Hi all, this is a convoluted story with various people involved, but I’ll do my best to keep it concise.
I’m a new low level “manager” at my company. I have a handful of interns that report to me, one of which recently became full time (we’ll call her Jane). Jane used to report to a former coworker who I did not have a great relationship with and they were close.
Jane became full time when her boss resigned and assumed her responsibilities. In this full time roll she would have to report to me rather than be a colleague of equal seniority as her former boss once was.
When she became full time I sat with her and said 1) I don’t know what her old boss has said about me but Jane and I can have a great relationship if we allow ourselves to have that and 2) let’s talk when it’s time for her raise, as I believed she deserved more in the coming weeks. I sincerely wanted to have a good professional relationship with Jane and do everything I can to help make her successful.
To the point: weeks pass and Jane went to my boss (mid level manager) to try and get a raise and then tried to get out of my supervision and work directly under mid manager. High manager heard about that and admonished mid level manager saying that she was helping Jane undermine me. To me, this is all toxic behavior learned from Jane’s old boss, but that’s besides the point…
Jane is on vacation and mid manager apologized to me. I’m not mad at mid manager since she was only trying to help and is also new in her role. Mid manager and I both agree that Jane needs to be spoken to about expectations. She’s already showing signs of her old boss’s behavior that was not conducive to the work place.
Jane has been wonderful to work with until this all started happening. I usually keep to myself at work. Get in, get out, and be aloof. Hence, why I’m in this subreddit. However, in having a subordinate/ junior colleague I know I should care for her to some degree, but she’s left a bad impression in my mind of her. Any thoughts on what I should say to her when she’s back from vacation? Mid manager and I discussed a meeting to set expectations for all members in our team, but I think I need to have a one on one with Jane.
Thoughts?