I would have to agree with Krazi. I would start with the paper trail first off. It's a long and tedious process but if you want to filter out your problem employees that's the only way to do it.
I'm a new manager myself, but my boss has helped me every step of the way. I went into a hornet's nest of a situation where the cook was made to believe by the former kitchen manager that she was going to get the job and had her doing all the managerial tasks, hiring, ordering and everything else. She did not have the credentials for the job and was told by the administrator that it was not an option for her. When I got there it was very difficult and a lot of hard feelings were abound. I just stepped back and let things unfold. Made small changes, but mostly just watched and got the feel for the crew.
Almost a year later I've cut one dead weight employee and managed to get the other two to leave because they never had the skills for the job in the first place. I started with work plans that were very detailed, but didn't expect more than what I was capable of. I did every job in the kitchen, including wash dishes for weeks on end to prove that not only I could do the job, but to set the standards for those jobs.
When I had come on the scene they had been cooking out of a box. The food was deplorable. The first cook quit after taking a 10 day vacation, claiming I pushed her out by expecting too much of her when I put her on the work plan. The second quit when I told him that I had to take him off the weekend shift to monitor his production quality. It wasn't that hard at all. I was fair and gave them every opportunity to improve. They were use to doing whatever they wanted because the former manager was burned out and didn't care. Sorry, opening a can of Cambell's soup, steaming meat and eggs for my residents will never happen again.
I'm not there to make friends. I don't go out with or face book anyone at work. I keep it separate for my own sanity. I had to get some skill in that kitchen and I've succeeded in that, whether or not people think well of the way I did it is not important. As a manager you have to accept the fact that you will never be thought well of if you're actually doing the job you should be. At the end of the day all that matters is if I know I'm doing a good job and my boss thinks I'm doing a good job. I give my employees time off when they want and cover their hours. I hold them accountable for their mistakes. If they admit to them and learn from them, then that's all I ask for! It's more important as a manager that you also admit to mistakes and make sure your employees see you call yourself out on them and then show you can make improvements yourself. That's called leading by example! It's the employee that will never admit to making mistakes and blames everything on others that holds the crew back.
I look at my job now as still in the filtering stage, not finished yet.