• Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
  • NEWS
  • PRODUCTS
  • CONTRACTORS
  • ENGINEERS
  • RADIANT & HYDRONICS
  • INSIGHTS
  • MEDIA
  • RESOURCES
  • EMAGAZINE
  • SIGN UP!
cart
facebook instagram twitter linkedin youtube
  • PRODUCTS
  • FEATURED PRODUCTS
  • CONTRACTORS
  • BATH & KITCHEN PRO
  • BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
  • HIGH EFFICIENCY HOMES
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • WATER TREATMENT
  • PMC COLUMNS
  • PMC COLUMNS
  • Dave Yates: Contractor’s Corner
  • John Siegenthaler: Hydronics Workshop
  • Kenny Chapman: The Blue Collar Coach
  • Matt Michel: Service Plumbing Pros
  • Scott Secor: Heating Perceptions
  • ENGINEERS
  • CONTINUING EDUCATION
  • DECARBONIZATION | ELECTRIFICATION
  • FIRE PROTECTION
  • GEOTHERMAL | SOLAR THERMAL
  • PIPING | PLUMBING | PVF
  • PME COLUMNS
  • PME COLUMNS
  • Christoph Lohr: Strategic Plumbing Insights
  • David Dexter: Plumbing Talking Points
  • James Dipping: Engineer Viewpoints
  • John Seigenthaler: Renewable Heating Design
  • Lowell Manalo: Plumbing Essentials
  • Misty Guard: Guard on Compliance
  • RADIANT & HYDRONICS
  • RADIANT COMFORT REPORT
  • THE GLITCH & THE FIX
  • INSIGHTS
  • CODES
  • GREEN PLUMBING & MECHANICAL
  • PROJECT PROFILES
  • COLUMNS
  • SPONSOR INSIGHTS
  • COLUMNS
  • Codes Corner
  • Natalie Forster: Editorial Opinion
  • Guest Editorial
  • MEDIA
  • EBOOKS
  • PODCASTS
  • VIDEOS
  • WEBINARS
  • RESOURCES
  • INDUSTRY CALENDAR
  • DIRECTORIES
  • PM BOOKSTORE
  • CE CENTER
  • MARKET RESEARCH
  • CLASSIFIEDS
  • EMAGAZINE
  • EMAGAZINE
  • ARCHIVE ISSUES
  • CONTACT
  • ADVERTISE
  • PME EMAGAZINE ARCHIVES
search
cart
facebook instagram twitter linkedin youtube
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
  • NEWS
  • PRODUCTS
    • FEATURED PRODUCTS
  • CONTRACTORS
    • BATH & KITCHEN PRO
    • BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
    • HIGH EFFICIENCY HOMES
    • TECHNOLOGY
    • WATER TREATMENT
    • PMC COLUMNS
      • Dave Yates: Contractor’s Corner
      • John Siegenthaler: Hydronics Workshop
      • Kenny Chapman: The Blue Collar Coach
      • Matt Michel: Service Plumbing Pros
      • Scott Secor: Heating Perceptions
  • ENGINEERS
    • CONTINUING EDUCATION
    • DECARBONIZATION | ELECTRIFICATION
    • FIRE PROTECTION
    • GEOTHERMAL | SOLAR THERMAL
    • PIPING | PLUMBING | PVF
    • PME COLUMNS
      • Christoph Lohr: Strategic Plumbing Insights
      • David Dexter: Plumbing Talking Points
      • James Dipping: Engineer Viewpoints
      • John Seigenthaler: Renewable Heating Design
      • Lowell Manalo: Plumbing Essentials
      • Misty Guard: Guard on Compliance
  • RADIANT & HYDRONICS
    • RADIANT COMFORT REPORT
    • THE GLITCH & THE FIX
  • INSIGHTS
    • CODES
    • GREEN PLUMBING & MECHANICAL
    • PROJECT PROFILES
    • COLUMNS
      • Codes Corner
      • Natalie Forster: Editorial Opinion
      • Guest Editorial
    • SPONSOR INSIGHTS
  • MEDIA
    • EBOOKS
    • PODCASTS
    • VIDEOS
    • WEBINARS
  • RESOURCES
    • INDUSTRY CALENDAR
    • DIRECTORIES
    • PM BOOKSTORE
    • CE CENTER
    • MARKET RESEARCH
    • CLASSIFIEDS
  • EMAGAZINE
    • EMAGAZINE
    • ARCHIVE ISSUES
    • CONTACT
    • ADVERTISE
    • PME EMAGAZINE ARCHIVES
  • SIGN UP!
Columns

You're Fired!

