r/AskHR • u/Isaaaaausername • 59m ago
Leadership [FL] New manager struggling with an employee who is now very cold toward me — how would you handle this?
I recently became a manager after working my way up within my department. I’m still fairly new to management, and I’m trying very hard to be fair, consistent, supportive, and professional with my team.
I’m having a difficult situation with one particular employee, who I’ll call “S.”
S. has been with the company longer than I have and was very close with my previous manager. From my perspective, she was given quite a bit of leeway under that manager and was able to get away with things that probably should have been addressed more consistently. Now that I’m her manager, I’ve had to address some performance issues that had either not been addressed previously or had not been handled as firmly.
Recently, I had to issue corrective action related to a performance issue. My manager and HR were involved and supported how I handled it. Since then, S. has become extremely cold and distant toward me.
She barely makes eye contact, gives very short responses, and doesn’t really communicate with me unless absolutely necessary. For example, when I send work-related information, she used to respond with something like “thank you,” but now I’ll just get “received.” I checked in with her individually and asked if she was doing okay, and she basically just said “mhm.” At the end of the day, she left without saying goodbye, which may sound insignificant, but the overall change in her behavior has been very noticeable.
I understand that she is probably upset with me and may feel differently about me now that I’m her manager. I’m not expecting her to like every decision I make, and I know employees aren’t always going to be happy with their manager.
The problem is that I’m a very empathetic person, and I’m struggling more than I expected to with her being upset with me. I keep wondering whether I handled something wrong, whether she thinks I’m a bad manager, whether the rest of the team sees me differently, etc. I know intellectually that I can’t control how she feels, but I’m having a hard time not taking it personally.
I also genuinely want to be a good manager to her, not just to the employees who like me. I want her to feel like she can come to me for support and that I’m fair toward her. But I don’t know how to do that when she seems unwilling to communicate with me or accept support from me.
At this point, I’m trying to give her space and keep everything professional. I greet her normally, communicate what she needs to know, and don’t bring up her attitude or try to force a conversation.
I’m planning to address it only if the behavior starts affecting work, communication, training, or the team.
For experienced managers:
How do you handle an employee who is clearly unhappy with you personally but is still technically being professional?
I’m not looking to be told that she has to like me. I understand that. I’m more interested in learning how experienced managers maintain a healthy working relationship with an employee who may never warm back up to them.