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Don’t delay firing bad employees

Having trouble with a new employee who showed so much promise when you hired him a few months ago? This is a common problem that plagues many startups from time to time.

By Stephen W. Gibson
Brigham Young University

http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,595103289,00.html

Thirty years ago, when I was making my fourth attempt at adding an employee to my business, I was just as frustrated as you are. The first three turned out to be bad hires, and the fourth was looking like a glaring repeat of the other three.

I owned a franchise at the time and was blessed with a wise trainer who was an employee of the franchiser. He often helped me by asking pointed questions in situations like this one. His question in this case was simply this: "Did you hire the wrong person, or did you ruin him after he started working for you?"

Now, there is a question that cuts to the core. Most of us, I believe, are so inept at the hiring process, especially when we first start a business, that if someone breathes and shows up for the interview, we often hire him, sometimes on the spot.

Here are some reasons why many employees fail in new startups:

* They haven’t been trained. Most entrepreneurs are so overwhelmed with the many tasks facing them that they merely point to the new employee’s desk, bark out a few instructions and then expect them to know what needs to be done. I suggest a few assigned tasks, elementary at first, that will not only train the new person, but also help you accomplish your own tasks. I call this the "plug-in" method of training.

* Failure to receive feedback. Don’t assume the new employee knows that he or she is doing something right or wrong. Gently point out the problem when things aren’t being done correctly, and be sure to compliment good work.

* They are coping with personal problems. I have never had an employee go through a divorce without suffering major performance problems at work — sometimes for months at a time. A supportive employer can provide a listening ear. Equally important, however, is maintaining performance standards and consistency in your expectations at this crucial time.

* Lack of mental ability. While it is often difficult to detect lack of mental capacity, sometimes we hire people to perform tasks that they just can’t do. In this case, quick termination is often best for both the employer and the employee. In a startup environment, the entrepreneur needs 100 percent performance to make the company successful. Later, when the company is more stable, allowances can be made for a mentally challenged employee.

* They are lazy. While some of my readers may disagree, I believe many employees will work only as hard as they have to. A big part of training is explaining to new employees exactly what is expected and then checking up on them to reinforce desired results. Another of my favorite expressions is that employees "do what is inspected, not what is expected."

Sometimes we have no choice but to fire someone. As employers, we would rather do just about anything than fire an unsatisfactory employee. Unfortunately, unfired employees can speed along an untimely death of your new business.

Let me encourage you to do two things differently in the future. First, spend more time in the hiring process so you find the best people available to help you build your business. If you do that, you won’t have to terminate so many bad hires.

And second, ask yourself how you would feel if a problem employee quit. If you would feel relieved, then terminate the person. Through the years since that first painful hire, my businesses have suffered more adverse impact from the people I didn’t let go than the ones I did let go.

Stephen W. Gibson is affiliated with the BYU Center for Entrepreneurship. He can be reached via e-mail at [email protected].

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