Dealing with the Prima Donna

Dear Jayme,

I have a salesperson who brings in at least half of our business every month. However, he has a very negative attitude and doesn’t follow the company policies.  I know this isn’t healthy, but I’m afraid to confront him because he might blow up and leave, and I need the sales. Any suggestions?

Andrew

Dear Andrew,

It sounds like the tail is wagging the dog. Remind me: Whose company is this? Who’s running the show, investing the big bucks and signing the paychecks? Would that be you? All right, then.

There are three issues here:

Overdependence on a Single Employee

It has been said that if you find someone who’s indispensable to your company, fire them immediately. That’s a bit much, but an indispensable employee is a dangerous dependency that should be eliminated (the dependency, not the employee). How many businesses have you seen crippled when the key employee quit, or was hired away or died?

Improper Attitude and Behavior of an Employee

By tolerating this, you’re implicitly endorsing the grousing and rule-flouting behavior. This, in turn, tells the rest of your employees that your rules don’t really matter and that your authority is meaningless.

The Combination of the Two

The “prima donna.” Your business is overly dependent on a single person who’s leveraging that dependence into immunity from your business’s policies, setting a toxic example to everyone else and undermining your leadership-a perfect equation for trouble.

How to fix the problem:

Eliminate the dependency

Whether he stays or goes, develop a way to spread sales duties to others. Rearrange territories, start training a junior salesperson, etc. The prima donna won’t like this, but that’s OK.

Set behavior standards

Create a set of guiding principles that create the culture you want around you, including behavioral policies.

Get serious

This is your business and it’s up to you to fix the situation-not doing so is a major threat to both your business and your leadership. Don’t think it will just get better by itself-it won’t.

Have the meeting

Yes, it’ll be uncomfortable, but yes, it’s essential. Have your agenda laid out. Don’t let the prima donna take over, bully or be disrespectful, and be prepared for him to threaten or quit (have a replacement strategy). Clearly explain the rules, have a probation schedule for improved behavior and hold him to it. Do not let the probation deadlines slip by without one-on-one reviews and action. That would make things even worse and harder to fix.

Use this situation as a wake-up call to identify and eliminate overdependence throughout your business, and take steps to spread knowledge and skills among several employees. Realize that the best way to eliminate employee overdependency is to have the business depend on systems, rather than people, to get results.

A prima donna is a pain by himself, but his larger, more damaging effects can be subtle and easy to dismiss. Step up to the plate, grab the bull by the horns, bite the bullet. Do what it takes to regain your power and deal with the problem. It’ll be great for your business, and you’ll feel better about yourself as well.

Cheers!

Jayme

Construction Business Owner, September 2008