Inactive staff members

[Allan]

What do you do with when members of your staff become inactive?

 

[Shole]

Ask him to be active again, if he has a valid reason not to be I let it pass if not and he continues to be inactive i just fire him/her.

 

[Sam1]

When I ran ForumHoopla, David wasn't being active as a staff member so I sent him a Pm about it and we agreed that he should step down- for a younger forum, inactive staff can mean death!

 

[Shole]

When I ran ForumHoopla, David wasn't being active as a staff member so I sent him a Pm about it and we agreed that he should step down- for a younger forum, inactive staff can mean death!

It is death If you have staff that's inactive and you are posting like crazy people will think "Look only the admin is posting, it seems that this forum isn't worth hanging around"

 

[Martee]

You should ask them if they would like to continue working for you on your forum and if they say no, well then at least you have a reason in your mind to 'fire' them. I found it quite hard to fire staff on my own forum so at least asking them kind of helps.

 

[flame]

i have trouble separating professional from friend - i have found myself considering staff who started out as professional acquaintances to be friends - i run staff boards for discussing admin stuff away from the main membership and it gets friendly. i have then found myself in the position of keeping on staff who have simply not kept up with the professional development and are dead weight simply because they havent actually done anything wrong and i consider them a friend.

 

[xpl0iter]

i have trouble separating professional from friend

So its not only me?
I mean once you run a forum/some-other stuffs together for sometime, I will start considering them as friends! And then how can you fire a friend + considering all the work s/he has done in the past for the same thing!

 

[Martee]

A very true point you both make. Keeping your professional needs separate is always a strain but it is natural to build up a relationship with someone you are working with. I don't know about people like Sam and xpl0iter but I see them both as friends but I would still expect Sam to tell me off if I do something wrong (Even if he isn't staff ) and xpl0iter to fire me should I break my boundaries as a staff member.

It is hard though, and I have seen it on many forums where a staff member is kept around simply because they are friends with other staff, members or even the owner. It's just breaking that cycle and thinking its for the greater good.

 

[Shole]

So its not only me?
I mean once you run a forum/some-other stuffs together for sometime, I will start considering them as friends! And then how can you fire a friend + considering all the work s/he has done in the past for the same thing!

As long as they do the job there is no need for firing staff but when its needed you can't show mercy or your forum is gonna pay for your good heart XD

 

[Sam1]

It doesn't really matter if you run a larger forum if a few staff, whom you obviously like, are never on. When you run a smaller forum, you can't be as lenient- so it's a good idea to be prepared to fire everyone whom you hire....

 

[Allan]

Becoming friends with staff members to me is given, that's why it feels worse when they be inactive and don't say anything.

 

[Martee]

Indeed, Allan. As you make friends you would expect they would tell you but thats the internet for you. You never truly know someone over the 'net.

 

[otep2012]

Well, they shouldn't be staff anymore

 

[Nomad]

I think the admin needs to ask why the staff is inactive. If there are plausible reasons, admin can simply excuse absence of staff a couple of times, however, if the staff continues to be absent for a long time without plausible reasons and without informing the admin, I think actions should be taken.

 

[Shawn Gossman]

Essentially, I'd reach out and see if he or she is okay. Maybe something happened, and there is a good reason they've become inactive.

If there is no response, then I would demote to a regular member and send them a PM explaining why.

Keeping a staff member account open that isn't active could potentially lead to security concerns, especially if the account has permission to delete things.

Personally, I'm super picky about staff. I'll be the lone staff member until it becomes overwhelming, and then I'll only look for certain active members to be staff. I won't announce an opening or anything like that. I'll simply ask the person I see fit in DM and see what they have to say.

Just make sure you make them aware of what you expect from them from the get-go so you don't waste their time, and they don't waste your time.

 

[Ravenfreak]

I would reach out to the member and see how they're doing. I then wait a little bit to see if they reply, eventually though if they never do I just demote them. You just never know what someone is going through, and some people may have a hard time admitting they're not doing great so they just don't bother logging back into their accounts.