By Al Levi
April 1, 2011
Sometimes change is necessary to make your company better.

Photo credit: © iStockphoto.com/Kirby Hamilton


It’s never pleasant to discipline someone, let alone fire him. That’s why it’s so common for an owner to avoid the issue altogether and absorb the failures until they explode.

This unwillingness to correct bad behaviors as they occur in a disciplined and consistent manner creates unhappy customers who receive poor service and disgruntled staff members who have to pull the extra load. This all eventually will eat away at the owner’s physical and fiscal health.

One client I worked with years ago had one “star performer” whose sales numbers blew away the rest of the techs. Now, I applaud great talent that gets great results, but I also tend to be cynical (go figure an ex-New Yorker being cynical!) when it’s so much of a discrepancy.

I challenged the owner and his management team to do some ride-alongs and mystery shopping to find out how these exceptional sales numbers were being achieved. And I asked them to start tracking this tech’s callback ratio. Callback ratio is simply how many calls generate a callback for any legitimate reason such as price complaint, leaving a mess or just not fixing the problem within 30 days of the call.

I was persistent in pressing the point because I was sniffing out from the other techs who would confide in me that this guy wasn’t playing by the same rules they were.

Sure enough, to their dismay, the owners soon found out he was, in fact, selling repairs that weren’t needed or even ethical. His work was sloppy and generated callbacks other techs had to mop up.

When confronted with the overwhelming evidence, the management let this tech go and expected sales to plummet. Funny thing is, the company proceeded to have three successive months of breakout sales that blew away the past company performance.

How can that be?

The answer is the rest of the techs finally felt the company was being accountable and they picked up the slack and rewarded the company and themselves.

So, what poor performers are you turning a blind eye to?

Sometimes, you wait, you talk to them, you say nothing until you finally have your fill and pull the trigger. The bad news is you could be looking at a wrongful termination if you haven’t built up your case. This applies whether you’re a union shop or not. It’s actually easier to fire at a union shop if you’ve been documenting your case.

How To Prepare Yourself

What every shop needs are written steps of discipline that can be enforced each time with each person at the company. The goal is to find employees going astray faster and get them back on track with coaching.

The only exception is if an employee lies, cheats or steals and it can be proven. There are no steps of discipline but to terminate him or her.

Once you commit to this policy of consistency and fairness, the whole process goes better and your staff will come to enjoy working at your company because they know the rules of the game apply to everyone.

I implemented the steps of discipline at my own company, which was and continues to be a union shop. We got so good at being fair, judging on objective evidence and training, that one day the company’s shop steward (this is a top tech who represents the other union staff members at the company) came to me and said, “The way I see it we don’t fire anybody anymore based on our clear communications, our steps of discipline and our willingness to train. They just choose not to work here anymore!”

Can you believe that?

Where you need to start to change your company culture is with the willingness to discipline someone based on clear, written and objective measurements such as: a lack of sales for a tech or a salesperson based upon a known sales goal; excessive callbacks for a tech that have been verified; recordings or observations of CSRs who fail to use scripts they’re trained on; or a bookkeeper who continues to make mistakes on accounts payable and/or accounts receivable work.

Before you consider terminating employees, decide how many corrective actions they may have in a quarter so they don’t pick a different thing in the manuals or in their jobs to screw up on.

You must also decide what offenses would result in an immediate suspension or dismissal. Examples would be threatening behavior, violation of your drug or alcohol policy and loss of driver’s license.

Here are four steps of discipline I teach my clients:

  • Step 1: A private discussion using written documents such as the manual and a letter in the file. Tell them all’s forgiven this time and let them know the upcoming steps if the behavior continues.


