*headdesk* or The Joys of Management part 37

Today is one of those days I love being a manager (yeah, right) and tomorrow is looking even better! *sigh*

Late last year, I posted about K, who was at that point off work because of anxiety attacks and a degree of self-pity hitherto unplumbed by humanity. With support and/or coaxing from me, she came back to work in January and initially all seemed well. Of course, life being what it is, this couldn't last!

First off, I find out she's bragging to everyone about how much she's drinking, even though I know she's on medication and doubt very much that mixes well with alcohol. Her behaviour has certainly been up and down, which could well be due to that particular mixture, but I hadn't got around to putting this to her. It's always a balancing act, keeping everyone happy, and sometimes you have to give people enough rope...

Now, ever since she's been told that the agency worker in the team is likely to be going at some point in the relatively near future, I can only describe K's behaviour as looking to be top dog. It's all, look at me, how good I am at this job and how much I can be relied upon because of my experience, as well as actively dissing the agency worker and others for looking for anything from someone who isn't K. Unfortunately, K's desire to be 'the backbone of the team' (her words, not mine) is being undercut by the way she's behaving, to the point where she's annoying everyone else and also one of the other managers - this guy is the most placid person imaginable, so getting him riled takes some effort. For everyone else, maybe?

So, no prizes for guessing what kind of conversation I'm going to be having with K tomorrow. The only remaining mystery is whether or not she'll come back to work on Thursday!