This guy we will call Dan.

Good news , it seems that good ol ‘ Dan was responsible for 10% of the companys’ total sales. So for years, the company put up with his improper and demeaning behavior.

Dan Had This Problem That People Overlooked

Dan would typically “bully”, torment, and act in an irrational way especially with people of less stature or power. Along the way Dan kept blowing out his assistants and over FY 2007 had gone through several. Typically his assistant would last 2 or 3 months then quit or get fired.

But Dan was always given a ‘pass’ because he was a rainmaker. 

After replacing several assistants the CEO  was informed of the additional G&A expense associated with Dans behavior. The CFO was quite an enlightened character and he created a report of ole Danny boy. Here is a brief description of what the report showed:

• Direct time spent by others due to Dans inapropriate and irrational  behavior and the direct costs not budgeted for. (This is over a one year period.)
• Time that Dan’s manager spent dealing with these issues…………..25hrs……………$3000
• Time spent consoling Dans victims by HR DEPT………………………..80hrs……………$4000
• Absenteeism of victims………………………………………………………….80hrs……………$3000
• Health issues for victims……………………………………………………………………………..$5000
• Search expense for new hires to replace Dans victims……………………………………..$20000
• Time spent by HR  interviewing potential new hires…………………..   20hrs……………$1000
• Cost of training new hires …………………………………………………………………………….$7500
• Wasted time and lost opportunity to company due to negative impact Dan had on direct reports and other associate he offended………………………………………………………………..$50000

Total estimated cost to company: Approx. $100,000

Now, this doesn’t mean that Dan should have been fired. It only means that you keep or reduce dan with eyes fully open to what Dan costs to employ–over and above his compensation.

And it would mean that if you begin to address some of Dan’s behavioral derailers, you have an automatic budget with which to work. There are Dan’s in every sales force. And most of their errant behavior is ignored because they perform.

But if you want to build a great company, jerks don’t fit in it.