The key to your growth and success as a corporation has one engraving on it. No, it’s not sales. It’s not marketing and advertising. It’s not even information technology, although that maintains efficiency on a high level. It’s this: workforce.
Your employees matter the most. Consequently, the right employees matter even more, if that is possible. I’d wager to say that in the corporate world, the right employees are first and foremost the highest priority! Sadly, though, it seems that entrepreneurs, budding CEOs and managers out there have a problem, in that they have a hard time spotting the right ones, only going for the wrong ones.
We Can Help You Spot the Wrong Employees Out There
These are the employees breaking companies left and right. They’re the unprofessionals of our industry, the downers, the toxic avengers of failure.
Take note, because if you can’t spot the bad ones out there, the employees you absolutely need to fire before it’s too late, you won’t find the right workforce for your company, propelling your initiatives toward prosperity. We start with….
The Dramatic One
We’ve heard of gossip. That’s fine if you’re Carrie Bradshaw in New York’s “Sex and the City,” but in just an everyday corporate field, drama and gossip needs to left at the door.
What you’ve got to watch out for is the gossip, rumors and other needless banter that can cause dissension, bitterness and complaints throughout your company. What you might end up seeing is an inevitable voluntary termination of your good employees because of the bad dramatic ones.
Maintain peace in your work environment. You do that by immediately firing Mister or Missus Dramatic.
The Skeptic
Generally, we are frustrated with this type of person. He or she doesn’t want to believe in anything.
Oftentimes, too, this is an individual believing that the glass is always half empty versus half full. Positivity is key. Look for the employers out there with the ability to not only have a half full glass, but is willing to accept a cup running over. That way, business ideas are kept fresh, free flowing and never shot down. That’s healthy for business.
The Loner
Look at any industry out there, and you’ll find — without a shadow of a doubt — some sense of a team within the workforce. No one solely works alone, and there’s always communication involved. Businesses work better that way.
The loner, though, hates teams. The loner doesn’t want to work with anyone. The loner believes that the loner has all the skills necessary to complete the job all on his or her own. Guess what: the loner is wrong.
The “Unique One”
You’ve got your Howard Sterns, Bill Gates’s and Steve Jobs’s out there; and, yes, they were all uncompromisingly unique, but don’t get confused. When I say “unique,” I don’t mean someone with one-of-a-kind and essential skills, changing the game in the industry forever. Rather, I mean someone who is so incredibly different to the point that they can’t seem to accept anyone else in the office!
Culture and variety is good. Keep that in mind. If you have someone who’s so different, unable to “fit in,” not necessarily because no one accepts him or her, but because he or she is unwilling to accept the entire office, you might have this kind of “unique one” on staff. Get rid of him or her. Quite possibly, the only person the “unique one” can ever identify with is the “loner.” Even then, that’s a losing business relationship, to be honest.
The Excuse
Remember this guy? This is the guy who showed up late to McDonald’s, stating that he had a flat tire. The next day he showed up late again saying his transmission blew. He was then late again a week later because the wheels fell off the car
And, yet, this is a guy who seemed to make it to work — albeit late — anyway in the same car that seemed to be falling apart at the seams. This guy makes excuses.
He decreases the productivity so bad that you end up losing money. What does he have to say for it? An excuse. That’s actually why he has the name he has — his reasons for not doing the work up to expectation are so terrible and so constant that he is, in fact, the excuse!
The Brick Wall
Make no mistake about this: the oak in your office represents the sturdiness and stalwart steadfastness of the company. He or she shall not be moved. They’re bound by their loyalties, their routines, their procedure and their correct way of going about the business. In a way, they’re policy enforcers.
Know, though, that if times change in the corporate arena, you’ve got to have someone on staff who is able and willing to change with it. If not, this may be an employer you have to let go.
The Whiner
We had to save the best for last, for good reason, given the fact that no one likes this type of employee. Such an associate feels entitled to everything. When they’re not given what they want, they raise Hell. Not even the most effective business lawyer can help you with that.
This might be a great way to handle a home with parents, at least for some time until those parents lay down the law and tell you to go to your room without snack. There’s one problem, though: this isn’t home, but a business. And the whiner’s bad for it.
Yes, Be Firm
We normally don’t like to fire people. No one does, for that matter. Without a doubt, though, these types of employees aren’t hard to fire, or shouldn’t be hard to fire. Watch out for them. They might be the death of your company before you know it!
Image credit: polywen
