Question: A four-year employee has taken a nosedive in her performance. It all came to light when another employee quit a year ago. So, this has been going on for one year.

She has made several serious mistakes, all of which she has an "answer" for.  Even when I showed her the mistakes in black and white, she just said "Hmmm. I don't know what happened."

I have had three serious reviews with her, threatened to have her use her one-week paid vacation to contemplate working here, told her flat out  that her job “is on the line.”

She is pleasant, almost too pleasant at work, never complains, but rarely accomplishes anything.
I need her position filled with a capable bookkeeper. She knows a lot about our particular business, so training someone new will be a long process. Our employee pool in our community is severely limited.

I need help making a final determination to keep her, reduce her hours or just cut my losses and move on.

I have a small bookkeeping company; the clients like continuity.  HELP!!!!  -- Shelley Weiser

Question: I am changing roles and will be supporting new managers. I am looking for a form to keep track of manager preferences (travel, meals, how to handle meeting invites, etc.). I received a form several years ago, but I cannot find it now. I'm so used to my current managers' preferences that I have no need for a formal document that lists their preferences. Does anyone have something that has helped them keep track of several manager's preferences?  -- Anonymous

Question: I was given the task of figuring out how to mount these large township maps that are covered with sheet protectors as a flip chart type, almost like an easel. However there are 60 of them, and they are hard to handle. I did try the big ring binders but had to tape them closed and whenever someone needed a particular township map for a presentation, the tape would have to come off and all the maps would have to be removed to get that particular one, thus leaving them all out of order and unable to be closed properly again.

What I need is an idea of how to mount or attach to some type of board (what kind, I don't even know) so they can carry them easily and yet flip them over like an easel pad would work.

Any suggestions? I am running out of ideas. I even went to an art store and they weren't very helpful.  -- Terri Michael, Administrative Coordinator, Lancaster PA

Question: If you could change one thing about your workspace, what would it be?  -- Amy Beth Miller, Editor, Personal Report for the Administrative Professional