Authority and hypocrisy

[smokingboot]

I am feeling very uncomfortable.

My brother recently came back to the UK, and hung out at the house of course. He just sent me an email to say he thinks our cleaner's no good. As it's his house and he's paying half towards her employ, I am paying attention. His ideas of cleanliness are based on national caricatures; 6 years on the continent he is Belgian in attitude (it must be spotless) and English in application (it must be someone else's job)

It must be conceded, her work's gone downhill. She turns up late, whips around the house smartish and then goes home long before her hours are up. She turned up yesterday, one eye swollen and puffy, convinced we had arranged for her to work that day. We hadn't. She arrived today, and I gave her her money straight away. I told her that she could use our landline if she needed to make an appointment. Her doctor said she could be seen pretty much immediately, so why she couldn't have made the appoimtment before I don't understand but never mind; I let her go to the doctors, and she has come back with antibiotics for the inflammation. She has asked me if she could come back and do some of the housework next week, I have said she can do the upstairs, the study and the conservatory some other timetm. She will do the downstairs and the bathrom now, and then go home.

Why have I paid her so much this morning before she even started a job she is currently doing badly?

Because we are probably going to stop using her services and I feel guilty as hell.

Comments

[sarahfeeney.livejournal.com]

I very much think along the lines of hybridartifacts. Another way to look at it is treat it like an evaluation session with her. All of us go through them at work and its useful for both side generally to say why thet think things may not be working. She may have some ridiculous fixation about your cleaning products or something you would never consider in a million years.

It makes me feel valued when I get feedback even if its someone saying, "You could do better here". I can understand that you may feel past this point with her and you are more at the point of, "You really aren't fulfilling your contract with us". That also may be a good starting point of any discussion with her that you don't feel that her services are currently fulfilling what she is paid for.

I know my gut reaction is to be straight and honest but to give her a chance. We all have off periods at work where it seems too much and it is a fact of life that people in jobs that do not ask a lot of mental activity tend to get bored or stray more often than those of us who are more satisified and challenged.

I apologise if I have merely repeated the wise words of hybridartifacts.

[smokingboot.livejournal.com]

I don't see a needless repetition here, and I thank you for your thoughts, they are very helpful to me at a time when I face an embarrassing situation.

I appreciate my brother wants to find another way of paying her, preferably for something she actually does well; maybe an average gardner is less of a liability than an average cleaner, or something. But I remain unconvinced.

I always hated appraisals, they struck me as HR's attempts to justify never giving one a decent raise, and my negative attitude may be affecting me here. I don't want to do it! But I think you are right, feedback must help.

Please never be shy of telling me thoughts and opinions. I enjoy hearing them, and often they truly help!