Problem Employees!

"Without a compelling cause, our employees are just putting in time. Their minds might be engaged, but their hearts are not."
-Lee J. Colan, 7 Moments that Define Excellent Leaders

Problem employees are an unavoidable part of the working world. We all have had to work for, work with or supervise a difficult employee. Although in many cases you inherit the problem worker, he or she is still your responsibility. It is so glib to say, “Let’s just get rid of the problem worker.” This is an unreasonable solution for many reasons.

I do not think that there is a clear definition of a problem employee. What is clear, however, is that these employees tend to affect the morale of the entire organization and make your life very difficult. Too often, the implicit assumption is that a replacement worker must be better; however, this is frequently not the case.

How would a manager make a decision on a piece of equipment that was causing a maintenance headache? Well before it was replaced, I guarantee you that a thorough analysis of the problem would be conducted, and possible alternatives for fixing the problem(s) would be evaluated. It is just good business to make sure that the problem cannot be corrected before a new asset is purchased. Yet, this same type of analysis is not done on employees who are having difficulties.

So many times I see employers letting staff go simply because they did not give the manager what they wanted. However, when I go back to the staff member and ask if they understood what was expected of them, the majority says, “No.” In these instances, management never attempted to work with them to see if it was possible to overcome the problem.

I think so many times the cost of replacing a worker is either unrealized or is perceived as small and inconsequential. There is no question in my mind that if you fully account for all of the time involved in hiring a replacement (i.e.: time spent advertising to find a new employee, interviewing candidates and training a new hire) and numerous other indirect expenses, the cost of replacing a worker amounts to at least 100 percent of the annual salary.

If the cost to replace a worker is so high, why do so many firms keep on doing this over and over? I think the answer is that many managers lack the skill set to deal with problematic employees or behaviors. For example, if you have a worker that has been coming in late to work, and you are disappointed because you believe you have made the company policy clear to everyone, maybe the issue is that you are not connecting with the employee, being clear about the expectations or there is something going on in their personal life that is influencing their behavior.

Changing behavior is especially difficult if it has been tolerated for a period of time. However, working to overcome an employee’s problem rather than seeking to hire a new worker will often pay off in the long run.

In looking to overcome behavioral issues, consider the root cause of the problem. For example, is there something in the company culture that is contributing to the problem behavior? In the case of the late employee, maybe you are being inconsistent about enforcing company policies. Are some people allowed to come in late due to personal circumstances that are not explained to the other employees? Are you holding people accountable, or do you let things slide?

Once you have determined the reason behind the behavior, there are many things that you can do to turn the situation around. Firstly, provide specific guidelines and processes to help clarify expectations. Secondly, ensure open communication with managers and employees to help resolve minor issues before they become serious problems.

A third possibility is the use of incentives, rewards and recognition as ways of reinforcing the change you are looking for. I have seen some managers simply start acknowledging positive changes in behaviors, and that has been the key to effecting the change. For example, with the habitually late worker, offer a kind word about the improvement the employee is showing by successfully arriving on time three days out of five.

The bottom line is that an employee’s problematic behavior should not necessarily mean termination. Rather, it should be thought of as an opportunity to turn this employee into a great employee.

You can do this!

Junior Achievement

One of the things that each entrepreneur has a duty to do, is to spread the word as to why entrepreneurship is such a wonderful and rewarding occupation. So many times at FSU I have seen students wonder into my office and see so surprised that there is a major in entrepreneurship. They simply did not realize that this field existed.

For last seven years at the Jim Moran Institute, we have provided the resources and volunteers to bring Junior Achievement into the high schools of Leon County, Florida. Junior Achievement is a wonderful national and international(?) organization that provides the support necessary for providing the entrepreneurship education in the school systems.

I would go every year to the end of the school year luncheon of JA and here the volunteers(other entrepreneurs)talk about how much they have gained from the experience and then the teachers would talk about how much the kids learn from volunteers. I was so impressed by this each year and was constantly running into students who thanked us for bringing JA to their school and how much they learned about business.

