A man owned an unruly dog that just wouldn’t behave. The animal refused to be trained. One day the dog bit the man as he was trying to play with him.

“That’s it,” the master said in a fit of exasperation. “I’m getting rid of you once and for all.” As the man dragged the dog into the woods, a neighbor came up to him and offered a suggestion.

“The way to tame that unruly beast is to fasten a heavy chain around his neck. That will stop him from biting, and it will be proof to everybody not to go near the animal.”

The man liked the suggestion and chained the beast. The dog looked down at his chain and thought it a badge of distinction. When the man and the dog went to the marketplace, the dog purposefully rattled the chain to get everyone’s attention.

An old dog limped over to the unruly animal and said, “I wouldn’t make so much noise if I were you. Wearing a chain like that is no honor. It more likely confirms what an incorrigible beast you really are.”

What is Aesop’s moral of the story?

People often mistake notoriety for fame.

Perspective:-

Have you ever had a “dog” of an employee working for you whose performance was chronically subpar? How did you handle the situation?

Whether you are going to keep or dismiss a marginal employee, your first step is the same: Document the problem. The chain around the neck of the mischievous dog was the first documentation that the animal’s behavior was a problem. Nobody likes to sit down with a worker and discuss poor job performance, but it’s essential to let workers know where they stand, including the problem, the solution, and the schedule for turning around the performance.

Workers are more likely to accept criticism and modify behavior if you present specific examples of nonperformance or how performance could be improved.

Do your best to help an employee turn bad performance into good, but don’t be afraid to face the business reality that some people just don’t belong on the payroll. Whatever the reason, dismissing someone is never pleasant or easy. But if you have no other choice, do it the right way. Besides following the guidelines given under the Labor laws (which varies from country to country), the following steps are recommended by David Kingsley – the first four steps (in his book, How to Fire an Employee) and David Noonan – the fifth step:-

1. Document the problem. We learned this lesson the hard way. Documentation protects you against lawsuits claiming unjust termination or discrimination, and refutes any claims that the employee wasn’t warned that he was “at risk”. If the employee is being dismissed as part of a general layoff, specify why the workforce is being reduced.

2. Plan the dismissal. Decide who will do the terminating and who will act as a third party and witness. Coordinate the reason for dismissal, and develop a suitable cover story that is agreeable to the employee and to management.

3. Schedule the day and time. Schedule the termination in the morning and on any day except Friday. “It’s depressing for an employee to have to go home on a Friday without a job,” Kingsley quotes one business executive. “Early in the week a person has more strength to take that kind of thing.”

4. Conduct a dress rehearsal. Leave nothing to chance. Draft a one-sided dialogue, and read from it if necessary during the actual termination.

5. Keep it short. Don’t protract the agony on dismissal day. The longer the dismissal session goes, the greater the chance for the employee to become upset. Remain calm at all times.

Remember: hiring and firing are different sides of the same coin. So if you hire well, you’ll spend less time having to fire well.

Source Noonan, David Aesop & the CEO, 122-123, 126-127. Nelson, 2005