Luis Scott is the Managing Partner at Bader Scott Injury Lawyers, where he represents people who have been injured or disabled in severe accidents. He is also the Owner of 8 Figure Firm, which provides consulting services and insider knowledge to national law firms. As Bader Scott’s managing attorney, he handles over 150 employees and contractors and has led the firm to be recognized by the Atlanta Business Chronicle as one of the fastest-growing businesses in Georgia.
Luis has received numerous awards and accolades, including Super Lawyers’ “Rising Star,” The National Trial Lawyers Association’s “Top 40 Lawyers Under 40,” and the American Institute of Legal Counsel’s “10 Best Attorneys in 2017” for workers’ compensation.
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
- How to handle a toxic employee
- The three characteristics of a disruptive employee
- Determining when to terminate an employee
In this episode…
Most business owners have encountered a toxic employee at some point in their journey. These individuals dampen company morale and disrupt the status quo. How can you identify a disruptive employee and decide when to terminate them?
Business leader and entrepreneurial expert Luis Scott has identified three types of company instigators who must be terminated. Some harass and interrupt other team members, while others emit negative energy and disrupt the workplace peace by merely entering a room, reducing engagement among team members. There are also those who refuse to follow established processes and don’t tolerate change, creating production inefficiencies. Luis advises documenting these individuals’ behaviors and having frequent conversations with them to establish boundaries.
In today’s episode of The Guts and Glory Show, Luis Scott talks about the types of disruptive employees you should observe. He explains how to handle negative individuals and when to terminate people who can’t uphold company values.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
- Luis Scott on LinkedIn | Website
- 8 Figure Firm
- Bader Scott Injury Lawyers
Sponsor for this episode…
This episode is brought to you by 8 Figure Firm.
Co-founded by Luis Scott and Seth Bader of Bader Scott Injury Lawyers, 8 Figure Firm helps transform your law firm into a seven-figure or even eight-figure firm.
After their own law firm scaled from $3.5 million to $30 million in annual revenue in just two years, Luis and Seth started 8 Figure Firm to share their strategies and help other law firms achieve exponential growth.
Visit www.8figurefirm.com to receive a consult call and start scaling your business today.
Episode Transcript
Luis Scott 0:00
There is a reason why I can run two companies still go to date night every week, still hang out with my kids still go to the lake in the boat, still take a vacation, still do all my emails, still do all my PowerPoint press, there’s a reason for that. Because when I’m in the zone, I’m in the zone.
Intro 0:18
Get ready to be a man. Get ready to be transformed. Get ready to believe it is possible. You’re entering the growth zone, on The Guts and Glory Show with your host Luis Scott.
Luis Scott 0:38
Guys, welcome to The Guts and Glory Show. My name is Luis, I’m your host. And I’m excited to have you listening in today we’re going to talk about all things employees, and how to get rid of a disruptive employee, how to identify whether it’s time to get rid of this disruptive employee, and then how to make sure that it doesn’t hurt the morale of your business. And we’ve all been there, we’ve all had what we call a toxic employee. And those are the worst, because they do everything they possibly can, to not do the work to not be productive, and to bring down others with them. And I think the phrases that misery loves company, and there is no doubt that toxic employees love to be miserable. And one of the things about toxic employees that many times when they leave, instead of just leaving and being done, they want to create more havoc on their way out whether it’s by taking employees to a new place, or by or by blasting them on Glassdoor, or you know, just just talking really negatively about them in the community, which could hurt your reputation. And so if you’re a business owner right now, and you’re dealing with a toxic employee, the first thing I’m gonna tell you is to let them go as soon as you possibly can. The key is identifying whether it’s the type of person that needs to be let go or not, that can be a little tricky. But as soon as you make up your mind, let them go, pull off the band aid, rip off the band aid, don’t let it linger, just go ahead and let the person go. Immediately like one of the things that that I found after hiring several 100 people was that people who are let go tend to accuse the business of being toxic. And that was probably the most common thing. And so we we get really squeamish about that, like, I want to make sure that they know that I had a legitimate reason for terminating them, I don’t want them to think that it was for something illegitimate. And I think that we get into that position because we don’t document what it is that they’re doing wrong and how their behavior is affecting other people. And so the first thing that you want to do when you’re dealing with a toxic employee, is be sure you document document, document, everything that they’re doing, if they’re underperforming document, if they are showing up late document, if they are causing drama, or gossiping, document it. And then make sure that you have periodic conversations with the employees so that they’re aware because there’s nothing worse than being held to an expectation that you weren’t aware of now, you may say, everyone should know that they shouldn’t be toxic. Everyone should know that they shouldn’t cause drama, everyone should know that they shouldn’t be gossiping. But unfortunately, we live in a world where people are not raised in the same manner, they may come from a home, where being toxic is part of the game or being gossipy is part of the business of their home. And so I never assumed that the person understands the