“Busy” Must Mean Something Else Here
There’s an employee in my office who has been there for years. No one knows what she does, but she’s always “very busy” or “at the other site.”
Her boss doesn’t like confrontation so never asks her what she is doing and she gets away with doing whatever she wants for years. She gets verbally aggressive if pushed for any details from anyone.
One day, I am asked to spend some time with [Employee] to understand her tasks on problem reports. I manage them for our site, and evidently, she must manage them for the other (much smaller) site.
With blessings from her boss and mine, I drive to the other site only to find that she isn’t there. I am informed that the meeting doesn’t start for a few hours, but where is she? When she does arrive, she is visibly shocked to see me.
Employee: “Oh, what are you doing here?”
Me: “I was asked to understand your tasks on the problem reports. I made a new system and it might work here, as well.”
Employee: “Oh, well, yes, you probably shouldn’t bother. I have everything in hand. Besides, good luck getting these guys to adopt change.”
Me: “Well, I’m here now. Just pretend I’m not here.”
The meeting starts and is a complete joke. The participants are working on their laptops in silence. Eventually, I have to ask:
Me: “Sorry, but what is this meeting for?”
Manager: “Oh, we discuss the weekly problem reports.”
Me: “So… why are we not doing it?”
Manager: “Oh, we haven’t had a problem report in ages. We’re told—” *motions to [Employee]* “—that it is policy to hold these sessions anyway. So most of us use it as a quiet session to get on with work.”
I didn’t mention that there isn’t a policy at all, or that I don’t even hold weekly meetings, let alone a full-day session. The next day, my boss pulled me aside and asked if I could take over managing both sites as “[Employee] would be busy on other tasks.” What I didn’t realise was that those tasks were looking for another job. She “decided” to leave the business that month.