To start, my pedigree. I have either managed or owned a design firm since 1985, with primary responsibility for managing production and design for firms ranging from 4 to 30 employees. All of them ranged in education and experience from high school to Ph.D. educations. When I finally sold my company, I was managing a payroll that had reached close to $700,000 a year.
I love people and loved the interactions and relationships I built with people in my business, I consider many of them to be close friends, even now, some 6 years after I sold my interest in the company. The people I brought in, at a professional level, have all gone on to either run firms or have become educators and professors. All of that being said...I found that investing time in some people did not return benefit.
1. I realized over time and many mistakes, that when I have two people who bring drama and duel with each other, letting one go, often empowers the other to seek getting rid of anyone else they dislike. Getting rid of both, lets the rest of the staff know that professional behavior is not a choice.
2. There are some people who simply spread dissension in a staff, these people need to be removed ASAP. For whatever reason, they cannot be happy, and if they sit in your staff long enough, they spread that unhappiness.
3. If I give a person a chance, one chance, and explain that what they are unhappy with is the business process, and that it that, and they still complain every time, then they are always going to be a problem, they will eventually recruit others to their vision. The team is what matters.
