Hi there
Am after some advice as I really don't know what on earth to do here... (it's long, sorry)
I'm a manager of a team of 4, one of whom, A, the most junior is seriously under performing and is going through a big performance review. My manager, B, is the M D of te company. I've known him and worked with him for 14 years. One of the indicators for A's success was their performance on a recent event that I was managing. M D also attended event on a shake hands with the client basis.
A performed very well apart from disappearing for some time during the evening and only reappearing when I texted them asking them to come and do something. They had been with B having a few drinks. A seemed fine and just mentioned that B had been going on and on and they couldn't get away. Event continued, B returned home the following morning, A remained on site and seemed fine although we were hideously busy and stressed so I possibly wasn't paying as much attention as I otherwise would.
The event finished on a saturday morning. On the Monday morning one of the other members of my team received a text message from A saying they wouldn't be in for the next couple of weeks. This was a massive problem for the team as there was a huge workload on and, given A's history were quite vocal in what they thought about A. B was (in retrospect) very defensive of A's behaviour saying that they had spoken to them and was satisfied that the reasons for the absence were adequate and no disciplinary action would be taken. It is well known throughout the company that A, as a single parent has serious financial difficulties.
B last week went to the payroll person and instructed them to issue A with childcare vouchers, not as a salary sacrifice but as a 'payrise'. Payroll person (who doubles as our HR) is a big gossip and couldn't wait to let me know this and started speculating on why on earth A got a payrise when effectively they are not performing.
I was away from the office for a week and returned on Monday. HR person came to me and immediately started speculating that the reason A had been given this payrise was to 'buy' her silence after an incident of 'inappropriate' behaviour on the event they both came on. I dismissed this rumour as viscious gossip but it was quickly followed by a more trustworthy source came and implicated the same thing and that A was too scared of losing her job and had been sworn to silence.
Now, there are of course two sides to every story. A is a bit of a 'story' teller, doesn't have the best reputation (judgemental but I can't word it otherwise) whereas B has always come across to me as an extremely moral, decent person who was much more of a patriarchal figure. I and colleagues have spent many a night away with him at the bar, getting drunk and no-one has felt in anyway threatened. I was initially therefore inclined to be less believing of A's story, trying desparately to figure out another possible scenario in my head.
This evenign though, some more information has come to light which unfortunately leads me to believe that she is indeed telling the truth and 'something' happened that night which B is trying to keep quiet. A will not say anything to me other than I must speak to B if I want to find out.
What on EARTH do I do? Approaching HR at this stage is not an option as the person in question is already hopping from foot to foot drooling in anticipation for some juicy gossip. If the 'rumours' are false then I owe it to my boss to let him know what is being said? If they are true then is it my role as A's manager to discuss it with B or do I convince A that she must take action. Or do I leave it all or, god I don't know. I don't want my personal opinion (which is one of shock and betrayal, I consider this man to be a good friend and a 'good' man) to cloud what I should do professionally. I don't want to make the situation worse for A and if she is 'happy' to try and let it all die down then I should respect that. My gut feeling though is that this will never go away - we are a very small company in a very small town where everyone knows everyone's brother's mother's aunt... The amount of accuracy that the HR person has got about events given that she has been given no facts is alarming....
Help?
