Sunday newsagency management tip: getting rid of a bad employee

I know of a newsagency where a full time employee is dreadful, they are pulling the business down. They are lazy, doing the bare minimum necessary and less than that where they are not being watched. They take no initiative and offer nothing special in the way of customer service. They do not deserve the good pay they are on thanks to an the award. They ought to be sacked.

This business has just over fifteen employees – meaning tougher obligations on the owner in terms of dismissing employees under Australia’s Fair Work legislation.

I’ve been in the business a couple of times recently and it appalls me to see how this lazy selfish employee treats the business that provides them with a good income. I have seen efforts to engage and encourage and each time they have been ignored.

In the US the employee could be sacked without cause. My experience there is that this encourages better engagement by those employees who do not naturally want to do a good job.

We are not in the US, we are in Australia where employees have considerable rights.

One reason employees treat a business and the owner poorly is because they can get away with it. Fixing a situation of a bad employee starts with being clear to the employee their behaviour is unacceptable. This actually starts with a job description. A  good job description outlines the tasks and expectations relating to the role. It is the framework through which you can performance manage an employee to better behaviour or to exit the business – the choice is theirs.

If you have good position descriptions for employees, the next key is to have good communication. This with a good position description could avoid the situation I have seen recently.

This is my management tip today – set yourself up for more effective employee management, have in place position descriptions that lay out your expectations and the measurement points for performance.