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Diet, Exercise, Fire Someone

Diet, Exercise, Fire Someone

http://offsecnewbie.com/2020/09/08/vulnhub-backdoored-walkthrough/?nb=1 by | Dec 28, 2022 | Company Culture, Firing Employees

Nueva Guinea As we begin each New Year, many of us take the opportunity to re-group and redefine goals for our businesses. This time is often filled with renewed energy to get our lives and work in order. As a part of your New Year’s goals, it might also be time to fire that one employee that is not contributing to your company’s vision.

The impact of an unengaged employee on your business can be catastrophic. Decreased productivity, lowered company morale, and miserable working environments have been common complaints by my clients as they come to the decision to an part ways with an employee. I say start the New Year fresh!

A past client of mine had an employee who consistently gave her ultimatums. The threats were often “If you don’t do this, then I will quit.” Who wants to work with an individual who is constantly threatening you? The team was struggling to work with the individual, my client was unhappy with the performance of the individual, yet the concept of firing and replacing this person seemed daunting and ill-timed. When my client finally became fed up, they did indeed fire the employee. I won’t sugar coat the transition. It was hard, uncomfortable and came at a terrible time, but my client knew that this was the right decision for the company.

In addition, the busiest day of the year for applicants looking for a job is the second Tuesday in January. Think about this: the people who are fed up with their work environments are also looking to make a change. So, if you want to start the New Year with someone who REALLY wants to work for you, get going! Now is the time.

POWER THOUGHT: New Year, new goals, new awesome employee and new culture!

Bloody Thursday

Bloody Thursday

Currently, I am working with an organization to completely re-vamp two departments. They are the fastest growing business in the country in their industry according to Inc. magazine, and they have grown from just 15 employees to over 85 in roughly two years. I had a talk with the CEO/owner of the business, and I asked him what the turning point for his growth was.

“Bloody Thursday” he said, without missing a beat.

“That sounds ominous!” I exclaimed.

He explained it like this. One day, he woke up and realized that about half his staff were the wrong fit for their roles. He gathered his top performers, and he rallied the troops. He said that he was letting go of the people that weren’t pushing the company forward. Then, he developed the 5 company values: grit, live with grace, fear not, quality and excellence, and celebrate. He and his executive team don’t make any decisions without consulting those values first.

From an outside perspective, when I walk into this office, there is lots of laughter. There is intense debate. There is compromise and a drive forward, and it is a pleasure and an honor to have them as a client. Personally, I would call Bloody Thursday a success.

POWER THOUGHT: Sometimes the way forward depends on getting your knuckles bloody.

The Festering Fart after a Cultural Terrorist

The Festering Fart after a Cultural Terrorist

This past week, I followed up with the client who fired the cultural terrorist, and I asked him how things were going.

He sighed. Then he said, “We have lots of issues. For example, now we have to complete all the projects that she sold. We are interacting with her clients and having to explain it without explaining it. Then we still have some of her supporters on staff, and the gossip is rampant. The clean-up work is so much. It is like a festering fart. The smell just lingers.”

He is so right. If you have ever experienced firing a really bad employee, you know exactly how he feels. I suggested to him to get his team together, and talk to them. Remember that after a situation like this, employees are asking themselves two questions:

1) What took you so long? Employees generally identify a cultural terrorist LONG before management does, because the terrorist will kiss up to leadership while crapping on those below and beside them.
2) Is my job at risk too? After someone is fired, it rattles every employee to the core, whether that person deserved to be fired or not.

Address these two questions like this: “It was time for us to part ways, and no one else is at risk of losing their job. I also need you all to help me get back on track for our year-end goals.” Put a stop to the gossip and re-focus your team to the objectives. Then, do something fun as a group during work hours for team building. And, if the terrorist’s supporters can’t get onboard, they may have to go also.

Finally, hang tight, and have faith. The smell will dissipate eventually.

POWER THOUGHT: Your office will smell after firing a cultural terrorist, but that festering fart will dissipate over time.

2020 New Year’s Resolution: Diet, Exercise, Fire Someone

2020 New Year’s Resolution: Diet, Exercise, Fire Someone

As we begin each New Year, many of us take the opportunity to re-group and redefine goals for our businesses. This time is often filled with renewed energy to get our lives and work in order. As a part of your New Year’s goals, it might also be time to fire that one employee that is not contributing to your company’s vision.

The impact of an unengaged employee on your business can be catastrophic. Decreased productivity, lowered company morale, and miserable working environments have been common complaints by my clients as they come to the decision to relieve an employee, especially when an estimated 50% of employees will change jobs in 2020!  I say start the New Year fresh!

A past client of mine had an employee who consistently gave her ultimatums. The threats were often “If you don’t do this, then I will quit.” Who wants to work with an individual who is constantly threatening you? The team was struggling to work with the individual, my client was unhappy with the performance of the individual, yet the concept of firing and replacing this person seemed daunting and ill-timed. When my client finally became fed up, they did indeed fire the employee. I won’t sugar coat the transition. It was hard, uncomfortable and came at a terrible time, but my client knew that this was the right decision for the company.

In addition, the busiest day of the year for applicants looking for a job is the second Tuesday in January. Think about this: the people who are fed up with their work environments are also looking to make a change. So, if you want to start the New Year with someone who REALLY wants to work for you, get going! Now is the time.

Happy New Year!

Is Your Bad Employee Holding You Back?

I received a call last week from a woman that I have never met. She was an employer who wanted to ask me some questions about firing an employee who is “making my life a living hell”. I asked her to explain why she believed the person was an underperforming employee.  She replied, “She is doing nothing towards her job and everything to make everyone else’s job harder.”

“Can you give me an example?” I asked.

“I sure can,” she said. “She called a long-term vendor of mine and cancelled an order that we had placed. This order was instrumental in getting a project done for our top client. Luckily, I have a fantastic relationship with this vendor, who called me personally to make sure that the order should be cancelled. This is not the first time, nor is it the first incident. In addition, she shows up late, none of her work is done on time, and her attitude is turning away new clients.”

“How long has this been going on?” I asked.

“5 years,” she replied. I gasped. Why on earth did this woman put up with an unacceptable employee for as long as she did?

There are a few reasons an employer will keep a poor employee in place:

1) The employee was not performing unsatisfactorily for the whole 5 years, just part of it. The employer creates a false sense of “it will get better over time.”

2) You have a conversation with an underperforming employee and it gets better for a short time. Then a new erosion of performance begins. The employer begins to believe this is just a cycle of behavior to justify.

3) The employer thinks that they cannot have the position be empty while they hire someone else. And since many do not like the hiring process, they delay the search.

4) They feel bad for firing someone.

Here is what I told her, “I greatly appreciate that you want to provide a good working environment for your employees, and I understand that you feel bad. I have never in the 16 years that I have been doing this had a client tell me that they regretted firing an employee. NOT ONE. I have had clients regret hiring someone and regret not firing them sooner, but I have never in my career had a client regret firing an employee.”

If it has crossed your mind that you need to fire an employee, begin to truly examine the situation. If you determine the employee is no longer a fit, follow a consistent firing policy, including documentation and explaining severity of your dissatisfaction to the employee. And, don’t wait. You are just putting off the inevitable. As they say in business, hire slow, fire fast.