People are hired on their skills and fired on their attitude

We all have those people in our companies that seem to hang around like a bad smell. They irritate the people around them with their negative comments and it seems like every time they open their mouths something rotten comes out. But we keep them around because they produce results.

A bad attitude is like a virus, it spreads! The symptoms include spiking temperatures (tempers), irritating coughs (snide side comments), (verbal) vomiting, fatigue (from the constant search for fault), sore throat (from the constant complaining), bleeding (usually from the back, after having been stabbed), headaches.....

And just like the flu it starts with one person, who infects their closest colleague and before you know it half the office is "sick". This is the environment that a negative person thrives in, so they keep producing, but all the people around them start to drop like flies. Therein lays the problem, when they appear to be the only person producing results, how can we justify getting rid of them or calling them in for an attitude adjustment?

"If you aren't fired with enthusiasm, you will be fired with enthusiasm"  Vince Lombardi

The toughest thing is to call them in and reprimand them. They are often really slippery and have heaps of evidence of how they are over performing in comparison to others. They will have great excuses and justifications, low personal responsibility and be in denial about their impact on the people around them. They will even have dates and times and before you know it you'll be talking about how everyone else is not doing their jobs. So what to do?

1. Make sure you have your ammunition before you call the meeting and that it is accurate and specific.
2. Inoculate them before you begin the conversation - it's like a small pox vaccination, telling them they are not going to like what you have to say and you would appreciate them hearing you out.
3. Let them know you have all the evidence that they outperform everyone else, the problem is their behaviour and attitude.
4. Don't get side tracked talking about performance, stick to the issue at hand.
5. Be very clear about what is and isn't acceptable behaviour and what the consequences will be if improvement isn't seen.  (Much the same as any other performance review)
6. When you are finished speaking, ask them this question: 'How am I accurate and where can you see the truth in what I am saying?'

Some people will take what you say and make the necessary changes, others will quit and some will stay and start a counter revolution. Be prepared for all outcomes! Attempting to change and influence the attitudes and behaviours of competent, yet negative people is often a losing battle, and one you can avoid by not hiring them in the first place.

'You can't spend too much time or effort on hiring smart. The alternative is to manage tough, which is much more time consuming" Gary Rogers, CEO, Dryers Grand Ice-cream.

Seminars on hiring often reinforce the erroneous idea that competence is the most important trait in the prospective employee. Whilst competence is important, it means NOTHING without a good ATTITUDE. Most managers believe they can detect bad attitudes based on their reaction to the candidate and how well the candidate presents themselves. However, it is estimated that most achieve only 30% accuracy on assessing people's attitudes. 

Why so low? The reason is that interviewers often misinterpret a winning personality as a positive attitude. Presenting oneself in a positive light is a technique that is easy to learn, making it very difficult to judge who someone really is and how they will behave a couple of months down the line, when they no longer feel they have to be on their best behaviour.

Hiring keen and eager people with a 'service first' attitude who need some sharpening of their skills is always going to give a better long term result.  

We say, "Train for competence, coach for performance, always hire on attitude!" 

About the author

Jennifer Elliott is the CEO of Integrity and Values.Com

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