About a year ago, Florida Commerce Credit Union gave us some extra money to hire a coordinator of Junior Achievement(Wanda Brafford). However, they wanted JA to be taught in the elementary schools of Leon County.

After we sent out a request to just 4 elementary schools, we had over 50 teachers who wanted the program in their classroom. I was surprised by the response and we were short of volunteer teachers so the entire team at Florida Commerce Credit Union and JMI jumped into teaching these classes.

I just finished teaching Mrs. Whitaker’s 5th grade class at Gilchrist Elementary the Junior Achievement curriculm. I was so impressed as the kids were smart and very attentive and really got the notion of what an entrepreneur did and how important they are to both the community as well as nationally and internationally.

One of the last exercises we did was to hand out cards to each child in the class all standing in a circle with a country of origin for some part of manufacturing a car shown on the card. As I called out the product, the student said where the product was from and then passed a string to the next person. As we did this, it became evident of the large web they had made from the string showing the interconnectedness of our world.

I thourghly enjoyed this experience as it showed me that Junior Achievement is very effective at teaching entrepreneurship and that children are never to young to learn about it. However, we need your help.

If you would like to volunteer and are an entrepreneur, please write Wanda Brafford at wbrafford@fsu.edu for more information. There is no pay for this service but knowing that you are helping to educate students about the importance and revelance of entrepreneurship.

You can do this.

MVP Lounge
To my customer:
I may not have the answer, but I'll find it.
I may not have the time, but I'll make it.
I may not be the biggest, but I'll be the most committed to your success.

-Anon.

One of the things that is so important is to reward loyalty of your existing and best customers to make sure that they feel appreciated. There are many ways to do this and the question is not so much how to do this but to make sure that you are doing something to insure your best customers feel really great about your business. Legacy Toyota in Tallahassee demonstrated this concept vividly to me the last time I was there to get my car serviced.
They recently had significantly expanded and built a beautiful new facility across the street from where they were currently located. As part of this new facility, customers could wait in a very pleasant area near the showroom with plenty to drink and free snacks as well. It was comfortable place to wait with one large TV.
However, the owner of Legacy, Les Akers, wanted to reward his loyal customers who bought cars from him and to make them feel important. He came up with the idea of having an MVP Club for customers who had bought cars(either new or used) from his dealership. A significant part of this club is the MVP lounge where there are computer terminals with access to the internet and very comfortable chairs plus two large flat screen TVs. Also, there are better drinks and snacks here. Additionally, by being a member of this MVP Club, you receive discounts on services and parts and a whole of host of other benefits.


While Legacy’s MVP lounge costs money to stock and maintain, the customers appreciate the special care they get from the staff that support the lounge and their comfort. I talked to the three or four customers who were waiting for their cars while I was, and they were all so thankful for the special treatment. They all said that this lounge made the decision for their next car very easy to make. They all said they felt pampered by the exclusivity of the room and the additional benefits they received there.

While this MVP club is one way to reward loyal customers there are numerous other ones from frequent buyer cards, to customer parties, to seats at various sporting events. The point is that you always want to give great customer service to each employee but to your best and loyal customers, you want to make them feel like MVP’s.

Now go out and make sure you have a plan in place to make your best and most loyal customers feel rewarded for continuing to business with you.

You can do this!

YouTube for additional advertising

An education isn't how much you have committed to memory, or even how much you know. It's being able to differentiate between what you know and what you don't."
-Anatole France

With every business looking for effective ways to advertise, you have to spend your money wisely. I have seen more people waste advertising dollars than any other expense dollars. I think the reason for this is that, unlike other types of expenses, it is hard to quantify the results of advertising.

Lately, I have seen many businesses using YouTube as a way of driving customers to their web sites. This is especially true for products or services that need to be seen and require some education or information for their use.

One such product is the Toyota Prius. I am interested in getting a new Prius. Compared to my older model, the new model has so many neat features, from a lane assist option that warns you if you drift out of your traffic lane to a solar panel that keeps the car cool when it is parked in the sun.

While I can see pictures or read about these features, going to YouTube and seeing them in a video is so much more effective for me. I was really able to get an understanding of what each feature is and what the associated benefits and limitations are. The videos on YouTube helped me decide which features to have on my new Prius once I decide to get one. Of course, I really would like to have one!

