Dependable Employees

One thing that I consider mucho importanto is being able to give a task to an employee and not worrying about whether or not it was completed. Quality is a second degree in this consideration. The first degree is simply whether or not I can depend on the employee to complete the task.

Dependability is on my mind due to a recent incident involving a field tech. The field tech does good work. He seems conscientious in his work, relatively efficient, and usually dependable.

The field tech has been with me for about five months. In that time, I have had only(?) two problems with the employee. In each instance, the employee failed to show up where he was expected and complete the tasks had been directed to complete. The first instance was a situation where the employee was directed to call his supervisor the following morning to receive instructions regarding the days tasks. The employee failed to call and the supervisor could not reach the employee until later in the evening. The employee admitted that he had gotten drunk and hanging out with a woman. Further details revealed that the woman had reportedly used his company credit card. But that's another issue.

The second instance was this past Friday. The field tech called his supervisor from the lab. The supervisor instructed the tech to come to the office. The tech asked permission to stop by the bank on his way into the office and the supervisor agreed. This conversation occurred around noon. At 4 p.m. the supervisor remembered that the tech was supposed to have arrived hours earlier. Calls to the tech went unanswered and the tech could not be located. The Tech's wife also was unaware of his whereabouts.

Finally, the tech left a message for his supervisor stating that he was bringing the company vehicle back. The cause of the absence is, as of yet, unknown.

Several interesting emotions/thoughts have transpired as a result of this repeated lack of dependability. First, in my mind, is that the tech's supervisor is questioning whether or not we are too nice/lenient on employees. I hate the idea that we should be more stringent. It feels like losing my humanity. My employees are humans and I try to treat them with respect. I don't want to treat an employee as less than human. If they don't deserve my respect, they should be gone.

The question is how long is too long or how many chances should I give an employee. Should I fire them at the first sign of a problem? If that's the case, would the Supervisor have survived beyond the first forgotten sample? Do I need to differentiate between character flaws and training? Of course, judging character is what the hiring process is all about. I want people of high moral character. The rest should be taken care of by training. Is that reasonable?

Monday will be an interesting learning experience for me and the supervisor. Whether or not it will be a learning experience for the company remains to be seen but I think it has to be. What can we learn that will help us to hire the right person the next time. Is there such a thing as the right person?

I'll try to provide a follow-up with the outcome.