Fire the Deserving
Firing someone is the most difficult task in running a business. Not everyone is cut out for this, for it can go against many people’s natural instincts. However, as unpleasant as it may be, if you want to be a boss and ensure the best for your company, then it’s a skill you must master.
There may be times when you need to fire friends or family members who are your partners or employees. Firing someone in general is difficult—firing someone close to you is even harder. But if they do not follow the letter of your written and verbal agreements, and they have been provided ample, polite warnings, then they have to go, or you too are being negligent.
If your otherwise effective team is being dragged down by someone, then it’s like a hole in a dam. If your competitor were to apply the same amount of money as you to an employee who is better than yours is, then this will nip at your market position. Of course, you need to work with people who you trust. But can you also trust them to protect and enhance your market position?
Managers and employees should be judged on their results alone. Being a hard working, nice, well-intentioned, and well-qualified person or friend to the boss should never negate the importance of the financial outcome of that person’s presence in the company.
Cronyism and nepotism are not profitable. You can’t let nice guys and gals who are your buddies or relatives negatively affect the otherwise positive flow of the organization, its morale, or its operational results. Even if their weaknesses can legitimately be construed as honest mistakes, it just doesn’t matter. If they are not benefiting the company financially, they will ultimately have to go—the sooner the better.
From a self-preservation perspective and despite your affection for most of the characteristics of this individual who you ostensibly “like,” the most important characteristic of a business always over-rides—profit. Profit for a company is equivalent to the oxygen mammals need in their evolutionary pursuit. If you are not acting in an evolutionary way by weeding out weak characteristics, you are not optimizing your business, and your competitors will eat away at your profit margin until you fail.
