Most of my 45 year working career has been supervisory and managerial. During this time I have hired and supervised hundreds of people. Unfortunately, I have also had to fire a handful. My last job running a 24×7 IT service desk was very intense and turnover was high. To maintain my staff of 24 meant that I was hiring someone frequently. This high level of activity helped me understand performance and particularly, non performance, in a more clear light. During one of my many sessions with HR, I was able to formulate a perfect plan for employee success and it came down to three things. I could spent a lot of time blathering on about each of these three simple rules but I will spare you the eye time. Just read the rules and think about them. They apply to every situation where I had to terminate employment. Except for business related layoffs, no person ever gets terminated if they follow these rules.
Rule #1–Come to work on time. It boggles my mind that in this day of extreme automation and sophisticated transportation that some people cannot consistently come to work on time. If they are not there, then someone else needs to do their job. Teamwork means nothing without a team.
Rule #2–Do your job. We are all hired to do something for pay. Sometimes the work is not fun or rewarding, but it is the reason that we are there. It is easy to get distracted and do things that are more interesting. But the bottom line is that people are rarely terminated (never in my shop) if they are doing their job well.
Rule #3–Be nice to others. Nothing will get you a one way trip to the parking lot these days than acts of unkindness to others. We do not have to like our co-workers. We do not have to be friends. But we do need to respect them and work together. Violations of Rule #3 are the seeds of most lawsuits. Stealing, fighting, leering, verbal attacks, the list is long but we all know what nice is. Work is the one place where everyone needs to be nice.
So throw out the HR handbooks and orientation meetings. Publish the three rules and have everyone from the CEO down follow them. The business will thrive.