ethics and values that I have, although I’m trying to hire for the values. I never assume that they have those ethics and values. And so I want to communicate those those things to them. And so when you’re thinking about your business, and you’re thinking about what do I do with a toxic employee, I’ve identified them they’re underperformer. They’re behaving badly. What do I do? Well, there’s three things that I like to look for in making the final determination. If somebody should be let go. Now remember, you’ve been documenting all the underperformance you’ve been documented that they’ve been late, you have documented their gossip, you’ve had the conversation with them. And then the question is, when do I let this person go? And I mentioned at the beginning, you let them go as soon as possible. But But when do you really let them go and feel good, that you’ve made the right decision? Well, I have three parameters. And it’s what I call the three places where a person if they’re disruptive, must be let go. The first one is, are they disruptive with people? Are they disrupt disruptive with people you hear this all the time, with employees saying such and such just doesn’t leave me alone is just get me into a conversation. They talk talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk talk, they’re always goofing off. I can’t concentrate on my work, can I be moved can be a sexual harassment, disruption. It could be a general harassment disruption. It could be you know, this, this this issue where maybe somebody’s saying something politically or religiously that’s making someone uncomfortable? Is the person creating disruption with people that’s the first question that I want to ask if the person is not creating disruption with people, then I’m going to ask, Are they creating disruption in the production or the process? And that’s step number two, are they creating disruption in the production or the process? Meaning is the business becoming inefficient because of them, this may be the team player who doesn’t actually engage in a group project, this could be the person who everyone’s always waiting for, you know, I remember in, in working in a law firm, and we had an assembly line process, the medical records or excuse me, the, the file would be opened by the file opening team, they would move it on to the the next level, which would manage the team and then that would go into the medical records, and then that would go into the next level and demands and finally, an attorney would would start negotiating the claim, well, if you had a person who was disrupting that and they weren’t processing the case is fast enough, maybe they’re just not opening the cases fast enough or, or maybe they’re, they’re rejecting their supervisors request of opening a certain amount of cases, like we had a person that needed to open up 40 cases a week is, are they rejecting that and saying, I can’t do it, I’m going to do 20. And they’re disrupting the process. And there’s creating a backlog in the business, that type of person would need to be let go if they’re disrupting the production or the process. And this could be the type of person that just is negative Nancy is the devil’s devil’s advocate writes like always, something negative never, never can be positive. And there’s always something wrong with the process. And they don’t like this change. And they don’t like that change. That type of toxicity is a disruption that should not be tolerated in the business. And as long as you are documenting this, you should be able to have the conversation to let that person go. The third place that you want to look at when it comes to disruption is are they disrupting the peace in the office, we had an employee at one time that would walk around the office and everybody was on eggshells. It was like, they didn’t he didn’t, he didn’t do anything specifically to anyone. So he didn’t violate number one to the people. And he wasn’t a person that was creating a bottleneck in the process. He was actually a great employee and was very productive. But people just felt awkward around him the way he walked away, he talked the way he communicated the way he looked at people, the way he associated with them, the way he spoke at meetings, and it was disrupting the peace in the office. And we just couldn’t have that. Because if you disrupt the peace in the office, you know, there’s studies that show it reduces engagement, down to almost 85% in engagement or production, reduction, and you just can’t afford to have that type of person in the environment. And so if you find yourself in a situation when you’re saying, I don’t know if I should let this person go, I need this person, I need this position field. I don’t know if I can find this position being filled. To me, the line in the sand is very, very easy that line in the sand is are they disrupting people? Are they disrupting the production in the process? Or are they disrupting the peace in the office? And if they are, and we’ve been diligent in documenting the incidences where they have actually done this, then it’s time to let them go and let them go quickly. And what you’ll find is that the people will will appreciate you, the process will improve, and the peace of mind of the office will be like something you’ve never experienced before. So don’t let disruptors keep your business from growing and don’t let disruptors keep your team from producing at a high level. And and you’re going to be better off because of this. Because disruptors have no place in any business and toxicity is one of the biggest killers of employee enthusiasm and engagement. And you really can’t afford to do that because it’s a waste of time and a waste of money. And, and with that you’ve been listening to The Guts and Glory Show.
Outro 8:57
You’ve been listening to The Guts and Glory Show for more. And to learn more about Luis hit the website at LuisScottjr.com for consulting opportunities 8figurefirm.com. That’s the number 8figurefirm.com We hope you’ve enjoyed the show. Make sure to like rate and review and we’ll see you next time on The Guts and Glory Show.
