Hi everybody, I’m Mike Staver, this is Mondays with Mike, a weekly video series where I answer questions from people just like you. This is a GREAT question this week.
Dear Mike, I have a top producer that is crazy. You don’t understand, she’s extremely crazy but she delivers results. My other employees want me to get rid of her right now, but I’m having a hard time thinking about the loss in sales revenue and productivity that I would experience if I fire her. What is the best way to handle this?
Are you kidding me? If she’s that crazy then I don’t care what her results are, she’s going to eat the inside of your company for lunch. If you’re saying to me no, I don’t mean sorta crazy, she’s extremely crazy, then my guess is that you’re enabling a behavior. Now, I don’t know what kind of crazy behavior she’s engaging in – I hope it’s not psychotic like she’s scratching your car or leaving rabbits on your stove – but you have to assess the results vs. the cultural fit.
If your employees are asking you to get rid of her, and they know she’s producing results, then I think you get to have the conversation about how you’re going to get better results if she goes. Keep in mind that it’s a matrix. On the one axis is cultural fit, and on the other is results. You have no cultural fit, but extremely high results, and that upper left hand quadrant will ultimately hurt your company, because you’re going to lose some other good employees if you keep this up. It enables bad behavior. At some point, you just have to say “you’re out, you’re done, I’m not going to put up with this crazy behavior”.
So, before you do that, talk to her about it. Obviously don’t call it ‘crazy behavior’ but identify the specific behaviors that are unacceptable, outline the specific cultural behaviors that she must engage in in order to stay, and if she can’t do it, let her go.
I promise you your business will be better. You will find somebody else to produce those results. I have done it in my career. Years and years ago I had a salesperson who was not crazy, but just a jerk, he was my top producer. I had to let go of him. It hurt like crazy for 4 or 5 months but the company rallied around and they produced more.
So, be very very careful about enabling behavior for money. You’re basically selling the soul of your culture for money, and I don’t think that’s a good idea.
Outline expectations. Hold this person rigorously accountable. If they don’t improve, it’s time to let them go.
I’m Mike Staver, this is Mondays with Mike. Take care everybody.
