I’m writing this post today based on an actual circumstance I am facing as a current small business owner. Although many of you may telecommute and may not manage employees per se, as a business professional, it is always important to be aware of sticky situations such as feeling the need to fire an employee based on certain circumstances or poor work performance.

During a recent conference I attended, I learned that bad employees can literally poison a business, and personal feelings aside, these types of employees ought to be warned or let go at first sign of trouble.

I am a nice woman, and often let my intuition and feelings guide me, but in order to be a smart and savvy business owner, I need to put my personal feelings aside, and focus on what’s RIGHT FOR MY BUSINESS. Before I list some signs on when it’s time to consider firing or letting go of your employee(s), first let me say that if you own a business and hire employees, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE AN EMPLOYEE HANDBOOK, and that all employees SIGN IT. Now that I’m at this situation in my place of business, I am so grateful that I have an employee handbook in place, signed by all employees. This handbook will come in very handy (pardon the pun) now!

Signs that Your Employee is Bad for Business

1.) Using work time as personal time (IM’ing, social networking, game playing, etc.)
2.) Frequent absences
3.) Poor work performance; unable to carry out basic duties described in their job description (indicating employee may have misled you on their capabilities.)
4.) Lack of motivation; wandering about aimlessly.
5.) Tendency to cause workplace stress
6.) Impolite, non-professional to clients
7.) Is causing your business to lose money
8.) Poor hygiene and appearance at work

Those are just some of the top signs of a bad employee. If you have more, please offer your advice here!

Have a great weekend, all!

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Categories: Tips for Telecommuters
Tags: bad employee, boss, business owner, flexible work, manage employee, poor employee performance, telecommute, work at home, work at home dad, work at home mom, work conflicts, work from home, work from home business