Four Signs You Have the Wrong Employee

Employees can be a great joy or a huge pain. In many agencies, “we work with the team” is the crux of conversation. It’s challenging to find good staff, so all too often we retain team members who are not a great fit or make our lives harder, because the idea of recruiting overwhelms us. We see many agencies settling for less than ideal team members under the philosophy that the devil you know is better than the one you don’t. I strongly encourage every agency owner to be better than that. Your agency, your team and your customers deserve the best, so when we settle for average, we are accepting that we want to be a mediocre agency.

Now, with this being said, before you go and dismiss your entire team, take a long look in the mirror. How are you leading the troops? Do they have clear job descriptions? Accountability and documented processes?  Are you giving them direct feedback? Or are you just simply sitting at your desk frustrated because you don’t want to ruffle feathers or hurt feelings? Many mediocre team members can become extraordinary with clear direction and training. However, 78% of agencies have no ongoing training program in place. We, as owners, have to take responsibility to coach and train our team relentlessly.

Once you do your leadership check and you still aren’t feeling stellar about a few team members, here are the four signs that it may be time to part ways.

Sign 1: You Hope You Don’t Have to Interact With Them

Every business owner has had one of these people. You hope they don’t come to your office or you run into them at the coffee maker. But instead you pay them several thousand dollars per year to irritate you. It could be their negative attitude, the fact it’s never their fault or that they tattle on everyone. Or worse, maybe they even tell you what to do or how bad things are. Generally this person is very insurance smart but people skills poor and it leads to drama, drama, drama. You need people to have a good attitude and be teachable and this person’s attitude is never going to change.

Sign 2: They Just Aren’t Picking Up What You Are Putting Down

Now this one is a delicate subject, so stay with me. Working in insurance is a very technical, think on your feet type of job. It’s not for everyone and to do the job well you really have to be very detailed, good at multitasking and, well, just plain old smart. A smart person can pick up insurance quickly and do it well and if someone is not sharp, you end up building a job around them and taking activities away. This will breed team resentment and you may wonder what they are doing all day. Find smart people with drive and you will win.

Sign 3: It’s Always Someone Else’s Fault

We spend too much time in insurance learning about the entire story of why something went wrong. As a business owner I really don’t care to have to spend a few hours being a detective and then having to be the judge and jury. What I care about is admitting fault, getting a plan together, fixing the problem and making sure it doesn’t happen again. When it’s always someone else’s fault, typically it’s their fault.

Sign 4: They Sometimes Come to Work

There is always one person who thinks a start time is optional. They call out too frequently and are always living a personal soap opera story. They come in late, lunches always run over and for some reason putting in a full day is very elusive. This person also generally does a text callout 30 minutes before you open. You don’t have time for this behavior. You need employees you can count on that value a team. If you are constantly working around them, it won’t work.

When you make the decision to move on from a team member, your best bet is to be clear on expectations and use write-ups and performance improvement plans. There is a great art to managing someone out of the company with very clear warning signs and documentation. Often by being direct, they will start looking for a new position, while you can do the same. The best scenario is the person finds a better fit for them and you can do the same for your agency.