Ask yourself this question:
Knowing what you know today how many of your current employees would you not hire tomorrow? Honestly how many would you not hire for their current job? If several names or people came to your mind, then you are in good company. Most leaders in business today can honestly say they would not hire several of their current employees again and in many cases even the ones they like as a person. For those of you that say “I would rehire all of my people, they are awesome”, well let’s just say I think my kids are the best too, but that does not mean they really are.
As a leader our jobs are very difficult when it comes to dealing with our employees; deciding what is good enough versus great performance and what is bad versus “just not good”. Once we figure that part out, then we have to do what none of us want to do, and that is address the performance issue- whether it is results (activities) or attitude.
Let’s throw ugly on the table; why don’t leaders typically hold their employees accountable? In short it is because we are selfish.
Here are the most common reasons I have found from leaders why we don’t hold our people accountable:
1. We don’t have a replacement ready
2. We don’t like conflict
3. We don’t want to lose the revenue or work they are currently producing no matter how small or painful they are to work with
4. The ramp up time to find someone new and train them takes months (too long)
5. Going through the corrective action process with HR and legal guidelines are too much
6. A bad body may not be better than nobody but it sure is easier
However, it is our JOB as leaders to confront the issue, both for ourselves AND for the employees affected. Stay tuned for my next online seminar regarding this subject.
