You Know You Should Fire This Employee When
No one likes to fire an employee. Its hard to admit that we made a mistake in hiring this person. We may identify with the financial and, well, self-esteem hit of being fired (OK, laid off, downsized, whatever). We may just be reluctant to confront someone we work with and know.
In a recent article in the Small Business Times, Waukesha, WI based consultant Philip Mydlach tells of the Blue Collar Comedy group. This is a group of four southern comedians (including Jeff Foxworthy), and their bit ( from group member Bill Engvall) called, Heres yer sign. In this routine, the group looks at those situations in life in which youd have to be thicker than a brick not to understand whats going on.
In his article, Mydlach gives business leaders some guidance to recognize heres yer sign. The key sign, he suggests, is when the management team realizes that they are spending an inordinate amount of time on the problems of one employee. As a general rule, I believe in progressive discipline and in working with an employee. Sometimes, an employee goes on the spot, but that should be a rare occurrence (assault, stealing come to mind). The discipline of documenting behavior AND your counseling the employee does two things: first, there is documentation in the event of a lawsuit, but those are not your top concern (dont be concerned about threats to call their lawyer). More importantly, the documentation work forces you to lay out the case for firing a person. Consulting with a second management team member, one of your partners or an outside advisor can help you as a reality check that what you are doing is a reasonable course of action. These factors are yer signs and the time to act.
Mydlach reminds us that while firing someone does hurt the employee, it is the right thing to do for the organization. It is often the right thing for the employee as well a reality check on their own behavior, or sometimes they just need to be in another organization. Ive seen that happen good person, wrong chemistry with the organization. Whatever the world will turn, the wind will blow, the rivers will run. And time to work on running your practice.