Telltale Signs You Need to Fire an Employee
As a manager, you need to coach and train employees, work with those whose performance may not quite measure up, and confront those who aren’t pulling their weight. And inevitably, worst-case scenarios will occur when you have to let someone go.
Firing employees is never pleasant, nor is it an easy decision to make. It’s a big deal emotionally for both of you. But once you remove those emotions from the equation, you’ll likely be left with certain undeniable signs that it’s time to sever ties.
Here are four such telltale signals:
Despite your best efforts, an employee’s poor work ethic just gets worse.
When you confront employees about performance issues, most of them will try to get better. But if you find your efforts are met with disinterest, disengagement or even worse behavior, the writing is on the wall.
Productivity is suffering.
If you’re considering firing an employee, chances are their productivity is already down. But what about your own productivity and that of the employee’s team members? Has this person been demanding bigger and bigger chunks of your time and attention? Have others had to make up for their slack? Does their work require multiple revisions or result in costly delays? If so, it may no longer be worthwhile to try to improve their performance.
Morale is declining.
Like productivity, negative morale can have a domino effect. If one team member is disengaged, miserable or knows their future at your company may be uncertain, don’t be surprised if you start hearing complaints from those around them as well. Others may feel they aren’t able to focus or complete their own projects because of a problem employee. This quickly turns to negative morale – something you want to avoid or at the very least, nip in the bud.
Customers or vendors are complaining.
When all is said and done, you must answer to your customers. If they’re dissatisfied on a regular basis as a result of one employee’s work or behavior, then the solution may be a termination. In a recent study, 86 % of respondents said they would stop doing business with a company due to a negative customer service experience. And, dissatisfied customers said they would tell between nine and 15 others about that experience. The same holds true for vendors. You can’t afford to have an employee who is souring these relationships.
Need Help Finding New Employees?
Wrapping your arms around all your talent management challenges – especially the difficult ones regarding discipline and termination – can be daunting. To help find the best talent, make staff transitions when necessary, and keep morale, performance and customer service optimal at the same time, consider a professional staffing partner to help ease the burden. Frontline Source Group can help. Read our related posts or contact us today to learn more.
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Published on Aug 22, 2019