We've talked from time to time at the Capitalist about Jerks in the workplace, and why companies often keep them around.
What about when Jerks are asked to leave? Should you allow an extended period of notice (2 weeks? 1
month?) for them to wrap up work activities and assist in whatever transition needs to happen?
I know most of you replied with an emphatic "NO". John Hollon of Workforce recently provided more reasons why that's the correct answer. In a recent blog entry, John details the recent craziness at KOCE, which is the sister TV station of the Orange County Register newspaper. To make use of the synergy between broadcast and print, KOCE often does TV feeds of reporters from the newsroom of the Orange County Register talking about news events, etc. Like many of these types of feeds, part of the attraction is the bustling newsroom in the background at the OCR.
As it turns out, there's a reporter/editor with a alleged history of being disruptive in these telecasts from the newsroom. In addition, the reported disruptive newsman had recently been given notice that he was being impacted by layoffs. So what's he do after the notice? Walks behind the camera during a live broadcast, starts picking his nose, then wipes it on his shirt. Niiiiiiice.... Here's a clip from a letter of complaint forwarded by the News Director at KOCE (from the blog LAobserved):
"During an interview, which will air tonight, with Register reporter John Gittelsohn another Register employee walked over to the interview area, intentionally stood behind John, faced the camera, picked his nose, and wiped it on his shirt.
I've spoken with Register Broadcast Engineer Don Nebel about this individual. Don has stated that when the lights for the camera go on and we begin interview segments, this individual makes it a point to be loud, disruptive, and perform antics for the camera. Don has "waived him off" on numerous occasions, however he continues to disrupt our segments and has now escalated his attempts to embarrass both KOCE and the Register."
Cut and dry outlandish behavior, right? Not so fast - the editor of the Orange County Register wrote a reply excusing the reporter's behavior (also indexed by LAobserved), including the following:
"CP is often loud, the technician told me. And he's often in the vicinity when the TV camera is recording. CP is loud. It's part of who he is."
The "it's not a big deal" letter for the OCR editor also included thoughts indicating that CP didn't do it on purpose. I'm no detective, but CP sure seems squared up to the camera as the nose picking is underway. Odds on that type of square up if he didn't know the cameras were live? 10 to 1? 100 to 1? More?
The moral of the story? Be on the lookout for the following rationalization to keep jerks around - "that's just who he is", or "that's just <insert name> being <insert name>".
One other point - if jerks know they are on the way out, it's probably not in your best interest to keep them in the workplace. Too many risks, including a national platform for nose-picking....
Rude, disruptive, complaining, non-performing employees are toxic to productivity and morale. Alas, there is no toxic waste dump for them and there are plenty of bosses, like the OC editor, who figure it's a bad idea to ever fire anyone. Then, again, maybe the editor figures this will increase audience size as folks tune in to see what outrageous behavior might be on camera tonight.
Posted by: Wally Bock | August 13, 2007 at 02:51 PM