Dealing With Employees... continued
The Break-Point Cycle goes something like this – the business owner hires employees to duplicate him or herself. The employee is trained, usually via On-The-Job training, and after awhile is trusted enough to do some or all tasks alone. When the employee fails in his job, becomes undependable or steps outside of the company’s boundaries, the owner oftentimes gets upset, throws temper tantrums, and gets frustrated to the Breaking Point. If the behavior continues, the employee is fired, and a new one is hired in hopes that the new employee will magically be that employee the other one never lived up to. Sometimes by luck of the draw this works, but most often the vicious cycle continues until the owner finally throws up his hands in frustration and quits hiring altogether. This is what we call the Break-Point Cycle.
Let’s quickly take a look at why this happens.
First, when we
hire people, most likely the new hire has little or no experience in our
industry. They have to learn everything from scratch, or unlearn bad habits.
When an employee only receives on-the-job training, the instructions aren’t
“official”. What I mean is, verbal instructions are forgotten and not viewed
as important as written instructions.
When we develop a system of training, we should address 3 categories:
1) Written / classroom
2) On-the-job
3) Refresher
Each new task we train should be taught in categories 1 & 2. That way there is a reference for the employee to see as well as hands-on training. The refresher is used to remind our staff and employees of the proper way of doing things.
Another major concern with business owners is discipline. Most of us don’t like to mete out discipline for a number of reasons. Perhaps we don’t like confrontation (I don’t!), or we don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. Oftentimes we feel stuck – if we level discipline against an employee, we fear reprisal, guilt or other negative circumstances. If we don’t discipline, we’re viewed as “softies” and/or the employee’s behavior does not change for the better. There is a simple cure to this. Let’s see how in this scenario:
We’ll use the name “Bob”, just for purposes of example. Bob is generally a good technician. He’s been properly trained and usually does his job well. On occasion, he’s been known to go too quickly on a job and gets more callbacks then he should.
Let’s view Bob’s way of thinking first. If he’s paid on commission, he’s probably smart enough to know that production is his key to making more money. He thinks he’s doing a “good enough” job to make it pass Mrs. Jones’ muster. He’s fully aware that if he gets done early enough, he can make it to another job to make more money. So he takes the chance that he might have a redo, perhaps not doing a thorough enough final inspection or not spending enough time with the customer explaining permanent conditions.
Now the typical business-owner’s way of thinking – “He doesn’t care, he’s just here for the money. That no good Bob, he’ll never be like me and he’s ruining my reputation. I’m going to fire him.”
Should we give up on Bob or should we see if we could make Bob a better cleaner and allow him to make good money at the same time?
Bob’s boss needs a systemized way of correcting Bob. What if Bob had signed an agreement saying Bob is fully responsible for himself and he knows what the penalties are if he goes outside the company rules?
What if Bob was corrected BY THE SYSTEM instead of by the owner? Do you think Bob would change his ways? Probably, but perhaps not. The beauty of having a systemized way of disciplining employees is that the owner does not dish out the discipline arbitrarily. If Bob broke the rules, the system punishes Bob, not the owner or manager.
Beautiful, huh?
Here’s how I
recommend instituting a discipline program:
1) Write a Company Manual – this manual explains, in writing, the way your business is to be conducted. It also explains the disciplinary measures for breaking the rules.
2) Have a “3 Strikes” policy – This policy makes disciplining minor items incredibly easy and fair for all. This is ONLY used in minor offenses, like Bob’s case above, or tardiness, etc. More about this below
3) Use discipline as a corrective tool, not retaliation. You’re trying to help the employee help him/herself, which in turn helps you. If you’re convinced they’re not going to change, perhaps it’s best to let them go sooner than later.
4) Don’t change your rules mid-stream unless you have to. And if you do, make sure the new rules apply to EVERYBODY. If you make exceptions to your rules, you risk the appearance of being biased and you’ll lose trust from your employees.
The “Three Strikes” rule looks like this: the employee gets 3 strikes before termination. The first strike is delivered verbally. For instance – “Bob, I just want you to know that I’m concerned you’re breaking company policy by not doing a thorough post-cleaning inspection, or are not explaining why certain conditions are permanent. Please make sure you’re doing your work properly. If you don’t change your redo ratio, the policy clearly states that I have no choice but to give you a written warning.” Then show him the policy in the manual he’s not adhering to.
The second strike is a little harsher. It’s the Written Warning. If Bob’s behavior continues, he should be written up. Remember, if it’s written, it’s official. In your warning, explain why he’s being written up (include manual page for reference), what steps can be done to correct his/her mistakes, a date to talk it over to ensure corrections have been made. (15-30 days would be good in this scenario), and the consequences if he/she doesn’t show improvement.
The final step before termination is usually a major consequence, such as reduction in pay, hours, jobs, unpaid leave of absence, or a combination.
The Three-Strikes policy makes good employees better, is fair for everyone, and forces out employees who can’t follow rules. The beauty, again, is that the business owner is NOT the enforcer, the system is.
Indeed employees can be the worst nightmare for a business owner, but with a clearly written training plan, and a system of discipline including the Three Strikes rule, your business will run more like a well-oiled machine than ever!
Scott F. Rendall
CEO – BRC Systems Solutions
BRC Systems Solutions specializes in service business systemization, training, and consulting. They offer interactive, affordable business-building products that can easily be customized and formatted to fit any service business. They can be reached via phone at: 800-248-4809, email: info@brcsystems.com, or visit their website: www.brcsystems.com.