3 Employees You Need to Fire

I was fired from a few jobs as a teenager. Fortunately, I also never had a problem getting a job. It was clear I was not the easiest employee to deal with. In my youth, I thought I knew better than my supervisors, the owners or basically anyone else in charge. One summer, when working in the kitchen of a pizzeria, I attempted to tell the pizza maker — with his 10 years of experience — how to do something better than the way he was doing it. He did not appreciate my input and tried to smack me with a spatula. Luckily he missed, but we did get into a shoving match right there in the kitchen.

Maybe I should have been fired for my insolence, or perhaps the pizza maker should have been let go for resorting to physical violence instead of taking my suggestion into consideration. The owner chose to keep both of us. Was his decision right or wrong? I am not looking for the legal answer — just a common sense one. The problem is that there is no right answer from a business owner’s perspective. Business owners make decisions based on their situation, which may or may not follow the letter of the law. I am not suggesting laws be broken, but sometimes a little massaging of reality is needed to keep a business afloat and moving in the right direction.

If the owner had fired the pizza maker in the middle of the Friday night rush he would have ticked off his regular customers clamoring for his delectable pies. Knowing full well that with my lack of experience I couldn’t make pies nearly as fast as the veteran, firing the pizza chef would have left the owner in a deep hole. Firing me would have been the easier route. I was the rabble-rouser providing unnecessary commentary and advice to a man who was already known for his volatility. However, the owner knew that my suggestion about how to arrange the toppings based on the frequency of use was harmless and true.

The owner had a dilemma; he resolved it by calming us both down and making each of us apologize. Weeks later we all laughed about the situation. This could have ended up as an HR lawsuit, but fortunately with the right approach it never happened. Most matters in the workplace can be handled just as easily if the parties take a note from Congress, which recently adopted the phrase “act like adults.” But when do you really need to pull the trigger and fire someone?

The following are some of the profiles to watch for when identifying those who may need to be let go from your organization:

The Tumor Maker

Many businesses have employees who are “negative Nelly” and “Wendy whiner” types who complain, are bitter or bash the company. Their downbeat attitude can grow like cancer and should be cut out with the precision of a surgeon’s scalpel. If they are not removed, their bad attitude will metastasize and spread throughout the entire operation.

The Suck Ups

Everybody loves to be flattered, but beware; kind words can lead to heavy petting. Many people have their own agenda and perhaps even want your job. It may not be something that dramatic, but individuals who feel the need to over-compliment and pay excessive homage to their superiors are probably doing so because they are in fear of their own positions. They fear losing their job, and in many cases it’s because they are not performing or confident about their role in the organization. Although words of praise are important, remember it is performance that matters.

The Carbon Copiers or CC’ers

Every workplace has one of these. Someone that copies everyone on e-mails so that they don’t have to take responsibility for any actions or decisions. They believe that they are somehow absolved from the responsibility of completing an objective simply by notifying everyone else about the task. If their behavior and attitude cannot be corrected and they continue to refuse ownership and responsibility, it is time to find a replacement.

Letting someone go is an unpleasant experience, but it is a necessary part of running a successful organization. Make sure the company has comprehensive guidelines in place that outline how to document and move through the termination process. This process will ensure laws are followed and the employee is given every opportunity to address their attitude and behavior issues before they are let go.

Most professionals have been in the firing line at some point in their careers —sometimes getting let go and sometimes doing the firing. Rest assured, the world will continue to spin and the business will continue to move forward without any one individual. What philosophies and attitudes have I developed over the past 20 years about letting people go?

I have taken my fair share of lumps and setbacks, but each has helped me learn how to become a better manager and leader. Each experience has permitted me to understand what it is like to be an employee on the firing line. Today the signs of a struggling employee are clear, and often situations that could have resulted in termination are resolved. This saves in operational expenses and the cost involved in finding and training a new employee. Learning from mistakes is important and the knowledge I have acquired is used every day to build my companies into world-class organizations