is to blame for not stepping up and helping correct this situation sooner.
You always need to have a backup when trying new people. Ask for references and once you find good contractors stick with them, treat them well and they will return the favor.
Never sign on to a new project of any significant importance and use all new people, that would be selling ocean front property in Arizona. I know a few companies that do and their reputation suffers greatly for it.
I think telling people off in front of others is never a very good idea, unless you're a drill sgt in the army or similar
While breaking up what is essentially one large thing into multiple small bits does create a bit more managerial overhead (documentation etc), it also allows for you to easily not continue with an under-performing or un-performing contractor, and also allows for said contractors to bail at more convenient times, ie AFTER they've finished that lamp post. Also should they just stop working, you are only really out the one asset they're working on, and can transfer the other work you had lined up for them later to a different contractor who's proven themselves more consistent and trustworthy. There is always the possibility of totally unavoidable personal circumstances forcing them to stop working, and they may not be able to tell you about it, but if you aren't counting on them for a whole slice of the project, then you aren't in danger of losing a whole slice of the project to unforeseen events.
I just didnt want you to get into trouble thats all mate
I'm not disagreeing with that at all, I was more speaking to the fact that if your the one that rats someone out there might be some real life consequences from that individual.
I didn't know it was from a management view point. Still I don't think anything I said was out of line. Just my view on the whole situation. Most of what I said doesn't apply now though heh. However I do not believe a public 'outing' of said individuals should ever be considered. Just not professional imo. No bad feelings buddy!