Senior Moments February 2024

”Seniors Moments”  is a new advice column where the innocent and the guilty shall remain nameless.  Send your real or imagined, funny or tragic, but always educational problems to the Seniors team, composed of anonymous ICMA Senior Advisors (who shall also remain nameless to protect their reputations ).

Dear Seniors,

I’m not a manager.  I’m a supervisor, but I think I need help communicating with those above me in the chain of command.  I work in a sector of local government that requires high levels of licensure for employees.  Without individual licensure of employees, we are not in compliance with our regulations and the locality could face consequences for that.  Our locality has been GREAT about supporting staff in getting licensure.  We have sent folks to training, we have offered significant raises and bonuses and every possible way of encouragement has been offered.  Sounds great, right?  It is, truly.  And staff has responded. But, we have a long term employee, who while is competent at his job, has not gotten the necessary licensure.  He has been tutored by multiple people in the organization, given opportunities for online training, been sent for in person (and expensive) training, and his scores don’t change.  I think my organization views this as a need to continue working on supporting this employee.  But, as the supervisor, I’m over it.  Every other employee has taken responsibility for doing the work to get licensure.  This is a competent employee, but he is also an excuse maker and complainer.  I’m ready to cut him loose, or at least him a deadline, and if he doesn’t meet it, hire someone who will have the attitude that this organization deserves. If his attitude was better, or he seemed to be putting the work into studying (on work time), it would be easier to be supportive. 

Is there a point where it is okay to be done with an employee who hasn’t gotten their licensure?  At what point can I tell my really great organization that they are being too nice? 

Respectfully,

Grateful for a great place to work, but ready for a little stick with that carrot

Dear Grateful for a great place to work, but ready for a little stick with that carrot,

Your question reminds me of the parent who keeps telling the child to stop doing something, but when the child continues the behavior, there are no consequences. It sounds as if this employee has learned that though he’s been told he has to pass the test, nothing happens when he doesn’t. 

Your situation reads as if no one has ever told this employee that his job, and most likely his anticipated 30-years-of-service retirement benefit, are on the line.  If this has already been done and he continues to be unable to meet the licensure requirement, Licensure should be in the job description, and the employee should be aware of it.  If it is not in the job description, this is your first job.  Changes in regulations and licenses have caught a lot of employees and employers off guard and unprepared in their job descriptions and expectations. 

Another issue to be concerned about, and to rule out prior to any other action, is the question of whether there may be learning disabilities that are adding to this problem.  There are many adults who have so well compensated for their difficulties, that they don’t even seem to have any.  He may have been a person who did fine when the tests were untimed or open book, but the newer timed, closed book electronic formats create an issue.  Ruling this out, or addressing it if it is an issue, could also be the solution to the problem from both sides of the equation.  He may know he has a problem, and be embarrassed to say it, or he may be wondering himself why he is having this issue.  Your HR department (if you have one) or EAP should be able to help connect with resources to answer this question.

Once these considerations are met, and if the he still isn’t getting the licensure in an appropriate timeframe, I would say you have two options:  (1) fire him with proper notice or (2) demote him (with an appropriate reduction in pay) to a position in the department for which licensure is not required.  The latter is the more humane option, recognizing that he has some expertise and can make a contribution to the department.  However, depending on the size of your organization, this option may not be viable in your specific situation.  Note that if he does NOT get a reduction in pay, other staff will always learn of it, and that would not be a good outcome for your department.

Personally, I think a frank sit-down with a long-term employee who is about to lose his job should be a preamble to firing him, except in very unusual situations that require an immediate termination.  I have always been amazed at employees who are oblivious to the fact that they are about to lose their job despite repeated counseling. So, as noted above, if that has NOT been done, you might choose to have that discussion with him, set a firm deadline, and stick to it. Be sure to give him the outline of the expectation and the deadline in writing. I’d suggest including your Human Resources Director in that meeting. It may be that this will be a prolonged process since testing for licensure may not be available on a continuous basis.  

Firing an employee can have very positive repercussions in an organization if most everyone knows the situation and why it had to be handled.  On the other hand, I have had some experience with very negative repercussions in terms of staff morale because you cannot share with staff the reasons an individual was terminated and to them it seems unfair.  It can also happen that though common opinion throughout an organization may be that an employee needs to go, when you (the big bad guy with all the power) actually take that action, sympathy quickly shifts to the employee.

Whatever course of action you choose, make sure your manager and Human Resources Director are on board with your decision.  As a final note, sometimes these kinds of actions rise to the level of the governing body, as employees often have direct connections within the community with the members of the governing body.  Your manager may be asked about the situation, though hopefully the governing body does not get into the weeds of personnel decisions.

Good luck in handling this tricky situation.

The Seniors

 p.s. As always, if this response seems lacking or raises further questions, feel free to reach out and contact a Senior Advisor directly. We are here to assist you navigate your local government management career and enjoy paying back the support that helped us through our careers.

The full list of Senior Advisors with contact information is available here.