3 Toxic Employees You Need to Fire Now

(Via Entrepreneur magazine)

From a thoughtful hiring process to a thorough training program, you’ve done everything you can to find and prepare the best employees for your company. But no system is foolproof and sometimes a few bad apples can slip through the cracks.

Of course, some people just need a simple redirect to fall in line, so trying to correct the behavior should be your first step. But other times, employees can be so toxic, they can poison your workplace, says human resources consultant Suzanne Benoit, founder of Portland, Maine-based Benoit Consulting Services.

“You can have someone who is a very good technical performer, but that makes other people in the office go home crying,” Benoit says. “If you have people who are interfering with the performance of others, you need to consider letting them go.”

It’s a good idea to consult legal counsel before you terminate someone for their behavior to ensure you’ve protected yourself. But, in her experience, Benoit says these three types of employees usually just have to go.

1. The Untouchable

If someone has made him or herself “invaluable” or closely aligned with a powerful person within the company and is using that position to bully others or get preferential treatment, the situation can be damaging to your business, Benoit says. She’s even seen situations where the company owner has relinquished so much control to an assistant or subordinate that he or she is afraid to let that person go.

Perhaps your assistant is stepping over the line with his authority or a junior salesperson whose mentor is your top performer is ordering others around. If you see this kind of behavior or you sense bad blood between employees, it’s probably time to investigate the source.

2. The Pot-Stirrer
This is the person who pits office mate against office mate using gossip, rumor and innuendo. The Pot-Stirrer can usually be found at the center of any office drama, possibly with popcorn in hand. And while the arguments may seem like petty nonsense, this person is causing repeated disruptions in the workplace and costing you productivity and employee engagement.

The entire article is available at Entrepreneur.com