December 22, 2010

Employee Relations: Trust Or Cut Bait


 "If you suspect a man, don't employ him, and if you employ him, don't suspect him."

Chinese proverb

As is often true with these quotes and proverbs, this feels reasonable in theory but a bit difficult in practise.  

There are gray areas where we only begin to doubt a person, not yet to the point of even suspecting them, certainly not being convinced they are untrustworthy.

Too soon to act.

But I would couple with this with another saying which urges resolution over ongoing status quo.

"Fish or cut bait."

4 comments :

  1. Wasn't it Reagan who said "Trust but verify"?

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  2. i think a good policy is to believe that it takes time to earn trust but very little to lose it.

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  3. but you have to be careful. i once confronted an employee based on what at the time seemed to be solid evidence of wrong doing, all of which evaporated when it came time to prove the allegations. I was left looking like the unreasonable aggressor and my relationship with that employee never recovered. one of the biggest management mistakes i ever made

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  4. Better to be 80% certain, getting rid of bad people, sometimes making the wrong decision, than to wait for more evidence prior to acting. Usually bad people are clearly bad and no good will come from keeping them.

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