Why You May Need to Fire Your Top Performer

By Paul Katsch
Restaurant Advocate and President of DinnerWire, Inc.

In every office there's a shining star - someone who excels at sales, customer service, or management responsibilities. But what do you do when your "best employee" is actually costing you?

If you're a business owner, chances are you put a lot of pride into your customer service and company reputation. You've worked hard and undoubtedly made sacrifices to get to where you are, so you can't let a rotten employee weigh you down. Sure, their personal sales numbers may be astounding, but if they create a toxic work environment for your patrons or other employees, your whole business will still suffer. So what are some warning signs and where should you draw the line? Even if you want to treat your business like family, at the end of the day it's your business and your hard work on the line, so you need to be sure you're making the right choice for your future.

The Big 3

Sales Performance x

Customer Service x

Management & Employee Relations

= Successful Employee

Sales Performance:

A commonly used evaluation point, to maintain a successful business it's important your employees can competently and passionately sell your product. Whether you run a commission-based sales program, or pay your employees hourly with the expectation they up-sale, sales reports can be a good tool for performance evaluations. AND sales alone should not determine the ultimate success of an employee. If your employee is rude to customers or coworkers they could be losing you serious potential business, no matter how much they personally sell. 

Customer Service: 

Your employees are the face of your business, which can either help you or hurt you. If you work in a high stress environment, like a restaurant, at any time your business can start bustling while putting a demanding strain on your employees. People are human, and we do make mistakes, but if you don't clearly establish and enforce your expectations, problem employees can quickly ruin your business' hard earned reputation. It's not only how they treat your customers when you're around, but how do they act when they think no one is watching? Sometimes, if the problem is great enough the customer may bring it to your attention, but surely not everyone who is treated poorly is going to take it to the manager/owner. However, they WILL tell their friends, share it on social media, and otherwise express their disappointing service. You can run around like crazy trying to put out these small fires before they spread, but the best course of action is to prevent the problem in the first place. If you're getting complaints about an employee, take steps to validate the claims, whatever it takes you must act. It's easier to ruin a reputation than to build a good one, do not let your employees destroy what you've built. 

Management And Employee Relations: 

So maybe your star employee hits your sales goals, and greets your guests with a smile, but if they don't get along with the rest of your workforce they can still hurt your business. Do not underestimate the power of workforce morale. You can look to the corporate giants like Google to see how much time, effort, and resources they put into their employees. The driving thought behind it? Happy employees will work harder for your business. Beyond the work environment you try to create as the owner, your employee's satisfaction also depends on their working relationships. Poor management or rude coworkers can be destructive to your employees desire to work, and can influence both their sales and customer service.

So how much is too much? As the owner, that decision is up to you. What we suggest is to clearly establish, or remind your employees of your expectations. This alone is not enough, you also need established methods of evaluation. Finally, if your employee just can't cut it, you have to make the decision to discipline them or let them go. Even your best seller is replaceable, however your business is not.