Every company has them--employees who push every limit to the max and just drive you crazy. We'll share some tips from the HR Red book® and tell you about a new BLR audio conference that guarantees to help you with your ‘duds.’

Do you recognize any of these common employee types?

  • A longtime employee who calls in sick with a “24-hour bug”—every other week, and usually on a Friday
  • The new administrative assistant who’s wonderful with her boss but spreads malicious gossip within her department
  • A new sales rep whose work effort seesaws throughout the year, smashing quotas one month but slacking off on customer calls the next
  • The supervisor who comes and goes as she pleases, saying she's on "intermittent leave"

    Such workers—some call them “duds”—aren’t completely failing in their jobs, at least not to the point that you’re ready to fire them. Instead, they’re falling short in one or more areas, and you know that you must fix these performance issues soon before the workers turn into full-time problems.

    BLR's famous "Red Book" (officially known as What to Do About Personnel Problems in [Your State]) recommends that, in dealing with duds, you consider both proactive and reactive measures. For example, with attendance problems—assuming they’re not maliciously intended—proactive measures might include:

  • Compressed workweek. For example, letting workers work four 10-hour days or four 9- hour days and one 4-hour day.
  • Flextime. Allowing workers to set their schedules to suit their needs (usually within certain limits).
  • Job sharing. Permitting two or more employees to share a single job.
  • Rewards. Consider attendance bonuses as a way to reward employees for good attendance.
  • Telecommuting. Letting individuals work at home some or all of the time.

    Some 20 percent of your people—the duds—take up 80 percent of your time, right? Learn to deal with the duds during a special BLR May 13 audio conference, The Dishonest, the Difficult, and the Duds: How To Eliminate Common Personnel Problems Without Getting Sued. Can’t attend? Preorder the CD. Click for more information.

    When proactive solutions don't work, consider reactive solutions such as counseling, discipline, and ultimately, termination.

    Of course, in dealing with duds, one needs to be careful. Because their behaviors are not totally negative, those outside the organization might tend to sympathize with and excuse them. That’s particularly a problem when those observers are plaintiffs’ attorneys and juries. How do you make sure your policies in handling marginally problematic employees are seen as both proper and legal?

    Answering that question is the purpose of BLR’s new audio conference, The Dishonest, the Difficult, and the Duds: How To Eliminate Common Personnel Problems Without Getting Sued. Attendees can expect to learn when to step in (and when not), what to say when you do, how to document, and what elements you’ll need to prove your case.

    Are employee “duds” a protected class? No, but sometimes it seems like it! Learn to deal with them without incurring lawsuits in BLR’s May 13 90-minute audio conference. Can't attend? Preorder the CD! Read more.

    The date is Tuesday, May 13, 2008. The time: 1:30 pm to 3 pm (Eastern time—adjust for your time zone). As with all BLR audio conferences, one fee trains all the staff you can fit around a conference phone, and you can get your (and their) specific phoned-in or emailed questions answered in an extensive Q&A to follow the presentation. Your satisfaction is assured or you get a full refund.

    What if you can’t attend on that date? Preorder the conference CD. For more information on the conference and the experts presenting it, to register, or to pre-order the CD, click here. We’ll be happy to make the arrangements.