Management tip: remove people who don’t support your plans

If you have people working in your store who disagree with the direction of the business and or changes you are making then you need to act. Either they wholeheartedly support your moves or they go. Having people remain working for you when they disagree with your management can harm the business and distract from the changes you want made.

It’s one thing to have a robust debate about changes you may make and another entirely to face disruptive challenges to every move you make.

I was talking to a relatively new retailer this week (they’re six months in) about the challenges of a long-term employee of the business who questions almost every move they make, complains about them behind their back and even undoes changes on the weekend if the owners are away. I told them to issue a written warning to the full-time employee with a view to termination if their behaviour does not change.

The employee in this business was being passive-agressive to the new owner and exerting more control over the business than they should. Given that the business has less that 15 employees the owner has options for a faster resolution of what is a toxic situation.

Retailers need to act as the owners they are. They need to lead the business and run it from a position of authority.

While I welcome debate about change in any business I own, once a decision is made I expect 100% support from all team members.

Please note: if you are unsure of the correct procedure to adopt when dealing with staff discipline matters the ACAS website provides plenty of good advice. You can read their Managing discipline – Investigation to possible dismissal: A guide here.