Terminating
an employee? Here's what you must consider before firing.
People, like shoes, come in all sorts of styles, shapes and
colors. Unlike
shoes, however, they also come with a variety of dispositions
and
personalities. Occasionally some of those are not the most
agreeable. These
are the employees who present management with special challenges
and the
need for the best people skills. These managers must be good
at handling difficult employees.
Some employees fall into the category of “difficult” only
during times of personal stress, illness, or family problems.
While needing special treatment by management, these time periods
are temporary. Other employees, however, are just difficult
by nature. When handling difficult employees, management must
understand these differences. There are certain ways to approach
these two situations.
Look at some examples of handling difficult employees below.
Sally (not her real name) worked in a department store. In
stocking and keeping her section, Sally’s work was exemplary.
Also, the customers like Sally and they often complimented
her to the manager. However, Sally could not get along with
the other employees and was a constant source of tension among
the staff. She even displayed borderline insubordinate behavior
toward the store manager. He was on the verge of dismissing
Sally when a new manager trainee came to work in the store.
The trainee asked permission to work with Sally because she
was a good employee in most respects. The trainee soon discovered
from listening to Sally that she had a deep-seated sense of
inferiority which she compensated for my being aggressive with
her co-workers. He began praising Sally's good customer service
and using her to train new hires on the proper procedure for
keeping a section. As her sense of self-worth grew, her difficult
nature subsided. Within three months, she was given a promotion.
Another example is Bill, a salesperson for a camera store.
Normally the top producing salesman and of a bright and pleasant
disposition, Bill suddenly became dour and disagreeable. This
confused his manager until he received a call in the middle
of the night to explain that Bill was in the hospital after
suffering a heart attack. When Bill eventually returned to
work, he was the same jolly, top producing salesperson everyone
knew and loved.
Not all cases of difficult employees have a happy ending like
Sally’s. The illustration points out, however, that it
is in the best interest of management to try to find the root
causes of any problem. In cases like Bill's, when the personal
problem disappears so does the difficult situation.
Because in reality we do not live in “the best of all
possible worlds,” problems of this nature will come up
sometimes. Management must deal with the situation of handling
difficult employees carefully. There is no need for the manager
or human resources supervisor to return to school and get a
degree in psychology. There are plenty of resources available
to help with the handling of difficult employees. Plain common
sense dictates that managers should consider the following
three questions:
* Is this particular difficult employee able to change?
* Will terminating this employee affect productivity adversely?
* How can we move this employee out without harming other employees’ morale
and efficiency?
The
employer's guidebook to progressive discipline and employee termination
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