Better Having A Hole In Your Team Than An Asshole
If it wasn’t for dealing with personnel, being a manager would be a simple job. However, often dealing with employees is the toughest part of management, and getting rid of unmanageable yet talented workers can feel like a daunting task. Sometimes, though, you just need to rip off the bandaid, and you’ll realize the entire company is better off without difficult employees. It’s important to remember, however talented the worker may be, no one is completely irreplaceable. But why is it so hard to get rid of challenging employees? Are you afraid that his or her benefits outweigh the issues and you’ll be left with an unfillable hole?
Couple weeks ago I spent quite some time helping solving a critical situation with a startup in our portfolio. Their BD/Sales team consistently put up great numbers, and for the most part, they worked like a well-oiled machine. However, there was one particular sales team member who seemed to get harder and harder to manage the better their numbers were.
Upper management was in a real tough situation. On one hand, the sales team member was productive, efficient, and profitable. On the other hand, they had other sales team members complaining on a regular basis that it was becoming more difficult to work with the employee. When management approached him about the issues, he felt like he could brush them off since his numbers were so good. In other words, he was feeling irreplaceable, so he wasn’t too concerned about any corrective action being taken.
After a few months of this difficult behavior, the company lost two of its sales team members. While they weren’t necessarily top performers, they were consistent and reliable. Finding employees who matched their caliber proved to be difficult, time-consuming, and expensive. Other team members were threatening to leave if something wasn’t done about the problem worker. Finally, management decided enough was enough and fired the difficult team member. The outcome was less painful as imagined! Once he was gone, the rest of the sales team worked much more efficiently and productively together. The vibe rose again and it ended up being better for the company than keeping “the diva” on.
What is holding you back?
It’s a natural desire to push hard decisions aside and avoid dealing with them. It’s important to make the hard decisions as soon as you can so you can move on from them, though. Sometimes, there are consequences that come with those choices, and that could be the reason you avoid getting rid of difficult employees. For example, you may not want to deal with the hiring process again. Or, maybe the termination laws in your area make it difficult to rightfully remove someone from their position. Maybe the employee is quite talented as just hard to manage. It can be a struggle to decide if it is worth it to let them go or to pour more time, energy, and resources into training and disciplining the employee.
As a startup, a sign of weakness could potentially be catastrophic when trying to find investors. You might fear that any internal issues could negatively impact your company’s culture, hiring process, or ability to maintain employees. Keep in mind that, while individual contributions might be stellar, a difficult employee can poison the whole company’s culture. You may start to face the risk of losing other employees just because you don’t want to make the difficult decision to get rid of the bad egg. In this case, the cons would outweigh the pros, and it would be time to remove the employee.
How to approach an employee
Before you go making any decisions, you’ll want to do your homework. Ask yourself why you are labeling an employee as difficult. More than likely, it’s either performance or behavior related. Or, it could be a combination of both. For example, a sales team member could have decreased numbers, or maybe an employee fell asleep in a meeting. Ask other sources like coworkers or managers for their input on the difficult employee. You’re basically gathering evidence to support your feelings.
Put together an outline of what you want to say to the employee. The HR manager can help you with this part. Then, schedule an hour long meeting with the employee in a private location. Keep in mind that you don’t want to punish them, you want to try to help them to start with. Explain why their performance or behavioral issue is a problem. Your goal is to help the employee understand what your exact concerns are and why they concern you. There are two ways to do this.
- Situation, Behavior, Result (SBR)
“Last month’s sales numbers were down due to your disinterested performance, and you missed out on all of the incentives available.”
- Behavior, Feeling, Effect (BFE)
“When you show disinterest in your sales performance, it shows me you are not being a team player, and it requires me to withhold sales incentives from you.”
Don’t make this a one-sided conversation. Allow your employee to give their side of things by asking open-ended questions. This isn’t an interrogation. You’ll want to really listen to what their feelings are and find the facts. According to your employee, they probably have a legitimate reason for their poor performance or behavior. Once you know the underlying causes, it’ll be easier for you to resolve the situation.
