Great Advice From Top CEO’s – #16

It’s not the people you fire who create problems for you…it’s the people you DON’T fire.

This post’s great advice comes from an executive I worked with who had keen insight into the reality of organizational leadership.  Here’s one of the things I learned from him:   IT’S NOT THE PEOPLE YOU FIRE WHO CREATE PROBLEMS FOR YOU… IT’S THE PEOPLE YOU DON’T FIRE.

Organizations today simply cannot afford dead weight in their workforce [see the post on 12/13/2020].  So why do overburdened managers put up with it on their teams?  The number one reason I am given:  FEAR.  That’s right—FEAR—in particular, fear of litigation—especially from a rude or uncivil team member.

Many employers and managers live in constant fear of lawsuits from disgruntled former employees.  This is why many managers who feel compelled to terminate a team member are expressly forbidden to do so, by THEIR boss!

What leaders often don’t see is the toll that toxic behavior has on victimized colleagues.  Some simply quit in response to rude co-workers, but the ones who stay are affected as well.  In a 2009 article in Harvard Business Review, Christine Porath and Christine Pearson reported the results of a revealing survey taken among several thousand managers and employees from a diverse range of U.S. companies.  Here’s how beleaguered team members reacted to toxic colleagues:

• 48% decreased their work effort
• 47% decreased their time at work
• 38% decreased their work quality
• 66% said their performance declined
• 80% lost work time worrying about the incident
• 78% said their commitment to the organization declined

As companies cut their workforces and look to remaining staff to do more, they can’t afford to let a few obnoxious or under-performing employees corrode productivity and performance.  If you are plagued by an intractable “problem child” on your team, it’s time to remove them.

Here’s how to do that ethically and responsibly:

1. Let your boss know what’s going on.  (Bosses don’t like surprises).
2. Partner with your HR department, to make sure you are following correct procedures.
3. FOLLOW THOSE PROCEDURES.
4. Develop clear metrics for the employee’s performance, behavior, and attendance.
5. Make sure the employee has a clear understanding of their performance requirements AND the consequences for success or failure.
6. Do due diligence in providing adequate resources, training, and coaching for the employee.
7. DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT—the employee’s performance AND your efforts to help.
8. If there is no progress on the employee’s part, be prepared to ACT—to terminate or to take other alternative action.  “Alternative action”—what’s THAT????

Things You Can Do Instead of Firing an Employee

Yes, Virginia, there are alternatives to termination.  A lot depends on how much you actually value the employee and want to keep them in your organization (e.g. is there a problem with their performance, or is there a problem with their bad attitude, which is affecting their performance?).  Your choice of alternatives will also depend on your ability to detect their potential for success and their willingness to develop that potential.

Here are the alternatives:

RESIGNATION.  The most basic alternative is to offer them the choice to resign.  The advantage for the employer is the elimination of any legal entanglements.  Give them a nice termination package; a hearty handshake; and you’re off the hook!  The advantage for the employee is that they get to create the narrative for their next job interview:

• “I needed a new challenge”
• “I felt I was not growing there”
• “After the merger, it just wasn’t the same place”
• “Changes in leadership made it increasingly difficult for me to succeed”

SELF-DEMOTION.  Sometimes an employee is a victim of The Peter Principle—they’ve been promoted to the level of their incompetence.  The solution may be as simple as demoting them to their previous level of competence.  Allowing them to choose between termination and self-demotion is advantageous to both the employee and the employer.  I suggested this to one of my executive coaching clients who was dealing with a failing direct report.  It turned out to be a satisfactory solution to the problem.  CAVEAT: The demoted employee must be willing to operate without the level of power they were accustomed to before their demotion—that might be a deal-breaker!

REASSIGNMENT.  Sometimes the problem is a bad fit between the person and their role in the organization.  The key is to find a job in the organization that is a more workable match with the employee’s skillset.  The move also has to be orchestrated with the help of HR and the cooperation of the employee’s new boss.

TRANSFER.  Sometimes the employee has a personal issue/problem working for YOU.  (Maybe because they thought THEY should have been promoted to your position instead of YOU.)  Maybe they just plain don’t like you and can’t get over that.  Whatever.  Transferring the employee to a different team (presumably) allows them to have a fresh start, with no “baggage” to get in the way.  CAVEAT: Oftentimes, the employee exhibits the same problems, even with a new supervisor.  Then it becomes proof positive that the problem is with the employee, not the boss.  Then you’re back at the beginning (but this time with added insight!).

Here’s the important thing to remember—if you are courageous enough to act, your people will LOVE you for it!  (You will also earn a new level of respect from your colleagues.)

Up Close and Personal

One of my clients is a tough, no-nonsense executive in charge of a unionized workforce that is managed in turn, by a team of unionized supervisors.  At one point, she and I were discussing the challenge of addressing employee problems in a unionized organization.  She said (with some energy), “I’ve fired people before!  In fact, I fired one of my own supervisors!!”  She looked me in the eye with a fierce expression on her face, and continued: “It took me six months and three union hearings, BUT I FIRED HIM!!”  I asked her, “So…how did the rest of your supervisors react to that?”  She answered me with the same strong energy, “They THANKED me!”

Your people with thank you, too, when you deal properly with a misguided or failing employee.  Don’t wring your hands and hope the problem will solve itself—be a leader and take initiative!  They have a great way of saying it in Texas—You’re gonna hafta COWBOY UP and take care of business!

If you need help with YOUR staffing challenges, give us a call.  We specialize in helping leaders become more effective in their management and supervisorial responsibilities, and we can give you the ideas and tools you need to succeed in your leadership role!

Until next time… Yours for better leaders and better organizations,

Dr. Jim Dyke – “The Boss Doctor” ™ helping you to BE a better boss and to HAVE a better boss!