According to data from Business Insider, 23% of small businesses fail because they don’t have the right team. Meaning this is one of the top five reasons for small business failure and a risk you cannot afford to take. It’s difficult to fire people working for small companies as the relationships between employees are often personal. However, as it’s a literal matter of your business’ success, you have to be objective. This means assessing the situation rationally and seeing whether the Employee truly needs to be fired. The signs that it’s the case include toxic behavior, irresponsibility, and sense of entitlement, among others.

To Fire or Not to Fire: 4 Signs You Can’t Ignore

1. A person creates a negative environment.
   Any ‘toxic’ employee has to be removed from your company. A study published in The International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health provides solid evidence to prove that a toxic workplace environment significantly reduces productivity. Therefore, you cannot allow it to continue, less you start losing valuable employees.
2. A person shows that they feel entitled.
   Your employees should feel proud of the work they do. And it’s natural to reward them for the accomplishments that deserve it. However, if a person starts showing they feel entitled to get more than they’ve earned, you should address the matter fast. If a conversation doesn’t help, replacing the employee is the best option.
3. A person you cannot trust.
   If a person fails you consistently, there is no reason to keep them on the team. They will only undermine your work.
4. An employee who doesn’t adapt to change.
   A small business has to evolve and improve all the time. Therefore, innovation and change are essential. For them to be effective, all members of your team have to be able to adapt and adopt new solutions easily to improve their productivity. Note that this is an issue you might try to resolve with additional training first.

How to Improve Your Team Fast If You Need to Replace an Employee

Firing an employee is only half of the problem. The other, and arguably more important, half is to find a replacement. You need to be quick about this and ensure that the new employee is capable of boosting the team. To do this, you should look for ways to attract highly qualified professionals.

A small business can do this by offering benefits as well as establishing a good company culture. You can obtain benefits by using a Professional Employers Organization. The best PEO offer not only important benefits, like health insurance and paid maternal leave. This service can also help find and manage your employees. And don’t forget about the tax breaks a small business will get if your people are officially employed elsewhere. This cut will help you give them a pay raise, which is another perk that can help attract top specialists.

As to building a good company culture, the power is within your hands. Make it a point to create an environment where your employees will be happy, secure, and encouraged to grow. From team-building exercises to regular bonding events to providing opportunities for professional and personal development.

Replacing some employees is one of the steps that might be necessary to build such a culture. You should also establish a portal where your employees will be able to communicate and share the company’s ‘behind the scenes’ with the world.

Integrate such ‘live’ snippets into your content strategy as you should not only build a good culture. You need to share it with the world so prospective employees know exactly what they will get by joining your company.