One Bad Apple...

One Bad Apple…

As I was perusing The Blade, our local newspaper, I came across an interesting article that helps validate my assertion that the hiring process is more than an aptitude test. Chemistry, passion, niceness… Call it what you want but the cost of hiring an individual who does not match your own style of management is very expensive. That is why I try to hire people who are outgoing, fun and who enjoy coming to work everyday. Someone who will love their work. According to Rueters on this 5th day of March 2007:

Study Finds 1 Bad Employee Can Ruin a Workplace

One “bad apple” can spread negative behavior like a virus to bring down officemates or destroy a good team, according to a new study examining conflict in the workplace.

Neagative behavior outweighs positive behavior, so a bad aaple can spoil the whole barrel, but one or two good workers can’t “unspoil” it, researchers at the University of Washington said in a recent issue of the journal Research in Organizational Behavior.

“Companies need to move quickly to deal with such problems because the negativity of just one individual is pervasive and destructive and can spread quickly,” said co-author Terence Mitchell, a professor of management and organization.

If a bad apple slips through the hiring process, he or she should be placed to work alone as much as possible, the studies lead author, William Felps, said.

The study defines negative workers as those who do not do tier fair share of the work, are chronically unhappy and emotionally unstable, or bully or attack others.

Mr. Felps said he was inspired to investigate workplace conflict by his wife’s experience with a “bad apple” and what happened when the worker was out sick for several days.

“When he was gone my wife said the atmosphere of the office changed dramatically”, Mr. Phelps said. “People started helping each other, playing classical music on their radios, and going out for drinks after work. But when he returned to the office, things returned to the unpleasant way they were”.

“He truly was the bad apple that spoiled the barrel”, Mr. Felps said.

The researchers said they found that a single “toxic” or negative team member can be the catalyst for a group’s downward spiral. In a follow-up study, the researchers found the majority of the peole they surveyed could identify at least one “bad apple” with whom they had worked and who had produced organizational dysfunction.

Hiring Managers could head off the problem by being more thorough when screening potential employees, Mr. Felps said. He recommends checking references and administering personality tests.

You are going to have to work with the individual you are in the process of hiring for eight hours per day, five days per week. You owe it to yourself and your team to make sure they are a good fit.

So what do you do when you make a mistake and the new hire turns bad? Most companies hire employees with the stipulation that “there is a 30/60/90 day probationary program and at that time we will determine whether or not to retain your services”. This is done primarily to satisfy the thick blanket of safeguards our litigious marketplace has forced upon us.

My grandmother, Gracie May Overcash Pritchard, always told me to “be bone honest”. That was her way of telling me to tackle problems by telling the truth. The true reason you are going to let this employee go is that you have a problem with their behavior. If you are any type of leader you should be up front, honest and tell them the truth. But if you wait until the “probationary period” is up to address this issue, shame on you. Employees want leadership and an employee should never be surprised to know they are being fired (let go, down sized, not retained – all euphemisms). If an employee is not behaving the way you want them to, it is your job to give them the leadership, training, tools and time necessary before you terminate them. This does not mean they have for ever, but if it is not working out after one week, it your job to tell them – not to wait until day 89. More on behavior modification later...