Of all the ways I spend my time at work, dealing with a problematic employee is my least favorite. It is a much more pleasant task to find and retain the key talent we need to succeed.

Dealing with personnel problems is a dreaded part of management and, as a result, they often take a backburner when they arise. Of all the ways I spend my time at work, dealing with a problematic employee is my least favorite. It is a much more pleasant task to find and retain the key talent we need to succeed.

When the team has a weak link, I have found that a manager's procrastination often results in more effort and time to keep the rest of the group satisfied. Nothing works to deflate a group more than a member not pulling his or her weight.

Learning how to hire smarter and how to fire when necessary are both part of my personal goals this year. Like most small-business owners, especially those dealing with creative staff, I could fill volumes on the chaos made from hiring poorly and dealing slowly with problems. I have learned from my mistakes and have embraced better practices that have helped me navigate these touchy situations. We never become perfect at it - just, hopefully, improve and learn some wisdom.

Starting Early
The hiring and training process sets the stage for future success. The best new staff members jump in and become part of the fabric of our firm with minimal training and require little handholding. Those magic new hires seamlessly blend in with all the existing personalities and seem to have been part of our group forever.

Other new hires, however, seem to require extra training, and their interaction with the group dynamic seems to point to future problems. Discerning these problems before employees join the firm and creating a "no surprise" system in hiring practices helps smooth the transition for new employees.

Getting input from the management team early in the interview process - prior to jumping into a hiring decision - helps alleviate some problems. Additionally, these employees will often mentor more earnestly and assist with training a new member when they have had input in the hiring.

I have found that having multiple key people meet and discern issues with the potential candidates helps with buy-in prior to hiring. When you are eager to find talent, it can be easy to ignore signals that someone is not a good fit for your company. Using others to identify problems has helped in finding areas where talent might not fit the company's culture.

Identifying Traits
An outstanding resume and an impressive portfolio do not always equal a great team player. Discussing the various initial impressions on a candidate's strengths and possible weaknesses with co-workers helps with hiring smarter.

Every organization needs to find personalities that work well with the existing ones, and finding those matches can be difficult. Using personality profile tests, such as the Myers Briggs test, to confirm a person's profile and traits can help find individuals that work well with team members. These personality profile tests are easily available online and will help you know the strengths and gaps of those you are interviewing.

The best group dynamics seem to happen when we hire new staff members with a clear understanding of what skills they are going to bring to the table. However, hiring people with the same skill sets we have currently is counterproductive to offering clients the best full pool of talents.

One of the designers in our firm has many of my own personality traits and talents, but the entire firm thinks two of us are enough. I have to admit, we both are full of creative juices and low on organizational skills. We are both very passionate about what we do, but the details are not our strength. Everyone that surrounds us enjoys details and organizing our creative chaos.

It takes two assistants to keep me organized and focused on deadlines and budgets. The joke in the office is that the two assistants are considering the need for a third. It is not a joke when you know you need help in areas of your work, and you are not able to find the right surrounding team to help you accomplish all you have undertaken. The key is to find those around you who have the skills you wish you possessed. The "hire to your weaknesses" philosophy has become a mantra in our firm.

Take Your Time
It also has proven best to have several interviews with each candidate and to not jump into decisions based on immediate needs. Just because you have an opening does not mean you are going to find the right person available.

It has worked better to gather the troops, explain the situation and wait for the best candidate. It may result in overtime, but that is better than hiring someone who causes stress because he or she is a wrong fit. Hiring the "quick fix" has proven to often be a mistake; the candidates deserve careful consideration.

Checking facts and looking for holes in the resume is important. What candidates are not saying is as important as what they are. It might take a little digging to find out who was the candidate's immediate supervisor, as opposed to contacting the listed reference for a past employer.

In litigious times, it is hard to get past employers to share information, but often a word or intonation can speak volumes. If there is a great reference, people seem very willing to say glowing remarks. It is critical to listen carefully when past employers are holding back information or just give standard answers, such as dates of employment.

It is also helpful to have other team members take the candidates out for a casual meal. They might pick up on subtle traits and attitudes that do not come out during a formal interview.

Mistakes often result from imagining what the new hire will be, rather than getting to know who he or she really is. The new employee cannot possibly live up to your image of his or her skills, and panic hiring usually leaves everyone dissatisfied. It is better to actually assess the candidate's skills and weaknesses before you hire him or her.

No one person has all the talents. Assembling a team of employees with different skills proves to be the best for everyone and results in no single person expected to be the whole solution.

Taking Necessary Action
When a serious problem with an employee occurs, the hardest part is determining how much time to spend on helping the employee improve. Managers should spend time and give employees the proper commitment to help them improve. You want to make sure you have done all you can for the employee's success. Feeling confident that you have made your best effort to help the employee is part of the fuel you will need to proceed to termination, if necessary. After time and training, you might decide the group cannot be slowed down and cover for the problems of a single employee.

With one painful employee hire, we tried everything to make it work, devoting many sessions to go over areas that needed improvement. The day finally came when I knew it was not going to improve and it was time to let the employee go. During the termination discussion, the employee stated that he had known for a while it was not working, either, and was actually relieved that he could go forward. It was a shock to learn that I was the last to figure out the obvious solution.

It is harmful to all sides to put off an inevitable situation. The employee deserves a positive work situation. No one enjoys coming into the office and feeling disappointment and out of sync with the culture of the firm.

When someone is not performing, it is so much better to let him or her move forward and find the next stage in life. Being unhappy and frozen in a bad situation is not healthy for the employee or the employer. What began as something I dreaded became a relief for me, the company and the employee. My only regret was not recognizing and moving on sooner for us all.  F+I

Juliana M. Catlin, FASID, is founder and president of Catlin Interiors Inc. For more information, call 904-396-5522.