Episode 19 – The Local Small Business Coach Podcast

Today We Discuss: Q & A Friday: Dealing with Problem Employees in Your Local Small Business

In today's episode: We answer a question from one of you! Tom is having issues with his team and needs to replace them but has no one to hire. What should he do?

Shownotes:

Tom has been having issues with several members of his team. Their performances have been subpar. And since their hiring market is tough, he has put up with it longer than he probably should have. He would prefer to fire them but is afraid he would be force to hire more poor people just to have enough people. He is wanting some advice on how to handle this situation.

Tom, I can guarantee you that you are not alone in this challenge. You actually have two different challenges – The first is your poor performers and the second is not having a great hiring pool. The important thing to remember is, NEVER, EVER hold on to poor performers just because you don't have folks to replace them with.

The longer you hold on to poor performers, the more potential cancer you allow to grow within your organization. So it is critical that you address these performance issues quickly. Now, please know, this doesn't necessarily mean to fire them. It means, address the performance issues.

If you have been documenting their performance and you have been coaching and retraining and there is absolutely no confusion on where they stand on their performance then sure, terminating their employment is probably the right course of action.

However, if you haven't documented anything and you haven't been coaching and retraining them, then don't you think you owe it to them?

Now, it will also boil down to what the issue is. If it is not performing tasks right, that is fixable. A really crappy attitude, not so much. However, either way you need to sit down and go over what your concerns are and then document that conversation. Make sure there is no doubt in the employee's mind what needs to change and what both of your commitments are to make that happen.

Arrange a training plan, assign them a mentor, outline clear next steps and expectations. Part of your challenge is going to be, they will not believe you. Especially when you get a final warning. Why would they? If you have a pattern of holding on to poor performers or those with poor attitudes, why would they think it would change now?

You must draw that line in the sand and share with your entire team on the expectations and consequences going forward. You good employees need to know just as much that you doing something about it. They too will not believe you. You need to make them believers again. Their attitudes have been suffering as well from having to deal with these bad apples.

When the time comes to make that final decision, do it! You must show that your words are more than words. That you will do all you can to help them succeed but you will also cut bait when they don't perform their end of the bargain.

I'm a big fan of looking in the mirror first as a leader. Look to see if the poor employees are due to something you can help control. For example, maybe that employee with a poor attitude is someone who use to do a great job for you but they lost their fire when they worked side by side with folks who dragged them down. This is the cancer we don't want to spread.

Ok, so that is the crash course on dealing with your poor performers, now let's discuss the 2nd part of your problem. A poor hiring pool.

The first question is, is this poor hiring pool a community wide problem or just for your business? The reason I ask is, you have to ask yourself if you a known on the community as a great place to work? Maybe your lack of qualified people is due to not being a desired place to be hired?

Now, let's assume that it is a community wide problem. They key thing to remember In tough hiring areas is to ALWAYS BE RECRUITING. If a great candidate shows up, hire them! You may never get the shot again. Then performance manage those that need to go. Even if those folks get better you now have a win/win.

You can't afford to let good folks slip through.

** For the full show notes click the link below!

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Episode Show Notes: Episode 19 - Local Small Business Coach Podcast

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