Now that you and your employee have both heard each other’s point of view, it’s time to eliminate the causes of the issue and work towards a solution. You can utilize this as a coaching opportunity for learning and development. Ask your employee what his or her ideas for a solution are. People are more likely to support what they create, so you can supplement your employee’s ideas with some of your own, but allow them to be a part of the solution.
What if the behavior isn’t resolved?
When you come up with the solution, set a follow-up date to check on the progress being made. If the issues persist, the follow-up allows you both to work on new ideas if the original solutions are not working. However, it’s important to let your employee know they don’t get unlimited chances to correct the performance or behavior issues. Let him know that you won’t let it slide forever.
If the issues are serious and not the first time they’ve been addressed, then you need to clearly state the consequences of insufficient improvement to your employee. It could be some type of probation or suspension, or it could be termination. Document the discussion, including the steps to a solution and keep it in your employee’s file. While all employees make mistakes and struggle now and then, having documentation will help you keep track of the repeat offenders who may need more serious repercussions.
How one bad employee can affect the whole team
The hope is that after you meet with the employee and discuss the concerning behavioral or performance issues, the problems will be corrected and there won’t be any further issues. However, there are some employees who are difficult to manage and stubborn to change their ways. In these cases, allowing these people to stay on your team can negatively affect everyone around them.
If your employees see you unable to manage a difficult team member or fail to do anything about the behavior, you can start to lose the trust and respect of the majority. Threatening the positive work culture for the sake of one employee is a risky move, and you need to consider if getting rid of the employee will be a positive move for the overall work culture, even if your other employees end up with a heavier workload until you can find a replacement. One bad employee can have numerous negative effects on your team:
- The morale of your employees declines
- Bad employees bring others down with them, which reduces your overall productivity
- If bad employees deal directly with your customers, they will notice the poor service
- If you avoid making tough decisions, you’ll lose the respect and trust of your employees
When your company’s culture is negatively affected, it can also impact your bottom line. In fact, one study showed that one bad apple can cause a 30 to 40 percent drop in a team’s overall performance. While the cost of a bad employee might not be noticed at first, the toll can be a costly one, even if they are a top performer and bring in the most money. One big impact a difficult worker has is in lost work hours. Your other employees will spend so much time avoiding him, talking about him, being harmed by him, and more, that you’ll end up losing more money than the bad employee is bringing in. In fact, disengaged workers cost the American economy $350 billion each year in lost productivity. If you start to lose good employees due to one bad one, it can cost you up to 200 percent of their salary to replace them.
Alternative options to firing
First, it’ll be the easiest on you if you can avoid bringing bad employees in to begin with. Thorough employee screening during the hiring process is important to weed out the bad apples. Ask potential employees how they would handle specific problems to get a good idea as to their approach in dealing with people.
Once you do hire someone, utilize the 3M framework to stay on top of any performance and behavioral issues.
- Always have meetings daily to discuss yesterday’s performance and what will be done today. Weekly meetings can be utilized to celebrate the good. Quarterly meetings include upper management and strategic talk. Yearly meetings can overview goals, major projects, and more.
- Make sure everyone knows your message
- Motivate your employees to be on fire for their goals.
If the issues with an employee is performance-based, it could be possible that a bit more training is needed to solve the issue. You’ll need to determine if the time and resources needed for proper training is worth it for a particular employee. You may come to the conclusion that even with more training, an employee just won’t thrive in a certain environment or with certain duties. However, you could lose a potentially good employee who just needed a bit more direction and help to succeed in his position.
Behavioral issues might improve with a bit of one-on-one mentoring from someone higher up. Having an open line of communication can make a big difference in workplace culture, and if a difficult employee has a chance to talk about the reasons he is behaving a certain way without worrying about immediate consequences, you could see a drastic improvement in attitude and behavior. However, some people just don’t work well with others, so if complaints don’t cease, it could mean the employee is not the right fit for your company.
TAKEAWAY
While firing an employee is one of the less desirable things management has to deal with, it is sometimes inevitable and even necessary. Waiting too long to get rid of a difficult employee can have major negative effects on your company from decreased morale to decreased profits. When it comes to getting rid of the unmanageable, you sometimes need to make the hard decision regardless of any temporary negative consequences. In the long run, it will be for the benefit of the company, and nobody is irreplaceable.
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Originally published at whatittak.es.
