Q: We own a computer software
company, and like most other businesses, we're finding
there's a shortage of talented people in the labor market. As a
result, we have two or three problem employees we should fire, but
we're afraid we won't be able to find replacements. What
advice do you have?
A: If you'd terminate these
employees under normal circumstances, you should terminate them
under "abnormal circumstances." Most organizations in
your situation make the wrong decision when it comes to terminating
employees who exhibit problem behavior. They're afraid
they'll lose business resulting from decreased sales and
reduced productivity and quality.
However, employers don't always add up the "hidden
costs" of keeping problem workers. There are probably more
complaints from employees about the way management handles these
kinds of workers than any other. When employees see bad behavior or
poor performance being rewarded (in this case, just being kept on
the payroll), they lose confidence in management, which has a
depressing effect on quality, productivity and morale throughout
the company. In my opinion, the negatives of keeping problem
employees far outweigh the positives.
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Having said that, however, there are two other things to
consider. The first is that such an employee doesn't develop
problems overnight. It's most often the case that he or she has
been getting reinforcement at work for his or her behavior. Try to
determine where it's coming from and stop it. It could be that
the person is rude, verbally abusive or otherwise difficult to work
with, and the reinforcement is that he or she gets away with it. In
other words, there are no negative consequences for the poor
behavior and the positive consequences are that he or she gets his
way. I have known salespeople who have high sales but are never on
time with the administrative aspects of the job, or when they do
them, they're incomplete or inaccurate. Because they're
high performers, this is overlooked and management often goes as
far as making excuses to others for their poor behavior. What many
people don't realize, however, is that frequently when a
problem person leaves a job, the new person actually does better
than the hotshot who left.
For example, I know of one manager who was in charge of street
sales for a large metropolitan newspaper. He was a tyrant in his
job. When his management style was brought to the attention of his
boss as a problem by our consultant, he was told that the man was a
legend in the industry. He gave seminars on street sales at annual
newspaper conventions. He was so devoted to his job that he had
lost his family. The newspaper didn't want to fire him so he
remained in his position for another year before his behavior
became such that he was finally transferred. Street sales almost
immediately went up more than 20 percent. This is not an uncommon
result.
The second thing to consider is to try to change the problem
employee's behavior. Even the most seemingly recalcitrant
behavior can be changed, but only if you're skilled in behavior
change and are willing to devote the time to do it. You must make
sure you don't inadvertently reinforce poor behavior or
performance and that you positively reinforce even small
improvements in your problem employees' behavior.
Whatever you do, address the problem quickly. The longer you
wait to take action, the higher the ultimate cost and the more it
will escalate with each passing day.
Aubrey C. Daniels, Ph.D., founder and CEO of management
consulting firm Aubrey Daniels & Associates (ADA), is an
internationally recognized author, speaker and expert on management
and human performance issues. For more about ADA's seminars and
consulting services or to order Aubrey's book Bringing Out
the Best in People: How to Apply the Astonishing Power of Positive
Reinforcement, visit www.aubreydaniels.com, or contact at (800) 223-6191.
The opinions expressed in this column are
those of the author, not of Entrepreneur.com. All answers are
intended to be general in nature, without regard to specific
geographical areas or circumstances, and should only be relied upon
after consulting an appropriate expert, such as an attorney or
accountant.