Florida Executive Search, Employment Training and

Author: Shaun Stevens

It is often said that one bad apple can spoil the barrel of apples. The same can be said of employee morale at the work. One employee with a poor attitude can ruin your whole carefully plan campaign of motivation and productivity at the jobsite.

Dealing with difficult employees is perhaps the hardest part of running any operation.
In the end after all your careful choices and planning, hiring and training it all comes down to the employees on the job. Everything in life is communication and interaction with others. In the same manner learning how to deal with difficult employees should command extra emphasis and effort in your human resources efforts.

Consider the following. It is ironic that often the most difficult employees are often the most productive. Put it another way - perhaps that employee who is draining morale is doing such as he is a lone wolf with high expectations of others. It is often said that everything is team work - rah, rah. However it can also be said that suicide bombing is a collaborative team effort and that suicide bombers are good team players. However this is not a result or kind of team that you want in your organization.

It is often noted that in any planned effort that 85 % of the results come from 15 % of the efforts. For example in real estate sales usually 85 % of the sales come from 15 % of the sales employee agents. Said another way 85 % of the other sales employees are just dead weight.

In the same manner this employee who can be singled out as ?the troublemaker” and diminishing productivity and motivation at the workplace may be the one keeping your business in the black.

Perhaps this employee is dissatisfied with the work and efforts of the other workers.
Perhaps he or she is fed up with the slackers on the job and tells them so. Or just maybe this person is a ?lone wolf” who prefers to work alone and is the most productive when put in this type of workplace setting.

In the end what can you. You have several options. First identify and measure the productivity of the specific employee. Are they a major production or profit center?
Are they perhaps lowering moral because they are insisting on high performance of others and antagonizing the other working personnel?

If so is there a way to make these efforts more productive and less negative. While it is unlikely that promoting this person to a level of management or supervisor may make sense as it may antagonize the situation further perhaps other avenues can be entertained.
Perhaps all this person needs is recognition of their good efforts and attempts to elicit a discussion on the merits of their efforts and a slight redirection for better purpose.
Perhaps specific training can be of help. For example a communications improvement program such as toastmasters or a Dale Carnegie course.

If the above turns out to be of little use and are indeed hopeless perhaps it is best to recognize the ?lone wolf” tendencies and inherent productivity or this valued employee. Not all people like to be ?team players”. Perhaps they should be left alone to prosper you on the job. Perhaps they can be promoted or moved to a job where they are unsupervised and work alone - to the better avail of the organization.

Author: Bill Piker

You should know that an important final step in completing your job search and resume preparation steps is to identify real and potential job references.

A job reference is someone who can and will vouch for your capabilities, skills, capabilities and most importantly personal integrity.

Job references are typically people who have been your instructors and coaches at school, your supervisors and co-workers and of course previous employers. Do not forget as well the supervisors or co- workers you worked along with in volunteer as well as paid work.

Several factors come in play here

First of all always ask a person a person personally if you can use them as a reference.

This cannot be overstated in importance.

Nothing is worse for your job prospects than a potential employer phoning a reference on your list to have the reference stammer and wing it on the fly.

As well you can qualify that the person you are asking to provide a reference actually thought of you and your skills highly and will provide a good reference for you as well as a good personal impression.

A person asked to be a reference can actually be your best proponent actually looking for jobs for you.

How were they to know that you are looking for a new job? They may think that you are a marvelous asset to any organization and may actually search out job positions for you.

Identify people who can and are willing to confirm (from firsthand observation) your good performance on the job, in school, or in other activities.

Employers often want at least three job references, listed on application forms.

Try to vary your reference types and positions as well. For example if possible it may not be best to have all three references from one particular job. In that case at least try to have different levels of authority,

For example - one reference from a direct supervisor, one from human resources and one from training.

It is best to have a variety of reference types.

For example if the job position is a entry level position in a new chosen industry for you where you have no track record try for 3 references - one to show that you are a dedicated employee - a former employer, one to show that you were a reliable employee - an older job or perhaps a respected person or outside source and a third from your bank manager to show that you are a person of credibility.

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You must ask this person or persons personally if you could kindly use them as a job reference.

Remember it cannot be overstressed.

Relatives or classmates are not appropriate for references. The more references that you have available the better prepared you are for your current or future job campaigns.

If you are qualified to work in two different fields, such as retail sales and accounting. You will get best results by having one set of references, targeted for each of the two fields, or a total of six references (three in the sales field and the accounting field). Some organizations ask for different types of references. For example, an employer may ask for personal references as well as professional references.

Do employers check references or not?
That is a good question.

Some job seekers will use fake references.
I am sure you have read news stories as well as seen movies where some people have risen to great heights using fraudulent references and qualifications.

While it is true that sometimes you may get away with it you can be assured if caught your chance at getting that job will be finished and indeed the word may spread and you may find it difficult to get any good job at all in your area.

Some employers and job screeners check references and some do not. It is like anything else.

It is also a test of a future employer for you. Are they thorough or slipshod? You be the judge.