By Lynne Curry The final revenge of the difficult, fired employee. You’ve hesitated to fire him, you’ve given him chance after chance, but he’s not getting better. In fact, he’s getting worse, and so is the situation. You owe it to your other employees, who consider this employee toxic or carry his shirked workload burden, to bless this employee out the … [Read more...] about 7 strategies for firing without backfiring
Hiring and firing
Model Tool: Employee referral form
Why you need this form: Employee referral continues to be the No. 1 source of external hires. Good employees know other good employees, so why not tap this valuable pipeline of potential job candidates? How this form helps you: This customizable, sample form provides a mechanism for tracking employee referrals. How to use this form: This Model Form serves as a template. … [Read more...] about Model Tool: Employee referral form
What you write can come back and bite
By Lynne Curry Your recorded words—they’re direct evidence. Direct evidence is evidence that proves the existence of a fact. Direct evidence includes someone else’s direct observations as in “I saw…,” “I heard….” Here’s a case where a staffing firm torpedoed itself and their client. The firm’s recruiter emailed 66,000 recipients. They emailed 66,000 individuals seeking … [Read more...] about What you write can come back and bite
To avoid a messy workplace theft investigation, can we just fire our prime suspect?
By Lynne Curry Question: Several years ago, when one of our employees was stealing from other employees’ purses and lockers, we called the police. The process — calling the police, alerting our insurance carrier and interviewing multiple employees to show fairness so we wouldn’t get sued for wrongful termination when we fired the one employee — tore apart our … [Read more...] about To avoid a messy workplace theft investigation, can we just fire our prime suspect?
3 things to know about background checks
“No, we didn’t do a background check on her before we hired her. She seemed like such a nice person.” “Well, I just ‘Googled’ him, and it looks like he has some sort of criminal record, but I can’t see what it is.” These are things we occasionally hear from our members on the topic of background checks. Although nobody wants to think the worst of every applicant, it just … [Read more...] about 3 things to know about background checks
Follow these 5 rules when firing a staffer
Managers make a lot of clumsy mistakes with firings. And it's usually because they don't know what to say. Sometimes they want to make the firing easier on the employee. Sometimes they want to make it easier on themselves. Here are five firing pointers. 1 The discussion is now ended First isn't what to do but what not to do. Don't unload on the staffer. Sometimes that's … [Read more...] about Follow these 5 rules when firing a staffer
The competent jerk: Managing a top performer who alienates his coworkers
By Lynne Curry Question: My top producer, “Luke,” out-performs any three employees. I love him to death. I wish I had more employees with his energy and drive. I also want to wring his neck. He alienates other employees with his brash “my way is the only way” attitude. When others are speaking in company meetings, he talks over them and cuts them off, using a condescending … [Read more...] about The competent jerk: Managing a top performer who alienates his coworkers
How to handle a scamming, scheming staffer
By Lynne Curry Question: I run a small firm. When I advertised for a new hire, I didn’t find anyone who had the right skill set. “Will” applied. Although he lacked the skills I sought, he interviewed well and said he was willing to learn everything necessary to become my No. 1 employee. I took a chance on him and invested months in training him. He shadowed me, developed … [Read more...] about How to handle a scamming, scheming staffer
Non-compete agreements and deceiving your employer
By Lynne Curry Question: I was so stoked when the premier firm in my area of professional services hired me that I did something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. I told my former manager what I thought of her. She ordered me to leave her company immediately. No problem, I had a new job to go to. I also had my entire future mapped out. I’d work for my new employer for a … [Read more...] about Non-compete agreements and deceiving your employer
Don’t delay if you have to deliver bad news
By Lynne Curry “It’s not the difficult conversations that bite you the hardest,” I told the manager. “It’s the ones you put off until too late.” I listened to the manager’s reasons and told him, “Here are the risks you take. You dread telling ‘Robert’ what and how he needs to improve because he lashes out at you and remains sullen for days after you’ve counseled him. You … [Read more...] about Don’t delay if you have to deliver bad news