Building employees – lessons learnt

I worked for a smaller company prior to starting AGORA in the mid-eighties. The company I worked for, had a strict employment policy and firing an employee was easier for various reasons.

I started AGORA in the mid-eighties wanting to build people rather than fire an employee.

While I followed this policy for several years, I had lots of disappointments during that time. Employees would take advantage of my leniency and patience, and we ended up tolerating employees with extended absences etc. These employees eventually would quit on their own, creating additional issues for us.

In a couple of instances where there was some toxicity, I tried to turn the situation around, but failed. I eventually realized that this unhealthy environment was crippling teamwork, and ended up having to let go of the troublesome employees.

Lesson learnt – Do Not tolerate a toxic environment in the company. You cannot build people that do not want to grow with the company. The best option would be to let go of employees who are not team players. The rest of the employees will be happier for that and they, in turn, become better team players.