Manager refuses to fund underperforming employee's training on critical thinking, claiming it's “wasting money” on a failing employee

Author image for Bar Mor Hazut
Bar Mor Hazut • Senior Editor
Aug 24, 2026 7:15 AM EDT

What is the point of keeping an employee who fails to do their job?

We are firm believers in giving someone a real, proper chance when they start a new job. We hate it when we hear of employees getting fired a week into a new role because they didn't live up to some unrealistic expectations from management. Getting good at a job requires proper guidance and hard work, which cannot happen in a matter of days. It takes time, patience, and effort from all parties involved.

That being said, there should be a time frame by which a new employee should be measured. While you can't expect an employee to become excellent at their job within a week, if they still struggle after two years, it might not be the right job for them. Keeping an employee for that long while they fail to meet expectations is as odd as firing someone as soon as they were hired. Give it time, sure, but too much time is also a real issue.

The manager who shared the story below on r/managers on Reddit has raised some questions regarding their inability to fire an employee who's been underperforming for the past two years. No matter what this manager did, the employee refused to get better at her job. She doesn't want to receive feedback; she hates being given tasks, and she fully knows this is damaging her place in the company, yet she doesn't care. 

Recently, she asked her manager to attend a training on critical thinking, which the company would have to fund. But why would they spend money on an employee who is basically one foot out of the door? She clearly isn't good at her job; why should her manager pay for more training?

But then again, if the manager doesn't want to give training a try, why didn't they fire the employee already? What is the point in keeping someone who can't and won't do better?

Advertisement
  • A group of business people looking disappointed.
    via Getty Images

    A group of business people looking disappointed.

    Stock photography for depiction only.

  • Underperformer requested training. Don’t want to stay

    I have an employee who has been underperforming for 2 years. I've coached, retrained, given her all the support and
    via TheFunnyTraveller
  • regular 1:1s. She also has ongoing behavior issues - eye rolling, sighing when given tasks, talking back and arguing when receiving feedback.
    via TheFunnyTraveller
  • She's had formal warnings and acknowledged her shortcomings on paper. The pattern is she improves for 2-3 weeks then falls back to the same habits.
    via TheFunnyTraveller
  • Her recent biggest issue is she doesn't follow up. If someone doesn't reply to her email, she just gives up and says the task is blocked.
    via TheFunnyTraveller
  • I've coached her to call or go to the person's office, but she won't and always has an excuse.
    via TheFunnyTraveller
  • She also has a history of fixating on feedback instead of learning from it. For example, I'll give her positive feedback on 3 things she did well and 1 thing to improve,
    via TheFunnyTraveller
  • and she'll forget the 3 positives and have a fit about the 1 negative. Huge problem acknowledging shortcomings and she holds grudges instead of fixing the
    via TheFunnyTraveller
  • problem. She takes feedback personally and has little to no emotional intelligence.
    via TheFunnyTraveller
  • Manager working with an underperforming employee.
    via Vitaly Gariev

    Manager working with an underperforming employee.

    Representative only.

  • I asked where she sees herself in the next few years. She said she doesn't see herself in this sector anymore because she only gets negative feedback and feels like she's failing.
    via TheFunnyTraveller
  • I have been documenting everything and HR is aware and supports the approach I'm taking.
    via TheFunnyTraveller
  • Now she has requested to attend a training on critical thinking. I don't want her to cling to the fact that training wasn't approved, but we
    via TheFunnyTraveller
  • also don't want to waste money on someone who hasn't applied any of the previous trainings she's attended and who could just up and leave.
    via TheFunnyTraveller
  • Has anyone dealt with this before?
    via TheFunnyTraveller
  • StoneCypher ... sounds like a training on critical thinking is exactly what she needs, though? anyway, probably let her go
    via StoneCypher
  • aslkdj21234 What are you doing dragging your feet for 2 years? Put the person on a PIP and move on.
    via aslkdj21234
  • Disastrous_Dog_574 Is there an actual plan to move her out? If she's going to be staying for another 2 years while 'documentation' continues to happen, maybe you both should take the critical thinking training and implement the strategies learned together?
    via Disastrous_Dog_574
  • sad spilt_martini Then you fire her. If you have the paper trail you describe, it's "see all this? We are letting you go." Also who the h. " takes a paid training on critical thinking? That is what college was for.
    via sad_spilt_martini

Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.

Tags

management getting fired boss employee manager underperforming failing workplace training employment
Scroll Down For The Next Article