I'll try keep this as short as I can.
Due to restructuring in the business, we lost an electrician and instead an opening was made for a "plant attendant" (basically an assistant to help the other engineers).
In January we employed someone who is a life long friend of someone in the company. Their personal relationship has absolutely no bearing on their professional relationship, they handle that very well.
This chap is 55 years old, has a defect in his leg which he's had since birth which means (and I mean absolutely no offense when I say this) he "wobbles" a bit when he walks. Havign had him in employment for numerous months now, we haev come to the conclusion that he has a mental disability as well, in that he thinks like a child and nothing we tell him sinks in. He says things to people which you simply can not say, things which make the company and management look bad and he doesn't realise the implications of what he says.
We've spoken to him numerous times about it and he just can't grasp it. We've also told him to stay out of client areas as he has no business there but because he wants to be seen to be trying, he still changes lamps and whatnot in client areas. Now these people pay hundreds of thousands of pounds a year to have these maintenance contracts, the last thing they want to see is a disabled man walking around with a ladder. It makes us look bad as a company because he shouldn't be doing any lifting or working at heights. We haev told him this numerous times, and yet he still does it. This morning I caught him on a ladder and lost my cool a bit, so it'll be fine for a week or so and then it's back to sqare one.
He also dropped a nuke on us this morning during a conversation with his doctor. There's a lot of backstory behind his leg and the issues he's having and I'll gladly explain if needed but this is just to give you an idea of what we're dealing with. He's also broken lamps, light fittings, he's given us our first RIDDOR incident ever, he's basically a liability.
NOW!
The guy's heart is in the right place, he's the most keen, most enthusiastic person we have on the books, he's never late, never been sick, never says no (which is also a problem) and he's told me that this is the most money he's ever earned due to his disability. I know he's looking to get married and get on with life so he's a really good guy who's in the wrong job and is in over his head.
From a business point of view, I have no case to keep him on. Nothing. I could find someone else for this role who would be a million times more useful but I don't have the heart to get rid of him because I know how much this job means to him and how proud he is. We *can* work around his disability and restrictions which is what we'ev been doing, but this morning he really put a shotgun to the company's head and almost pulled the trigger (not intentionally, he struggles to get his words out and said something wrong which could open a can of worms no company should have to deal with).
I'm at a loss. My brain is going "get rid" and my heart is going "never, it'll destroy him".
So, people of the internet, what would you do?
Due to restructuring in the business, we lost an electrician and instead an opening was made for a "plant attendant" (basically an assistant to help the other engineers).
In January we employed someone who is a life long friend of someone in the company. Their personal relationship has absolutely no bearing on their professional relationship, they handle that very well.
This chap is 55 years old, has a defect in his leg which he's had since birth which means (and I mean absolutely no offense when I say this) he "wobbles" a bit when he walks. Havign had him in employment for numerous months now, we haev come to the conclusion that he has a mental disability as well, in that he thinks like a child and nothing we tell him sinks in. He says things to people which you simply can not say, things which make the company and management look bad and he doesn't realise the implications of what he says.
We've spoken to him numerous times about it and he just can't grasp it. We've also told him to stay out of client areas as he has no business there but because he wants to be seen to be trying, he still changes lamps and whatnot in client areas. Now these people pay hundreds of thousands of pounds a year to have these maintenance contracts, the last thing they want to see is a disabled man walking around with a ladder. It makes us look bad as a company because he shouldn't be doing any lifting or working at heights. We haev told him this numerous times, and yet he still does it. This morning I caught him on a ladder and lost my cool a bit, so it'll be fine for a week or so and then it's back to sqare one.
He also dropped a nuke on us this morning during a conversation with his doctor. There's a lot of backstory behind his leg and the issues he's having and I'll gladly explain if needed but this is just to give you an idea of what we're dealing with. He's also broken lamps, light fittings, he's given us our first RIDDOR incident ever, he's basically a liability.
NOW!
The guy's heart is in the right place, he's the most keen, most enthusiastic person we have on the books, he's never late, never been sick, never says no (which is also a problem) and he's told me that this is the most money he's ever earned due to his disability. I know he's looking to get married and get on with life so he's a really good guy who's in the wrong job and is in over his head.
From a business point of view, I have no case to keep him on. Nothing. I could find someone else for this role who would be a million times more useful but I don't have the heart to get rid of him because I know how much this job means to him and how proud he is. We *can* work around his disability and restrictions which is what we'ev been doing, but this morning he really put a shotgun to the company's head and almost pulled the trigger (not intentionally, he struggles to get his words out and said something wrong which could open a can of worms no company should have to deal with).
I'm at a loss. My brain is going "get rid" and my heart is going "never, it'll destroy him".
So, people of the internet, what would you do?
