Cyber Week Sale! 50% Off All Access

3 Signs It's Time to Fire the Boss Firing an executive is sure to create anxiety but sometimes you have no alternative except to push past your fears and make a change.

By Cris Burnam Edited by Dan Bova

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Paul Morigi | Stringer | Getty Images

Fox News Channel recently found itself making headlines when Andrea Tantaros, host of "The Five" and "Outnumbered," filed a lawsuit alleging that her boss, Fox News' then-Chairman Roger Ailes, had sexually harassed her. Other female hosts at the cable network, including Gretchen Carlson, quickly broke their silence and filed similar lawsuits.

The network conducted an internal investigation of Ailes' management over the past 20 years, revealing numerous on-the-record instances of professional misconduct. The controversy ultimately led Ailes and Fox News to part ways.

Related: 9 CEOs Who Were Fired or Decided to Step Down

As a budding startup, you've likely not had to deal with such a public dismissal of an executive. But while your decision to demote or terminate high-ranking management might not be as highly visible, it is nonetheless imperative to the survival of long-term company goals and culture.

Hesitations to moving on.

Letting a higher-up employee go is never an easy decision, particularly when a replacement is not immediately available to backfill the position. That said, having someone under-perform and affect your company's bottom line can be far worse.

Gallup research suggests managers who are not effective at their jobs improve only slightly when given remedial training. Essentially, providing ongoing training to a manager who struggles with leadership will only prolong performance issues and strain relationships with other team members.

The anxiety associated with firing someone is natural. Even shrewd businessmen such as Warren Buffett struggle when it comes time to make a management change. "It's pure agony, and I usually postpone it and suck my thumb and do all kinds of other things before I finally carry it out," Buffett has said.

So what stops us from pulling the trigger when enough is enough? Much of that hesitation stems from fear. You may dread the immediate effect it will have on the company and on long-term relationships with customers and employees, but you may also anticipate the potential of being sued by the individual you're firing. Nonetheless, strong leaders have an obligation to push past those fears and make a change for the overall health of the organization.

Signs it's time to move on.

While a good manager can spark increases in labor force and invested capital, a bad manager has the opposite effect. If you have a manager who does not support you or team members, it's likely there will be higher turnover in your organization. Allowing this type of management to continue can seriously affect potential hires and retention.

If your CEO or company manager is demonstrating these three behaviors, it might be time to escalate the discussion to your board of directors or appropriate upper management:

1. Dishonesty.

In the workplace, sincerity is worth its weight in gold, yet according to a LeadershipIQ.com study, 22 percent of executives are let go because they're all wax and no wick.

A good manager or executive can effectively communicate change, rally the troops during crunch time and guide employees through tough situations. A poor manager will pay your employees plenty of lip service, but he won't have any actions to back up his big talk. And faced with a mistake, he'll spend more time trying to point fingers than solve the problem.

Related: Playing the Blame Game Is the Last Thing You Want to Do When Addressing a Problem

2. Harmful misconduct.

Offensive or intimidating behavior in the workplace is neither acceptable nor excusable, but unfortunately, it is not terribly uncommon. Roughly one in three women will experience sexual harassment at work, and 56 percent of workplace bullies hold higher-ranking positions than their victims.

Workplace bullying and harassment can open your company up to expensive lawsuits, but more than that, you have an ethical duty to ensure your employees feel safe at work. As a leader, it's your job to cultivate a productive, inclusive environment, and if one of your managers or executives is posing a threat to someone, you need to take action to not only stop it, but also to prevent it from happening again.

Related: 5 Ways to Kill Your Startup's "Office Politics' Before They Start

3. Poor communication.

Effective managers work hard to encourage reciprocity because they know it pays off. One survey found employees who felt their managers listened to them were reportedly five times more likely to feel excited about their jobs and a staggering 21 times more likely to stay loyal to their current companies.

Ineffective managers tend to bark orders and tune out employee suggestions -- which can demotivate even your best talent and cause those workers to look elsewhere for employment opportunities.

Make no mistake. A bad manager or executive can create a toxic work environment, affecting your company's success in the long run. Take action now. Don't let the continuation of awful management have disastrous consequences on your employees, customers and reputation.

Cris Burnam

President of StorageMart

Cris Burnam has been working in the self-storage industry since 1987. He has served as president of StorageMart since founding the company with his brother, Mike Burnam, in 1999. Burnam grew StorageMart from a single self-storage facility into the world’s largest privately owned self-storage company with 149 locations across the U.S. and Canada. Burnam was named a 2014 EY Entrepreneur of the Year in the Services and Real Estate category (Central Midwest region) -- one of the highest honors an American entrepreneur can receive.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Growing a Business

Who Shapes a Brand — The Leader or the Audience? Here's What Really Determines Success.

Great brands thrive at the crossroads of leadership vision and audience engagement, balancing strategic direction with real-time feedback to stay authentic, relevant and trusted.

Business Ideas

63 Small Business Ideas to Start in 2024

We put together a list of the best, most profitable small business ideas for entrepreneurs to pursue in 2024.

Growing a Business

How to Eliminate Unnecessary Tasks and Focus on What Really Matters

Hack away at the unessential and reclaim your time.

Business News

Another '30 Under 30' Recipient Was Arrested For Fraud—And She's Not the Only One. Here Are 6 Other Former Honorees Who Turned Out to Be Felons.

From promising prodigies to notorious felons, these are the most infamous former "30 Under 30" honorees who went from celebrated entrepreneurs to convicted criminals.