How To Fire And Layoff - By Kevin Muir, Author of Employee Termination Guidebook
Factor #1: Fight Or Flight… How The Problem Employee Will Take Advantage Of You
Even when you don’t tell him directly, the problem employee always knows he’s “on the bubble” and may be fired soon. It’s almost as if he can read your mind.
This wouldn’t be a problem if the employee would take the hint and improve his performance and behavior. But, this seldom happens because a bad apple remains a bad apple. Instead, you’ll notice that his behavior will get worse. He’ll either:
* Begin an intimidation campaign against you to save his job, or,
* Become a zombie doing little work.
You’ll notice these behaviors match the “fight or flight” response you learned in school. If you recall, when an animal gets into trouble, there are just two reactions, fight or flight. As we’ve seen, your employee will react the same way when his job is threatened.