How many times have I heard it said by a wiser-for-the-wear colleague in their own words? ...Something to the effect of, “I can’t believe the difference it’s made for the team with so-and-so gone…it’s like a weight has been lifted and all the tension’s gone. I just wish we’d have let her/him go sooner…”
Hundreds for sure. Maybe we’ve said it ourselves, or perhaps will be saying it shortly with all the “make it perfect for me” job hoppers touting optical or other skills and experience to hold short-handed practice teams hostage in the post-Covid world.
I certainly get the hesitation to cut an experienced, work capable employee loose. Or the temptation to hire the optician despite a track record of job hopping and after months or longer being short-handed. We could FINALLY have a capable person in-place and contributing tomorrow, and how sweet would it be to fill that void today? But what happens when we learn the person’s not a fit? What happens when we start to suspect and later validate that he/she doesn’t align with the CORE FOUR of our practice Mission, Vision, Culture and Object? What happens when the person’s true colors show through that load-lightening experience and we find ourselves and our teams being held hostage by those desperately needed skills and ability to do the work today after being short-handed for now months or more?
Much as I’d rather not, I’ll go ahead and answer the question(s). The work culture we’ve strived to have, worked so hard to build, takes an utter beating. That’s what. That bad apple does what bad apples do to the bushel, negatively impacting our teams, patients and communities, and my experience is that in the end, NEVER, not even for a day, was the work relief provided by that person worth that cost. Even if the person helped us put a dent in the work backlog.
Which brings me to an adage on which we lean at THRIVE…a rule of thumb, if you will, from working with colleague teams over the decades that has come into a lot of conversations lately: If you think you MIGHT need to fire someone, YOU DO!
I certainly get in recent years many colleagues haven’t been able to be as “picky” as they’d like when hiring. After participating in the rampant wage inflation (not just in hiring someone, but then having to raise other staff accordingly, right?), offering more benefits, providing work flexibility that makes it harder to be fully staffed, easing up on dress codes and all the other Herculean efforts to keep the practice staffed, it’s a difficult thing indeed to let anyone with a pulse that can do the work go. Add to this that our colleagues tend to be really good people – they tend as a lot to be kind, caring and benefit of the doubt giving (I wouldn’t have it any other way) – and we’re seeing that for many practices, by the time they get around to firing someone, they’re well or even way past due for such action and the damage is done.
With all that said, in hopes it will be helpful, I’d like to share some excerpts from a several-week HELP DESK email conversation to which I think most of us can and will relate. This conversation is really what inspired this month’s post, and we’ll of course keep names out of it. 2
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To: Tom Bowen <tbowen@mythrivecoaches.com> From: (Colleague)
Subject: Going forward
Hi Tom,
I’m more and more frustrated at this point with (staff person’s) negativity and lack of execution on the things we discuss. She doesn’t seem to change and won’t get in sync with the staff. It’s putting a lot of stress on all of us and it’s hard for us to move forward with things we want to do when she won’t get behind them….
To: (Colleague) From: Tom Bowen <tbowen@mythrivecoaches.com>
Subject: Going forward
Good Morning _____________,
Thanks for the update, and I appreciate both the challenge here and the stress it’s causing for you and the team. As we think about the way forward, we at some point have to realize the situation is sacrificing the mission of the practice, which is simply not acceptable. I base that on three considerations we use here as an acid test for a person’s conduciveness to the practice mission and team culture:
1. Mentality – although (staff person) has skills and experience we need right now in the worst way, her mentality does not align with “true north” clarified in both the mission and culture statements. This is one of the reasons you and the team reduced mission and culture into written statements, and her choosing not to abide in these clearly indicates her mentality is not a fit.
2. Performance – Although she is performing in the actual work with patients, even well at times (which makes this tougher), she’s NOT performing as a member of the team, and the team is therefore not performing as it could and should. Again, not a fit.
3. Team/Practice Contribution – Despite her ability to do the work, it seems to me we have a “part” that’s making us a lesser “whole.” When we think about that, we have our answer.
Despite (staff person’s) talents, it’s clearly time for a change. You’ve asked her to do so and she has not, so it’s time you do so. She’s had every benefit of the doubt, which I appreciate, but she’s not earning that. It’s clearly time to part company with ___________, and at this point, I think the sooner the better…
In one way it’s not easy, right? How hard is it to get capable optical help right now? But in another way, it’s very easy and very clear. This team and practice, and therefore the patients, are being held hostage and the person doing that has to go no matter how inconvenient. We can’t sacrifice the end good of the team, the practice, the patients and the community to keep a “make everything perfect for me” employee just because she can do the work. Despite this person’s abilities, it’s time to cut her loose.
In such times and situations, I like to keep in mind there’s nothing wrong with a person not working out. It’s just that it’s not right. That doesn’t have to be a stressful, dreaded moment or even unpleasant. It’s simply, “We’ve given this a try, and it’s to both of our benefits at this point we 3 concluded it’s not a fit. So rather than trying to force it, it’s time to wish one another well and go our own directions…”
And in case you’re wondering, in a situation like this, I recommend the going our own directions part be effective immediately (as in THIS MINUTE). And unless you feel contributions (which is one of the Big Three considerations highlighted above) have somehow merited, I do not recommend severance compensation in this case. There are situations/times we feel and do otherwise on both of these considerations, but a “make it perfect for me here despite how it damages the team” mentality is absolutely not one of them.
Like all THRIVE content, the purpose of BOWEN’S BLOG and SUMMIT TALK Podlecture conversations is to keep us driving together toward IMPACT. If something here has struck a chord, shoot us an email or give us a call and let’s talk it out! Tbowen@mythrivecoaches.com or 402-794-4064.