January/February 2006
Last column, I examined bad management behavior, so it’s only fair that I turn the spotlight this time on employees and, specifically, the “bad apples.” My goal is to improve how you deal with these toxic types. Such people consume more of your time than you have to give and, ultimately, they either leave or get fired.
We’ve all heard that one rotten apple can spoil the whole barrel—and it’s true. Anyone who has owned a business or managed people can share with you a story about a bad apple or two. These employees can create chaos in a department or even throughout the company. Sometimes even the best employees can be affected by bad apples and, before you know it, the whole bushel or peck is tainted.
The best way to avoid bad apples, of course, is to not hire them in the first place. That requires a thorough, thoughtful interviewing process. Unfortunately, it’s common for untrained interviewers to do most of the talking, enabling the bad apple to slither into the company by merely being polite. Your questions must allow the interviewee to speak, and you must check their references carefully.
Thorough interviewing is critical whether you’re talking with totally unknown applicants or candidates who have been referred to you. On the surface, such referrals are a nice, well-meaning gesture. People like to help people. When you refer someone, you help two people—the jobseeker and the employer. I like to refer people, but I always specify how I know the person I’m referring and ask the employer for a disclaimer—just in case the hire doesn’t work out. I’ve made some excellent referrals for key positions through networking. (Hey, I’ve even introduced a few couples who subsequently married.) Don’t forget, though, that such referrals are just an introduction. You, the employer, should still ask the referrer a few questions about the referred person.
Some questions you might ask are:
• Why do you think the referred person would be a good fit for my company?
• Have you ever done business with the person in the past?
• Why is the recommended person looking for a new position?
• When you met him/her, what was your first impression?
Asking such questions is part of being thorough, and it shows that you’re taking the necessary time to make a smart hire. Many times, employers need to fill an immediate need and rush their hiring decision. Remember the old saying that haste makes waste? Well, it’s true. When you don’t have the necessary interviewing skills or don’t take enough time, you’ll hire the wrong people.
What happens if you’re approached by someone from the competition for a position in your company? Your first reaction might be to hire them immediately because, after all, you wouldn’t have to train them since they already know the business and they may even bring a customer base with them. Sounds like a no-brainer. But be careful (unless, of course, you solicited the person yourself). Some competitors’ employees may simply think the grass is greener elsewhere, and they may have unrealistic expectations about how much better it would be to work for your firm. So don’t be too anxious. Get the whole story.
Once again, it’s crucial to ask the right questions before hiring. For instance, consider asking any prospect from a competitor:
• What makes you want to leave the other company?
• What attracted you to apply at our company?
• If you began working here then decided to return to your former employer, would they hire you back?
• What are your career goals and how would our company assist you in achieving them?
So, let’s assume you innocently and unwittingly hire a bad apple. What can you do? First, make sure your company has a probationary period for all new employees. After a set number of probationary days (try to keep it under the unemployment requirements), you can then make a more informed decision whether to keep the employee.
Unfortunately, the bad apple will often know the unemployment laws, the workmens’ comp laws, and any other laws they need to get what they want. Rules of thumb: If an applicant focuses on insurance, sick days, and vacation in the interview, he may be a bad apple. If an employee takes a day off in the first 30 days and it’s the Monday after the Superbowl, he may be a bad apple. If a truck driver rams your truck into a garage door the week after he’s hired and leaves the scene of the accident, chances are he’s a bad apple. If an employee reveals that she believes she’s the mother of Jesus (true story) over lunch one day, she may be a bad (or crazy) apple.
One problem with probationary periods is they must end. This creates opportunity for bad apples, who are adept at not showing their true colors immediately. They can be on their best behavior a certain amount of time, then—watch out!—the chaos begins. And once it starts, it’s like a tornado as it moves though the company.
You can’t imagine the time you’ll expend dealing with bad apples—disciplining them, listening to how unhappy they are and how unfairly they’re being treated. Are they worth all this time? Of course not. You could put those hours to better use by focusing on your team players. And will the bad apples continue to drive you crazy? Of course. As a management expert once observed, “The employee you fire is not the employee that drives you crazy.”
So what are you to do? My main advice is to document all bad-apple incidents. That way, when they leave or are asked to leave, your company will have the necessary information to fight whatever claims they may bring against you. Don’t try to change them and don’t give them too many chances. While I believe in second chances, the fifth, sixth, and seventh chances drive me crazy.
Sadly, none of us are perfect in our hiring practices. When I had my own scrap company, I personally hired a very bad apple. She was a professional con artist. While I was home on maternity leave, she embezzled tens of thousands of dollars from my business. Were there any red flags? Sure, but I needed someone to handle the details during my absence, and she seemed to be a caretaker, something a pregnant woman would be attracted to in an interview. Did I check her references to the best of my ability? Apparently not! She was a professional thief, plain and simple, but I found her and she did go to jail. In the end, I learned the hard way about hiring smart. My brother comforted me after that terrible ordeal, observing wisely, “You didn’t hire her, she hired you.”
I must add a caveat here: Be careful to distinguish bona fide bad apples from employees who simply disagree with your management style. As I noted last issue, poor managers create poor employees, so make sure you acknowledge your part, if any, in an employee’s bad behavior.
In sum, my advice is: Don’t spend too much time on bad apples. I know some managers who have transformed bad apples into peaches (no easy feat), but it took time, patience, and boundaries. If you have that kind of energy, go for it. I personally have opted to spend my energies during the hiring process. Set a goal to do a better job asking the right questions up front to prevent problems down the road. If the interviewee seems annoyed by your probing questions, chances are he or she is a bad apple.
Publisher’s Note: If you have a bad apple story, Judy Ferraro would love to hear it—on a strictly confidential and anonymous basis, of course. She can be reached at 630/243-6860 or judy@judyferraro.com.
—Judy Ferraro is president of Judy Ferraro & Associates Inc., a sales development and training company based in the Chicago area. She has more than 30 years of professional sales experience, including 20-plus years in the scrap industry. As a hobby, Ferraro worked in Chicago’s improv and stand-up comedy circuit for several years. Her approach to sales training combines sales techniques with listening skills while making sure everyone has a few laughs during the process.
Last column, I examined bad management behavior, so it’s only fair that I turn the spotlight this time on employees and, specifically, the “bad apples.” My goal is to improve how you deal with these toxic types. Such people consume more of your time than you have to give and, ultimately, they either leave or get fired.