Honesty and Employees

[Waxman]

I have to trust my employees while they work for me. From unsupervised Sunday shifts to caring for customers cars, trust is imperative.

An employee violated my trust recently and I need to make the tough decisions now. This employee has been given a 'second chance' once already.

I am not looking forawrd to this but I have gotten concrete proof of the dishonesty and must now act. They must be terminated.

How do I handle the interaction without any residual bad feelings?

 

[Earl Weiss]

Recent events for me:
1. I sat them down. Confront them with the evidence. Tell them they had a choice either admit what they and they could turn in their keys and go home or I would call the police and have them arrested. They admitted it.

2. Had 2 guys doing the same thing. Lined up a replacement, Confronted them with the evidence and told them to turn over the keys.

In both instances I told them that if they set foot in any of my places they would be guilty of criminal trespass. They would be arrested and prosecuted.

 

[dreese]

I have to trust my employees while they work for me. From unsupervised Sunday shifts to caring for customers cars, trust is imperative.

An employee violated my trust recently and I need to make the tough decisions now. This employee has been given a 'second chance' once already.

I am not looking forawrd to this but I have gotten concrete proof of the dishonesty and must now act. They must be terminated.

How do I handle the interaction without any residual bad feelings?

The employee involved obviously wasn't worried about "residual bad feelings", so why should you? In today's sue-crazy enviornment, the important thing is to protect yourself against litigation as well as false unemployment benefit claims. All employee disciplinary actions and major warnings should be put in writing to CYA. This should include a description of the behavior, how the behavior must change, and consequences of not complying with the warning.

Put the termination notice in writing, stating why you are terminating the employee. Refer to the fact that the employee had been warned before, and attach a copy of the prior warning if (hopefully) available. Sit the employee down in a private place, and calmly inform him of your actions and why. Have him sign the doc and give him a copy. If he doesn't want to sign, note "I refuse to sign this document" on your copy and have him sign / initial it. If he still refuses, note this on your copy of the doc and initial.

 

[Waxman]

I just meant that I intended to handle the interaction in a way that would not leave me feeling bad about my own approach.

It went fine. I was calm, and direct and firm but not angry or bitter or spiteful. Laid out the facts in a clear and calm way and I am glad I set my emotions aside.

 

[Chiefs]

Whenever an employee is disciplined for any reason, it should always be documented and have the employee sign off on it. Only in this way can you fire an employee and not have him collect unemployment. Its called being fired for cause. Its never fun but you have to just be matter-of-fact about it without being rude or condescending when disciplining employees.

It also helps if you develop an employee handbook that lays out the ground rules for behavior and duties. It also supplements the disciplinary reports when they are let go and try to collect unemployment.

 

[bigleo48]

Waxman,

I also have my employees sign a confidentiality and non-compete, plus a employment
contract.

Further to everyone else, this person really doesn't give a s#it about you or your business. So don't need to pussy foot around the issue. You have worked hard and developed a business that supports you and your family here. Think of them when you're considering you actions.

Big

 

[pitzerwm]

In regards to a non-compete agreement, the only way that these will hold up, is that it is limited in time (6 months) and distance (your market area) and they have/had to have access to proprietary info. It might work if they are dumb, but if you go too far, you will waste money in court.

 

[jfmoran]

Right On!

I just meant that I intended to handle the interaction in a way that would not leave me feeling bad about my own approach.

It went fine. I was calm, and direct and firm but not angry or bitter or spiteful. Laid out the facts in a clear and calm way and I am glad I set my emotions aside.

Wax,

Your approach is exactly how you should have handled it. Good managers learn that taking emotion out of the equation (at least on your part) will make for a much smoother process of handling a difficult situation. It's an attribute of a better than average emotional intelligence and shows a maturity. Many corporations now test their executives and managers for their emotional intelligence as an indicator of how good a manager they can be, (even more so than regular IQ tests). Their are several other attributes to it, but the ability to control your emotions, particularly in stressful situations is one good indicator.

Keep up the good work.

John Moran