Nobody likes having to fire an employee. However, sometimes this is a necessity. You could be wasting your company’s hard-earned money paying someone who doesn’t care about the position, or someone who undermines your management skills at every turn.
Many business leaders struggle to know when exactly it’s time to fire a worker, though – especially because they don’t want to be accused of wrongful dismissal. As such, we’re hoping to give our readers a little more clarification on this issue today. Read on to find out the different signs that indicate when it’s finally time to fire your worker.
Complaints from Customers/Clients
If you have started to receive complaints from your customers or clients about a certain employee, this is a big indicator that something is amiss. It’s particularly problematic because people rarely complain without reason.
You don’t know how many customers have had a problem with your employee before and just haven’t said anything. This leads us to the question; how much business have you lost because of that person?
Always Central to Office Drama
It’s no coincidence when one person is consistently at the centre of drama in the office. They might try to blame this on other people, but there must be something about them that attracts this kind of negative attention. Some characteristics of a toxic employee include gossiping, belittling other workers or management, and always involving themselves in conflict even when the issue didn’t arise with them.
Having a toxic person in your organisation can significantly impact the work environment, even leading to a high staff turnover if you don’t detect the problem soon enough.
Flouting the Company’s Policies
Sometimes, your staff might violate the company’s rules and regulations (which keep your business in line with the law) without realising it. This is perfectly okay, so long as they’re given a formal reminder and don’t do it again.
However, if one employee is consistently flouting the same legal policies, then you need to discipline them. In these circumstances, it’s worth talking with employment solicitors. They will consult you on what disciplinary action needs to be taken and help you to navigate any legal cases or conflict that might arise from this.
Tardiness and Absenteeism
As most business owners know, time is money. So, if employees are consistently turning up late to work, this will be costing your organisation money. Prolific absenteeism is also a massive indicator that you might need to fire a worker. When it feels like you can’t rely on them to actually turn up for their shifts and you find yourself frequently understaffed, there needs to be an intervention. If nothing changes – even after speaking to the employee in question – you will need to fire them.
These are some of the key indicators that it’s time to fire your employee. The main thing to focus on is whether they are willing to change. If the same issues keep arising despite your intervention, then you need to let them go.