  • Step 2: Write up a corrective action document referring to any written policies and procedures that were not complied with. This also can include digital photos or a letter from a customer that expresses poor customer service. Let them know the next steps if behavior continues.


  • Step 3: A suspension of one to two days with no pay and a sign-off that they know the next occurrence will result in immediate termination.


  • Step  4: Dismissal. Follow the written guidelines for dismissing an employee.


  • This would be a good thing to include in your employer-employee manual, but you should have it reviewed by your labor lawyer.

    Do this and you’ll improve your company by actually getting rid of someone who needed to go help your competitors!

    Share This Story

    Looking for a reprint of this article?
    From high-res PDFs to custom plaques, order your copy today!

    200x200 7power blog

    Al Levi teaches contractors how to run their businesses with less stress and more success with operating manuals. To get control of your business and grow the right way, check out the "7-Power Contractor Signature Operating Manuals System," at 7powercontractor.com/manuals. Also check out Zoom Franchise Co. at zoomdrainfranchise.com. It’s a living example of the power of manuals and more in action.

    Recommended Content

    JOIN TODAY
    to unlock your recommendations.

    Already have an account? Sign In

    • Worker using the Milwaukee Tool SWITCH PACK drain cleaner

      Pipeline profits: Drain cleaning, pipe inspection create opportunities

      Drain cleaning and inspection services offer lucrative...
      Plumbing News
      By: Nicole Krawcke
    • Uponor employee, Arturo Moreno

      The reinvestment in American manufacturing and training

      Plumbing & Mechanical Chief Editor Nicole Krawcke and...
      Plumbing News
      By: Nicole Krawcke and Natalie Forster
    • March 2024 Women in Plumbing hero image of woman engineer overlayed by circle of hexagon shapes with numbers from 1 to 10

      Celebrating 10 Influential Women in the Plumbing Industry

      Celebrating Women's History Month and Women in...
      Plumbing News
      By: Nicole Krawcke
    Manage My Account
    • eNewsletters
    • Online Registration
    • Subscription Customer Service
    • eMagazine
    • Manage My Preferences

    IPEX celebrates grand opening of new Florida distribution center

    IPEX celebrates grand opening of new Florida distribution center

    NIBCO Press Solutions

    NIBCO Press Solutions

    AI can boost efficiency and profitability for plumbing, HVAC contractors

    AI can boost efficiency and profitability for plumbing, HVAC contractors

    Bell & Gossett Illustrates Path to Net-zero at AHR Expo

    Bell & Gossett Illustrates Path to Net-zero at AHR Expo

    More Videos

    Sponsored Content

    Sponsored Content is a special paid section where industry companies provide high quality, objective, non-commercial content around topics of interest to the Plumbing & Mechanical audience. All Sponsored Content is supplied by the advertising company and any opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily reflect the views of Plumbing & Mechanical or its parent company, BNP Media. Interested in participating in our Sponsored Content section? Contact your local rep!

    close
    • J.J. Keller CMV vehicles on road
      Sponsored byJ. J. Keller & Associates, Inc.

      The dash cam game-changer for small business safety

    Popular Stories

    Integrate a heat pump with a boiler mounted on a brick wall.

    How to integrate a heat pump with a boiler for dual temperature hydronic heating and cooling

    Plumber using the DEWALT 20V MAX* Plastic Tubing Cutter to cut a white tube.

    Making tough jobs easier: Most-used tools by plumbers in 2025

    RCR Spring2025 Geothermal JHJ manifold-2

    Geothermal and radiant: An energy-efficient powerhouse

    Nominations for Plumbing & Mechanical's NextGen ALL-Stars are now open. Submit your nomination TODAY!

    PM Aalberts August 14 Free Webinar: Precision Under Pressure: Optimizing System Performance Through Balancing and Air Removal

    Events

    November 13, 2024

    Future Proofing MEP: Navigating the 2026 High Efficiency Water Heating Standards

    Join our deep dive into DOE’s new standards so you can future-proof your MEP practice.

    EARN: 0.1 ASPE CEU; 1 AIA LU/HSW; 0.1 IACET CEU*; 1 PDH

    August 14, 2025

    Precision Under Pressure: Optimizing System Performance Through Balancing and Air Removal

    We’ll cover how proper air separation and hydronic balancing help maximize operational efficiency, reduce maintenance and minimize downtime.

