Star Employee... fcuks up... never wrong

bigpaudge

Hi Guys,
a bit of advice needed here as I don't know what to do with this guy or how to talk to him about his attitude.

I run a small company, we have three employees. The main manager or team leader is a genius when it comes to fixing stuff (our main business) and has really driven the company forward in the last three years. The guy is great at his job and really motivated to get stuff done. We're making more money than ever and the business is thriving... but his arrogance is driving me mad. He does fcuk up from time-to-time but can never admit he's wrong. He sometimes turns the situation around on me and blames me for not explaining the situation more clearly.... I think this is just a charade (knows he's been caught out)

Some customers are really pissed off with how he has dealt with them and there have been a few bad feedbacks on Google as a result. I have referred personal friends to the company and now some jobs were not completed satisfactorily; I now regret ever recommending him (us). Most jobs he does are over and above anything that you would get anywhere else but it would seem that the power has gone to his head.

If I let the guy go we are going to drop off the charts, if I keep him on we'll carry on up... but burn fingers along the way.

I don't think he gives a fcuk or maybe he does... just not sure. When I try to talk to him about it he just brushes it aside and changes the subject.
It's like dealing with a spoilt teenager.

Thanks a lot for the feedback,

P.

mrawkward

Dont think you are going to like this but I would guess he has a personality disorder, bad news: it is an incurable condition. It is your call to decide when his negativees outweigh his talents. It sounds like he refuses to be managed, a disaster for the running of the business. Find someone who can do a solid, if not spectacular, job to replace him. You could contract him to do jobs that need his specific talents in the future, but he would be operating as his own boss and paid on the basis of delivery and quality.

ironclaw

At a corporate level you can have the same thing. You have 'that guy' who everyone turns to with a question or query. They are generally just the top of the class and earn a name for themselves as a problem solver. The issue is when they go to move on and the business fear they are loosing an asset. From my experience, its never been a showstopper issue. The rest of the team adapt and usually quickly find that between them they find the solution. Often in practise its a better solution as that person developed their own method and narrow mind, which can actually be a bad thing overall. It might take longer initially but pretty soon the 'hole' that is left is found to not be a hole at all. Human nature is to find a parental figure to ask a question of, it doesn't necessarily mean they need them however.

Personally I'd nominate your remaining best to shadow or review the work. Unless its some super exotic skill I doubt they can't emulate it to an acceptable standard for customers. Everyone is replaceable, your business isn't and I wouldn't let one person topple it. Given his mannerism I wouldn't fear him as a competitor, if he was competent to do so, he'd already be swiping your business.

sillysmiles

Not sure what your business is, but can you move him away from the public? Can you change roles so that someone else deals with people and he just is in an office doing whatever it is he needs to do!

duploelabs

Introduce 'company wide' customer satisfaction KPIs?

bigpaudge

sillysmiles wrote: »

Not sure what your business is, but can you move him away from the public? Can you change roles so that someone else deals with people and he just is in an office doing whatever it is he needs to do!

Hi Sillysmiles, unfortunately not at the moment. It's quite a bit more complicated. I didn't elaborate on how exactly the business is set up, there are other factors that prevent me from "moving" him.

Some background:

It's a shared office, we rent space from another company, my "star" does work for them too, he's self employed so he's a contractor for me.
I own a Google Places Business listing which points at this premises (Address & Phone number)

If it gets to the point where enough is enough and he just pisses me right off I can "switch him off" and move the office virtually to another location. He then stops getting my business and it dries up for him and starts somewhere else.
It's not a massive problem for me to "replace" the office. It's just time consuming to overhaul and find another "star-player". Of course the take-home for me drops significantly until we are up and running in another location. I would simply seek out another business doing the same thing or advertise and see if I could get someone to run the business like my former guy.
Currently it's all a bit jiggery-pokery back-shed cash-in-hand stuff but it's employing 3 people full-time and earning a pretty penny.
We pay tax and insurance... it's not a complete cowboy operation; we've been doing this stuff for over 20years so it's not like we are fly-by-nights.

BrokenArrows

I think you should approach this in two ways at the same time. Bring other staff up to speed and deal with the current employee one way or another.

1. Make sure your other employees are capable of performing all the same work as the trouble employee. Maybe they wont be as efficient but if they can get the job done then you are in a good position. Potentially bring on a new employee.

2. Once you accomplish step 1 then you need to go down the formal route with the problem employee. Inform him that is inability to accept blame when he ****s up is unacceptable. Explain that everyone makes mistakes and they you need to accept it and adjust so that it doesnt happen again. Written warning, Final warning etc.

3. Ideally he will recognise you're serious when you start making this formal and he will change.

4. If however he fails to change and you dont want him anymore, because you have completed step 1 you can give him his jacket and send him on his way.

Boom_Bap

What about getting him on a Team Leader/Management course. They can be done over a few days and you are both getting something out of it.

mrawkward

OP: In post #1 he is an employee, 3 hours later in post #5 he is a self employed contractor!! perhaps it is not all his fault!!

Digital_Guy

And it's 'cash in hand' stuff but you all pay tax and insurance...?! Not sure what kind of business it is but I'd be more wary of a Revenue audit than a problem employee. Then again maybe you don't mean 'cash in hand' in the usual sense but there really is only one sense!

That aside, it doesn't matter how much you are creaming it, the one thing you have to remember is - THE CUSTOMER IS KING. No customers - no business. Unless you are Bill Gates or Warren Buffet, no-one is indispensable and as others have mentioned, I doubt this guy is doing such a good job that you couldn't find someone else who would do at least a decent job, and help you retain and recruit more satisfied customers.

