Stop Keeping the Wrong Person in the Wrong Role!

I was recently strategizing with a business around why they weren’t reaching their profit goals each year. Within the first few meetings, I noticed their team’s bad apple. Sure, this was a nice person who probably had a lot to offer other organizations in other capacities. But not this role, not this business.

When I filtered down to what the real problem was, I saw that this person was the lynchpin between two departments. Since he was the wrong person in the wrong role, neither department was successful. And that was having a huge effect on the bottom line.

Everyone acknowledged this person as a problem, but no one in management had taken any steps toward fixing the situation. I get it. Talking to someone about changing their role—or transitioning them out of their position—isn’t fun. But kicking the can down the road? You might as well be kicking yourself in the ass.

We quickly figured out what was holding them back from addressing the issue. If you’re in this situation, you need to do the same. Because something’s got to give. Do you want it be the employee or your business?

People are the common denominator

There are millions of businesses out there. They all do something different, but they have one thing in common: people. Whether you like it or not, employees are every businesses’ most important commodity. Not their product or service or their real estate and assets, but their people.

You get a solid team assembled, and you can conquer anything, overcome any challenge and reach almost any goal. But like the company above, add just one not-so-great person to the mix, and the whole apple cart topples (one bad apple…).

I see this exact issue all the time in the businesses I advise. And you probably see it in yours. For one reason or another, someone ends up in a role not suited to their skills. Maybe they started out performing another, more fitting task for the company and fell into their current duties. Maybe there isn’t a place for them in the organization at all.

Whatever the circumstances, one thing remains constant. Most business owners either don’t know how or don’t want to make the hard choices to improve the situation.

Don’t be afraid to say goodbye

Firing people sucks. There’s no other way to say it. No matter who you have to let go of or the circumstances surrounding their departure. Saying goodbye is never easy, often emotional and almost always awkward.

Unfortunately, the discomfort caused by letting people go usually prevents us from moving forward. And that means the wrong people stay in the wrong roles. Because we’re afraid to pull the trigger.

Face your fears! Firing people is like ripping off a bandage. Not great in the moment, but once you do you’re glad you did.

Amp up your hiring process

Don’t just think about this issue after the fact. Think about how you hire people. This process should be in-depth and completed with as much care as your next million-dollar contract. Why? Because good employees are worth more than a stack of million-dollar contracts, that’s why.

Approach building your team the way you would approach hiring a nanny for your kids or a caretaker for an ailing family member. Get to know these people inside and out and have complete confidence in how they’ll perform in their role.

Hire a business strategist

Try as you might, you can’t always get hiring right. If you fear you have a bad apple (or two), you need to look at your business with a new set of eyes: the eyes of a business strategist.

A business strategist’s perspective helps you find those bad apples and figure out whether they’re worth salvaging (to make pie, of course) or if they should be tossed altogether. They can figure out what you should do and help you see it through, firings and all.

Worried the wrong people in the wrong roles is holding your business back? Get in touch with me here or through my website.