Weed Out Bad Employees Before They Affect Others * Incedo Group

Weed Out Bad Employees Before They Affect Others

Employees are the cornerstone of every company. When they perform well, the company soars, but when they start to lag behind and neglect their duties, the company starts incurring all sorts of losses. It is thus essential for company leaders to know when to fire an employee.

Human resource management is like gardening. At first, you pick the best seeds to nurture. However, even if you become extra careful in picking the seeds, it is inevitable that some weeds will pass unnoticed. When your plants start sprouting, and you can readily identify what sprouts are worth keeping and what to weed out, you need to act fast. If you keep on dilly-dallying, the bad weeds will just compete with the good plants, and sap the nutrition and growth space intended for the latter.

Like gardening, knowing when to fire an employee can be learned from experience. Sometimes, if you fire people even before they start revealing what they’ve got, you might be eliminating your next top performer. However, if you wait too long and ignore the danger signs, these people might infect the whole workforce with their bad behavior and work ethics, thus spoiling a whole batch of employees.

Learn to Read the Signs

In general, there are warning signs that you could monitor to know exactly when to fire an employee. Here are some of the most common, yet often missed signs that foretell the makings of a potential liability:

1. Mr. and Ms. No Show – Managers often encounter difficult employees who tend to show up late for work on a regular basis. They’re also the first to max out sick and vacation leave. Frequent tardiness and absences are strong signals that it’s time for you to give them “the talk.” The first time you do it, you can just warn them and give them a second chance. However, if their habit of popping in the office late continues, it may be time for you to show them the door.

2. Irresponsibility – Late reports, badly written letters, poor performance, and challenges with other employees maybe another indicator of when to fire an employee. Of course you speak with them about these issues, and document those discussions. But when an employee becomes more of a liability than an asset, it’s more practical and economical for you to just give them the boot, before they influence others to follow in their path to self-destruction.

3. The black sheep of the workplace – Co-worker feedback is also important in determining when to fire an employee. People who cannot work harmoniously with the rest of the team, should immediately be given proper attention. Even if that employee performs well, he or she might still become a hindrance to your team’s growth continues to annoy everyone. The same goes for people who exudes bad vibes, is always negative or always says no. At first, consider moving them to other departments or teams, maybe they just don’t mix well with the people in their current team. If that doesn’t work, it may be time termination.

There is no exact measure that can determine when to fire an employee. These indicators, however, can be clear warning signs that you need to heed, before everyone else in the office gets affected.