You should't be in a position where you are afraid to look at your Google reviews because of one guy who is not even an employee.

DubTony

bigpaudge wrote: »

The main manager or team leader is a genius when it comes to fixing stuff (our main business) and has really driven the company forward in the last three years... but his arrogance is driving me mad. He does fcuk up from time-to-time but can never admit he's wrong.

bigpaudge wrote: »

It's a shared office, we rent space from another company, my "star" does work for them too, he's self employed so he's a contractor for me.
I own a Google Places Business listing which points at this premises (Address & Phone number)

Maybe he's as confused as I am.

Kristopherus

OP, if he's a contractor, he cannot be an employee. He's one or the other. Do you pay him and deduct USC & Income tax from his wages or does he invoice you and charge VAT for his services?

bigpaudge

Kristopherus wrote: »

OP, if he's a contractor, he cannot be an employee. He's one or the other. Do you pay him and deduct USC & Income tax from his wages or does he invoice you and charge VAT for his services?

No. I get paid from the profits he makes each month. It's cash only, no bills or receipts change hands. We make a profit together and I get a cut. I use my cut to further promote the business and bank the rest to pay off tax and insurance and living expenses.

I realise my post is quite a bit confusing, I know it's a really weird setup but it's working apart from the odd fcuk up once a month or so and the inability of my "colleauge" to take blame on board. The post developed a bit more as answers came in. Thanks all for the contributions it makes for some good hard thinking.

bigpaudge

DubTony wrote: »

Maybe he's as confused as I am.

Sorry for confusing you, it's a weird setup. Basically it was a hobby of mine that I used to earn a few bob on the side... I started using Google business places when I was out of work... it snowballed; the work got too much for me alone... there were jobs that I just couldn't do due to lack of skills. I invited this guy in for a try-out and he made a BIG difference... he got the ball rolling even further. I suppose I shouldn't really complain too much and get used to the fact that you can't please all of the people all of the time, there are bound to be a few moaners here and there. It's just I get frustrated with the guy when he turns around and tells me I didn't explain something clearly enough,... when it's clear as fcuking day in front of him. If there are issues he pushes aside and changes the subject when he's put on the spot, it's like working with a big kid.

I registered myself as a sole-trader and pay tax on profits when a customer asks for a receipt for work done, the rest is cash-in-hand.

bigpaudge

Digital_Guy wrote: »

- THE CUSTOMER IS KING. No customers - no business.
You should't be in a position where you are afraid to look at your Google reviews because of one guy who is not even an employee.

The google reviews are great, I'm not worried there. A couple of them are atrocious though, but out of 50 reviews that's to be expected I think.

Yes the customer is King but sometimes they are loonies too; real loonies that call you every 20 minutes on Sunday morning and ask about a job... that's the problem working with "joe public" you don't know what type of weirdo you have in your shop until you speak to them for 5 minutes.

Stheno

I'd have two concerns if I were you

1. Are you explaining things correctly to him or do you ever take this feedback on board?
2. Your tax affairs, if the revenue audit you, you can be fined up to 100% of any taxes you have not declared on top of having to pay the original taxes. There are also additional significant penalties that accrue on an ongoing basis over time.

bigpaudge

Stheno wrote: »

I'd have two concerns if I were you

1. Are you explaining things correctly to him or do you ever take this feedback on board?
2. Your tax affairs, if the revenue audit you, you can be fined up to 100% of any taxes you have not declared on top of having to pay the original taxes. There are also additional significant penalties that accrue on an ongoing basis over time.

There could be room for improvement on the explanation part, English is not his first language and we communicate mostly via Email. I'll work on that.

We're all good on the tax stuff, everything that needs to be declared is declared. Any cash that comes in is generally cash-in-hand, it usually matches the amount in receipts. I mean I'm not earning thousands on this with wads stuffed under the mattress and in the fridge. We're a small repair shop out of all the other hundred or so dotted around the country. It's just we're really good

Stheno

bigpaudge wrote: »

We're all good on the tax stuff, everything that needs to be declared is declared. Any cash that comes in is generally cash-in-hand, it usually matches the amount in receipts. I mean I'm not earning thousands on this with wads stuffed under the mattress and in the fridge. We're a small repair shop out of all the other hundred or so dotted around the country. It's just we're really good

Do you lodge that cash into the bank?

bigpaudge

Stheno wrote: »

Do you lodge that cash into the bank?

Some of it, yes.

Bandara

This is an absolute time bomb

I'm well up there with the the duckers and divers etc but there are no loose ends to catch me out.

Your wide open to getting absolutely hammered into oblivion here.

Either dump this guy and replace (I've been in your position so much times over the years that if so-and-so left I'd be screwed - except I never was, I just replaced them and life went on).

Make him a small partner in your business with structures in place to incentivise him and a hard line of policy clearly identified that must be adhered too.

Either way you need to (and I know it's a stupid phrase) "man up" and have a blunt talk with him one on one in person. If it ends in a screaming match thats absolutely fine. You both go away, have a think and come back again in a far better much more open honest environment to decide where to go from here. Clean the slate of the past lack of attitude from him and lack of leadership from you.

No offence intended btw.

I repeat my initial point heavily : YOU ARE LEAVING YOURSELF WIDE OPEN ON SO MANY LEVELS.

It may have started as a hobby, it's now a business. Treat it as such. Cash in hand is amateur hour and a serious no no. There are plenty of ways to fiddle the books that are untraceable.

freedominacup

bigpaudge wrote: »

Some of it, yes.

Whoops.