    View All Submit An Event

    Poll

    Will business be up or down in 2025?

    Do you anticipate business in 2025 to be up or down in comparison to 2024?
    View Results Poll Archive

    Products

    The Water Came To A Stop

    The Water Came To A Stop

    See More Products

    2025 Bath & Kitchen Pro eBook

    Related Articles

    • Al Levi

      Find out the secrets to a 7-Power Contractor

      See More
    • The 7-Power Contractor

      Al Levi: Act like you’re going to be in business forever

      See More
    • You're More Related Than You Think
      Al Levi

      See More

    Events

    View AllSubmit An Event
    • April 10, 2014

      Workshop: Hydronics for High Efficiency Wood-fired and Pellet-fired Boilers

      Session added to April 9-11 Northeast Biomass Heating Expo.
    View AllSubmit An Event
    ×

    Keep your content unclogged with our newsletters!

    Stay in the know on the latest plumbing & piping industry trends.

    JOIN TODAY!
    • RESOURCES
      • Advertise
      • Contact Us
      • Directories
      • Store
      • Want More
      • Supply House Times
    • SIGN UP TODAY
      • Create Account
      • eMagazine
      • eNewsletter
      • Customer Service
      • Manage Preferences
    • SERVICES
      • Marketing Services
      • Reprints
      • Market Research
      • List Rental
      • Survey/Respondent Access
    • STAY CONNECTED
      • LinkedIn
      • Facebook
      • Instagram
      • YouTube
      • X (Twitter)
    • PRIVACY
      • PRIVACY POLICY
      • TERMS & CONDITIONS
      • DO NOT SELL MY PERSONAL INFORMATION
      • PRIVACY REQUEST
      • ACCESSIBILITY

    Copyright ©2025. All Rights Reserved BNP Media.

    Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing

    search
    cart
    facebook instagram twitter linkedin youtube
    • Sign In
    • Create Account
    • Sign Out
    • My Account
    • NEWS
    • PRODUCTS
      • FEATURED PRODUCTS
    • CONTRACTORS
      • BATH & KITCHEN PRO
      • BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
      • HIGH EFFICIENCY HOMES
      • TECHNOLOGY
      • WATER TREATMENT
      • PMC COLUMNS
        • Dave Yates: Contractor’s Corner
        • John Siegenthaler: Hydronics Workshop
        • Kenny Chapman: The Blue Collar Coach
        • Matt Michel: Service Plumbing Pros
        • Scott Secor: Heating Perceptions
    • ENGINEERS
      • CONTINUING EDUCATION
      • DECARBONIZATION | ELECTRIFICATION
      • FIRE PROTECTION
      • GEOTHERMAL | SOLAR THERMAL
      • PIPING | PLUMBING | PVF
      • PME COLUMNS
        • Christoph Lohr: Strategic Plumbing Insights
        • David Dexter: Plumbing Talking Points
        • James Dipping: Engineer Viewpoints
        • John Seigenthaler: Renewable Heating Design
        • Lowell Manalo: Plumbing Essentials
        • Misty Guard: Guard on Compliance
    • RADIANT & HYDRONICS
      • RADIANT COMFORT REPORT
      • THE GLITCH & THE FIX
    • INSIGHTS
      • CODES
      • GREEN PLUMBING & MECHANICAL
      • PROJECT PROFILES
      • COLUMNS
        • Codes Corner
        • Natalie Forster: Editorial Opinion
        • Guest Editorial
      • SPONSOR INSIGHTS
    • MEDIA
      • EBOOKS
      • PODCASTS
      • VIDEOS
      • WEBINARS
    • RESOURCES
      • INDUSTRY CALENDAR
      • DIRECTORIES
      • PM BOOKSTORE
      • CE CENTER
      • MARKET RESEARCH
      • CLASSIFIEDS
    • EMAGAZINE
      • EMAGAZINE
      • ARCHIVE ISSUES
      • CONTACT
      • ADVERTISE
      • PME EMAGAZINE ARCHIVES
    • SIGN UP!