Another example is a relatively new Tallahassee business called Talon Training Group. They specialize in weapons training (which is excellent, and I have attended) for both law enforcement officers and the average citizen, as well as selling related products such as holsters and magazines. The business is owned and run by law enforcement officers, so they do not have much time or money for advertising campaigns. As an alternative, they have joined the numerous other companies that are using YouTube to raise their visibility.

You can view one of Talon’s videos at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvg23-qUFKA or just by typing “talontraininggroup” into the search box at YouTube. While their videos are not super slick – not very slick at all – they convey information in a very clear and honest fashion.

Their videos, like so many other good ones, are primarily educational and secondarily sales-oriented. This is just good marketing. You want to educate potential consumers so as to build trust and encourage them to visit your web site.

In order to be effective there are several rules of thumb to remember when creating your video. Firstly, it must not feel like a commercial. If it feels like an ad, people will not walk, but run from your video.

Secondly, because the sell has to be soft, a call to action will not work very well. The best thing you can do is show your web site. The goal is to get the user so excited about your product that their next stop is your web site.

Thirdly, the video needs to be short. Three minutes seems to be the ideal length. If the video is much longer than this, people will lose interest and move on.

Finally, the video must be both educational and engaging. Having 40 years of experience as a professor, I can tell you that education without some type of entertainment is not very successful.

Now go out and see if YouTube might be an effective way for you to advertise your products to potential customers.

You can do this!

Any change, any loss, does not make us victims. Others can shake you, surprise you, disappoint you, but they can't prevent you from acting, from taking the situation you're presented with and moving on. No matter where you are in life, no matter what your situation, you can always do something. You always have a choice, and the choice can be power.
-Blaine Lee, The Power Principle

Occasionally, we deal with an entrepreneur whose story is so surreal that it is hard to believe it is true. This column is about one such situation.

A very good entrepreneur had a small equity partner who operated a portion of the business located in another city. As the entrepreneur could not travel, this minority share owner was not managed very much outside of his ability to make money, which he did on a continual basis. However, as the entrepreneur discovered, there were recurrent problems with how the small equity partner managed the office, from unnecessarily low pay to ethical issues.

This shareholder, who actually owned less than five percent of the company, thought of himself as a partner rather than as an employee who happened to own stock. I remember one conversation I had with him about this, and he had a hard time accepting the fact that he was not a partner, but only a small equity owner and an employee.

If you are thinking that this person had a giant ego, you are 100 percent correct. This person did have a giant ego, but he also had a skill set that the company needed. While he was a pain to deal with, he did bring some valuable things to the table, including a proficiency in bringing in business and generating revenue.

Despite these skills, several fundamental flaws kept creeping up. Among them, of course, was his ego. In addition, he had some personal financial issues that kept him asking for more and more money until he was – and I am not exaggerating here – being paid more than five times that of a comparable employee. He covered his sizeable salary by paying his staff low and generating lots of revenue so that the office looked like it was doing well.

In order to find out exactly what was going on, the entrepreneur finally made a trip to this office. Upon arrival, the entrepreneur noticed that the office manager, who used two monitors, had rear view mirrors mounted to each one. Remember, this is a true story!

When asked why she had rear view mirrors on her monitors she replied that she had them so the small equity owner could not sneak up on her when he came in. When pressed further she said that he micromanaged everything and that the whole staff would find other jobs if they could.

Letting the minority partner go was a very tough decision for the entrepreneur as he knew that he would have trouble finding another person with the necessary skill set. However, the entrepreneur discovered that the minority partner was looking for a job with a competitor – despite his non-compete agreement – at about the same time that all this was going on. Following this discovery, the entrepreneur finally let the employee go.

When I asked the entrepreneur how he tolerated this individual for so long, he shook his head and said, “I thought I no choice until I was pushed into a corner and left with no other option but to let him go.”

No employee should ever be considered irreplaceable. Now go out and make sure that you do not allow a situation to develop where employees have to put rear view mirrors on their computers.

You can do this!