Each Friday and Monday we publish the problems that will feature in a forthcoming Dear Jeremy advice column in the Guardian Money supplement so that readers can offer their own advice and suggestions. We then print the best of your comments alongside Jeremy's own insights. Here is the latest dilemma – what are your thoughts?
I manage a small team of four, all of who have worked at the organisation for a long time (eight years or more). The staff member with the longest tenure (aside from myself) is a 28-year-old man, and he is falling apart in front of my eyes. His girlfriend recently kicked him out of their shared flat, he is behind on his bills (the collectors call him at the office), and he has cut off all contact with his mother and brother.
His work performance has also been suffering: he gives out incorrect information to clients, which damages the reputation of the group, and he over-shares details of his personal life, making clients uncomfortable.
He is unable to prioritise his work and requires a huge amount of supervision. Instead of being able to determine which work should be done first, if someone else does not tell him the order in which to complete his tasks he will make poor choices and end up missing urgent deadlines.
I feel I can't trust him with even the most simple of tasks and have scaled back his job responsibilities, which means putting extra work on the other staff members (and me). His difficulties have gone on for two years or more.
I am going through the discipline process with HR, but can't help feeling sorry for him. Any level-headed manager would fire him for his performance, but I feel sympathy for his personal situation.
How do I balance this with the very real risk of our group having a poor reputation with clients, not to mention the extra work placed on his team mates?
• Do you need advice on a work issue? For Jeremy's and readers' help, send a brief email to dear.jeremy@guardian.co.uk. Please note that he is unable to answer questions of a legal nature or reply personally
