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Why do managers have such a tough time getting rid of marginal employees.

In today's world only those companies with the best employees are going to come out winner. If you agree with this statement why do owners and managers have such a tough time getting rid of employees who either marginal or low producers. Those that take more effort than they are worth to manage and deal with.

8 Responses

  • Brent Sprinkle

    http://www.linkedin.com/pub/brent-sprinkle/4/916/120
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    Founder, EOS Carolinas, LLC

    (Apr 29, 2010)
    I think it comes down to two things -
    1) Lack of clarity with regard to the job and/or company expectations
    2) Lack of a simple process to follow wrt performance issues

    The job has probably been defined in terms of it's function and the role's that this function must perform, but often the issue lies more with the company expectations, ie, the core values of the company. The core values should be used to hire people, review people, reward people, and remove people.

    Once the job is well defined, a simple tool to use for performance issues is the three strike approach.
    Strike 1) Discuss the issues and expectations and give them 30 days to correct the problem.
    Strike 2) If you don't see improvement, discuss their performance again and give them another 30 days.
    Strike 3) If you still don't improvement, they are not going change and must go.

    Very often, given this structure/approach, they will see were things are going and will make the decision to leave before strike 3.

  • May 13, 2010

    Anita Campbell

    I also think managers don't like to do unpleasant things when it comes to people they know and work with. In a smaller business, especially, you may be around that poor performer all day long.

    Unfortunately, in addition to substandard business results, not dealing with performance issues leads to workplace stress in the form of resentment by co-workers and repressed anger and frustration. And in the end that's worse that confronting the issue head on.

  • May 14, 2010

    President

    Anita you are right on. Managers get the employees they deserve. Our research shows that great people join companies and they leave managers and the number one reason "A" player quit is because they don't want to put up with and be on teams with "C" and "D" player and they don't have to.

    How often when we get rid of the problem do others say "What took you so long."

  • May 14, 2010

    Anita Campbell

    Mel,

    Quote: "How often when we get rid of the problem do others say "What took you so long." "

    So true!

    And there's a huge feeling of relief that the manager feels, too.

    Not to mention that the poor performing employee often feels relieved, too. Nobody wants to work in a position where perhaps they don't have the skills or just *** the job or worry about when the other shoe will drop .... It's stressful on them, too.

  • May 18, 2010

    President/Owner

    Good points. I think another factor has to do with basic human relationships. When you run a small company, staff members are often more than just employees — they are friends as well. You care about them and their families, and you usually spend more time with them each week than you do your own family members.

    So even when you get to the point that you realize it is best for you and your organization to sever ties with a marginal employee, you can't help but think about the effect it will have on their families. I was told by a friend and fellow small business owner once that if letting an employee go didn't bother me, I didn't need to be managing people. Good point.

    However, when the hard part is over, the benefits are often evident to everyone involved: you as a business owner/manager, the remaining staff, clients, and even the dismissed employee themselves.

What do you think?

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