Friday, February 03, 2012

People Problem



"People don't want to work with him."

"That's understandable. Would you want to work with him?"

"No, but he's been here a long time. I think he went to high school with the founder."

"So that's why you haven't fired him?"

"That and the lawyers, of course. They get nervous about wrongful discharge lawsuits. I see them about various incidents and they ask if I can find some isolated spot for him; a room where he could be kept. I guess I'm supposed to wander by every two weeks and slide a check under the door. You know I've started smoking again? My stomach churns acid every time I see him."

"What's his view of his performance?"

"He thinks he's one of my best employees. He tells me that everyone else is giving away the store and if it weren't for him, this place would fall apart. From what I can see, he's as happy as a clam at high tide. I'm the guy who's losing sleep."

"Have you told him how often you need to clean up the problems he produces?"

"I meant to do so at his performance evaluation meeting the other day. Somehow I got distracted. You know, he's sort of an intimidating guy."

"What do the other employees think of the situation?"

"I imagine they think I'm an idiot."

2 comments:

Bob said...

I'm thinking the problem person isn't the real problem.....

Michael Wade said...

Bob,

That may be true.

Michael