What do I do with my “part of the furniture” employees who are unproductive?

Dear Aunty B,

I run a small professional services firm. My problem is my culture. There are several people in my firm who are less than productive. But they are also part of the furniture, and have been with us for 15 years.

We are now in a very competitive segment of the market and while we don’t want to grow, we do need to lift our game to maintain our profit. How do I make these people work harder and more effectively and still maintain our “family” atmosphere?

I have had several conversations with each of the perpetrators who all agreed to work harder but there are no signs at all that anything has changed.

Mr Nice Guy,
Brisbane

Dear Mr Nice Guy,

Right. You have to decide that you are Mr Employer and Not Mr Nice Guy. Of course, this doesn’t mean you can’t be nice. But you are running a business not a hobby and you have responsibilities to yourself, your family, other investors, staff and suppliers to run your enterprise properly.

You have to decide to performance manage them out. That’s right. Move them on. First read on SmartCompany our stories on doing this fairly and legally. This gives the employee every opportunity to change and also makes sure you comply with Fair Work.

Basically you are going to give them three chances to improve. You are going to make sure they have job descriptions and clearly know how they need to improve their performance.

Have meetings with them at two weekly intervals to check progress.

Write everything down. Make sure they also understand that the firm must change or it will stagnate and die. Outline to them the new strategy and their place in the new look firm. Make it clear they have to adapt or move on.

Often in these situations a few will adapt and a few will leave. It is awful going through the process and I feel for you. But you know it has to be done so don’t procrastinate. You’ll look back and be glad you acted.

Good luck!
Your Aunty B

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