Should I Fire That Problem Employee?
Should I fire the problem employee?
A common problem faced by many of our customers.
Unfortunately whilst your employees can be the difference between you being a good company and a great company; it only takes one bad egg to destroy all of that good work.
If the bad employee commits an obvious act of gross misconduct or continues to regularly break the rules, behaves inappropriately then resolving the problem is really easy. You need to follow a fair and consistent disciplinary process that has been defined in your company policies and procedures; you’ll most likely require HR support and guidance to work you through that, but ultimately dismissing that type of employee is pretty straightforward.
The more difficult issue is that employee that never commits an act of gross misconduct; however is constantly getting close to doing so. They’re constantly committing smaller acts of misconduct, that in isolation aren’t a problem, but grouped together become a significant headache for you.
Your good employees are fed up with them, as they’re constantly undoing the good work that they’re doing and delivering. They’re divisive and continually negative; you wish you would never taken them on, but getting rid of them feels like a mountain to climb and full of risks you feel like the law is against you in every turn that you take with these individuals and it just feels like they’ve got you by the short and curlies.
You continually dream of them resigning, however, of course, that would be way too much effort for them to do so.
At Harwood HR Solutions we classify these employees as internal terrorists; sounds over the top I know and whilst you can’t compare these guys to regrettably the people that we know exist in this world, if left alone and unchallenged gradually, they will bring your business to its knees.
Slowly but surely your best employees will start voting with their feet and so will your customers and the reputation that you spent years building up could potentially be destroyed.
Sound frightening? Well it is or can be but here’s the good news, you can and should be dealing with these employees swiftly and without need for sleepless nights. Of course, good policies procedures and proactive assertive management will prevent 90% of issues from developing, but when one slips through the net you should consider the commercial impact that has been had on your business.
Weighing up the damage that that employee is creating for you financially and reputationally and then looking at that versus the cost of resolving the issue swiftly, quite often gives you an obvious path to take. A good HR practitioner will help you through the option and decision making process.
The chances are that if you’re growing a business you’re gonna have to recruit employees. So if you want to do so, you shouldn’t let this problem put you off. You need to act fast and resolve these situations before they become a problem.
If you need help with this then click on the link below leave us your contact details on will give you a free consultation.
Thank you very much.
