Since there are no impartial witnesses to whatever happened here, your actions in dealing with this situation are limited. While it’s possible that the employee who quit was a poor performer who needed extra guidance, it’s also possible that that the assistant cook and substitute formed their own little clique and pushed this individual out. And either way, it’s not surprising that they would deny the accusation of being bossy.
At this time, the other substitute is gone, and the best place for you to focus is on the current behaviors of these two remaining individuals. You have been given a possible piece of insight into their behavior, and one key message is for you to be an active, visible, and communicative manager who maintains a good deal of contact and communication with the team.
By making sure that wandering around is part of your managerial behavior, you will not only be in a position to identify problem behaviors that may occur, your presence itself is likely to prevent their occurrence. Try to model the kinds of behaviors that you expect from these employees, and provide them with feedback, coaching, and guidance as needed. If they are as bossy as your former employee contended, they are likely to show these behaviors in other ways, and you’ll be more likely to see them and take appropriate corrective action.
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