| Author |
Going Away Lunch for Employee I Can't Stand |
BusinessOwner
Joined: Dec 04, 2004
Posts: 49 |  Posted: 2008-04-10 08:13
Boy, do I feel like a forum hog.
I have an employee who's been with us for a few years and is leaving at the end of the month. We usually have a going away lunch for long term employees who are leaving the company and I usually say 'a few words'.
What do you say when you have nothing good to say?
|
mayafoxr
Joined: Jun 05, 2007
Posts: 9 | Posted: 2008-04-10 08:51
I suggest praising the employee's past performance and highlighting contributions that the employee has made to your company. Keep it professional, short, and remember to smile!
|
aljh
Joined: Sep 13, 2001
Posts: 447 | Posted: 2008-04-10 09:00
Thank them for their contribution, wish them the best of luck in their new endeavor, and in the back of your mind you'll be thinking "good riddance!"
You don't have to like everyone who works for you - in fact I don't think it's possible.
|
howard7
Joined: Sep 13, 2001
Posts: 2615 | Posted: 2008-04-10 09:11
Nothing good to say? What exactly does this mean? Have you been accepting less that satisfactory performance from this person? If yes you know that this is a failure to lead and set the right tone for your business.
Have you considered that you may be giving off "bad vibes" about those in the company that you feel this way about? You need to consider why you have this opinion of this person and then deal with it.
As stated above you do not have to like or be social with the staff but there should be some mutual respect for the work being accomplished.
After all you have paid her and there must have been some acceptable output right?
|
BusinessOwner
Joined: Dec 04, 2004
Posts: 49 | Posted: 2008-04-10 17:50
Oh Howard7, you always hit the nail on the head and I stand here with my tail between my legs.
You are right, for a long time I have accepted less that satisfactory performance and I have failed to lead.
I am realizing this and frequenting this board because I hope to not make the same mistakes again. Of all the aspects of running a business, I was least prepared for managing people. I don't enjoy it, I'm not good at it, I haven't been trained in it, etc. The truth is, I never expected my business to grow to where I needed employees but that's another story.
In this case, the employee started out in one position (that she was quite good at) and moved into another. Over the years, I began to get annoyed. She resisted changed, frequently did not do things I requested and has an attendance record that would have me arrested for bad management if that were possible. I always thought that perhaps I was being unfair or too picky or that we just had personalities that were like oil and water. However, in the last year several of my new employees have complained about this particular person and I feel like I raised a monster by allowing the behavior to go on for so long. That said, I still struggle with it because sometimes I sense an attitude coming from an employee but I'm not sure what is going on. Then the next day, they seem perfectly fine or friendly. Or I ask them to do something but short of standing over their shoulder, I'm not certain they are doing it. The list goes on, indefinitely. I'm confused!
|
deltac
Joined: Jul 27, 2004
Posts: 261 | Posted: 2008-04-29 10:39
It's nice to have a send-off for people who are leaving, but maybe you should think about focusing more on those who are with you and how you communicate your expectations and recognition to them. That would help avoid some of the tensions you are describing.
|
lda
Joined: Jul 10, 2007
Posts: 201 | Posted: 2008-04-29 11:55
We had one of those a while back. I was probably the happiest one there. The challenge was not looking to happy.
|
delta1991
Joined: Nov 06, 2007
Posts: 3 | Posted: 2008-05-06 09:03
Thank her for her years of service and her contribution in growing the business, wish her success in all of her future endeavors, and end it there. No need to get mushy.
|
harris_adh
Joined: May 06, 2008
Posts: 1 | Posted: 2008-05-06 09:24
Hi Mr. Business Owner,
As is evident by now that your problem runs much deeper than it appears on the surface. Might as well call it the tip of an ice berg. You can always deliver a speech and i am sure you will pull it off easily. What i would like to suggest here is that if you think that you havent been groomed enough to tackle people challenges then how about looking for someone to handle them who has formal training in this area? Allow this person sometime to create new processes in your organization. As someone rightly suggested that you need to put the yardstick for the kind of culture you would like to promote at work and accordingly reinforce the same by means of rewards and recognition. Hire someone who can provide you technical knowledge and you be the provider of important inputs from business viewpoint as no one else would know ypur business as well as you do.
|
roncourtney
Joined: May 06, 2008
Posts: 1 | Posted: 2008-05-06 12:52
Its probably true that you raised a spoiled child, however, no one is great at all aspects of business. You are successful by your own definition so don't beat up on yourself - plenty of others do that. Give her a gift certificate to a local place to eat. Then plan a luncheon with the "good" staff after she is gone! After all its your business.
|
= Member Only
