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When Your Sales Star is a Problem Employee
June 8, 2007
She’s the star performer – but the rest of the team can’t stand her! Now what?!
We worked with a client once who, having recently hired a top-notch salesperson, was horrified to learn that the rest of the team couldn’t stand her. He felt very awkward about it and likened his situation to being that of a parent between squabbling siblings. He wasn’t far off with his assessment, truth be told.
Tension between colleagues is of course completely normal and to be expected at least occasionally. However, assuming you have also thought about “fit” when you’ve hired, you shouldn’t be in a situation where your people just can’t get along with each other at all.
This situation was also somewhat unusual in that the object of everyone’s ire was the same person. Our client felt bad for the “star performer” in question, even though she didn’t seem in the least bit aware of it, let alone fazed by it. But emotions ran high, to the point where one of the older and more experienced team members threw down an “either she goes or I go” ultimatum. It was serious. The team really couldn’t stand her and were becoming so pre-occupied with their dislike of this woman that they spent more time talking about her than actually doing any work.
“Oy Gevalt”, as our client said (who isn’t even Jewish, he just likes the expression).
So what do you do in a situation like this?
First of all, don’t make any assumptions about what’s going on – there are often more to these situations than meets the eye (and sometimes more than you will be told).
Secondly, speak to people individually about the situation. Get specifics, examples, probe to fully understand the reasons for the way people feel. Don’t draw any conclusions until you’ve spoken to everyone – there will generally be at least one “voice of reason” in the middle of the high drama: someone who sees things a little more objectively.
Consider the performance factors. Could this be resentment of a star performer because she’s consistently outperforming them? Stranger things have happened, and the freeze out of such an employee can make you wonder whether you’re in a workplace or a college sorority when it happens.
Remember –
don’t take any nonsense. If you establish clearly that this really is a clear-cut case of resentment, make your feelings known and use it as an opportunity to set the bar, clarify the ground rules about behavior and teamwork and send them all back to work with their tails between their legs.
If you establish other reasons for the Sturm and Drang that have nothing to do with the workplace, you will need to be very firm. This might be something like the “she slept with Tracy’s boyfriend and now Tracy finds it hard to work here so we want this woman out” defense: Don’t get involved – you are essentially being used as the weapon in someone else’s war. Don’t go there. Simply speak to “Tracy”, make it clear that she must sort out her own private conflicts with her colleague, separately and away from the office. Make it clear what a difficult situation you have been placed in and make it equally clear that if you have to choose between them, the one with the best sales numbers is going to be the one that keeps her job. Tell everyone else to mind their own business and get back to work.
Hopefully, the situation will improve, Tracy will step up and deal with her conflict personally and the mini-soap opera you’ve been experiencing at work will go to an extended commercial break. At least, until the next one comes along.
Our client? He didn’t have such a happy ending. He got so fed up of the squabbling, he fired his “star performer” on a technicality in an emotional moment, just so he could go back to a quiet life. And now of course, it’s very clear who’s in charge.
Oy Gevalt indeed.
Posted by Alan Ibbotson on June 8, 2007 | Comments (3)
