Consultants,tell me if I should fire a co-worker who reports to me:He talks smack about my clients and my company - all in front of my clients.He comes into work late, takes 2hr lunches, and leave early.His performance has been dodgy, productivity and quality very questionable for what he has been hired to do. He is overpaid and talks openly about how much he's getting paid to clients and co-workers ( who are getting considerably less than him).However, there is one MAJOR benefit to having him around: He is quite simply the best rainmaker I have ever seen. He is responsible for generating revenues to the company, identifying opportunities that are non-obvious, and will, if we keep him around, grow the company...no doubt there. This is a rare skill , one that almost none of our consultants (except sales ppl) have.Is he just cocky? overconfident? an a$$hole? ..? He's actually funny, everyone else around him is serious and do their jobs- work on a computer all day. This guy cracks jokes, schmoozes like no one, and identifies and pushes million dollar biz devt deals on a regular basis.So what should I do? Keep him, fire him?Transfer him to another project? or just tell him to shut his mouth and get to work ( what he is hired to do).

You say: "He comes into work late, takes 2hr lunches, and leave early. His performance has been dodgy, productivity and quality very questionable for what he has been hired to do."Yet you also say:"He is quite simply the best rainmaker I have ever seen."So, which is it? You say he's rubbish at what he does (which is presumably sales), yet you also say he's amazing at bringing in work. Ahem.And why are you bothered if he takes 2hr lunches if he's bringing in the work? Maybe he has a different style of organising his work day to the rest of you?

He may be the guy to grow your company, but with people like this demotivating your staff and insulting your clients you soon won't have a company to grow in the first place. No one is irreplaceable no matter how good they are - when was the last time you looked at the market to try and get someone to replace him if you needed to? Keep:Tell the guy his results are good but his behaviour is not acceptable. You are the boss so act like one and show some leadership both to your team and to this guy who is crossing the line (no doubt because he feels he can, or that is dosent apply to him). If you really need to keep him, could you arrange for him to work at a distance, eg from home? If he can achieve the results it won't matter where he is working. Discuss his behaviour and agree with him what he needs to stop/moderate and what you will tolerate. E.g. agree he can return from lunch late on condition he stops talking about remuneration, insulting clients etc. Make it clear where the line is and spell out that there will have to be consequences for crossing it.Talk to some reputable search firms or recruiting agencies and ask them whether they could find you someone to deliver these results if you needed to engage them.If you know he is overpaid then so does HE. You may find the bravado stops when he realises he may not be able to secure the same package elsewhere.Backfill:Put him on a warning for his behaviour (in private) and confirm this in writing; let him know where the line is and that further instances will not be tolerated. Assert your authority and tell him that - with expansion of the business - you are going to hire another rainmaker (which should make him think) or else get a rec campaign for a backfill moving. When you have a shortlist fire him.

Missed my conclusion of that post: keep him, but clip his wings enough for him to know he reports to YOU.

thanks for the responses guys.He is in the wrong job. He has been hired to do coding ( sitting in front of a computer and write code all day) but knows where his strenghts are- deal making, hitting the pavement and bringing in new business , creativity etc...His performance in coding is dodgy, but performance in bringing in new biz ( although not what he was hired for) has been great.I think i'll warn him , give him a kick up the a** and tell him to get his act together. ...but please continue to bring in the biz devt opportunities.Also, I;ll make a recommendation to transfer him to another dept ( sales) where he'll fit better.I wont fire him outright because i think, if his skills are utilised fully, he can add tremendous value.

If you fire him, think of all the lost revenues and how this will affect the livelihood/jobs of your other staff. :-(

I think he needs to be disciplined. Actions such as criticising the client products/services in front of them openly is not acceptable.He is obviously suited for a biz devt type role and not coding where he finds himself.A managers role is to utilise assets to their maximum potential ( and i dont mean working them to death, just make sure their in the right job and provide tools and encouragement). Therefore, i think you should , as you mentioned, recommend a transfer to the sales/marketing/biz devt dept where he can really unleash without being bogged down by coding duties.

I am not really sure how someone hired to be a coder can bring in millions of pounds in sales as a side to their day job. If he can well great; give him a business development role. His behaviours can't be that bad if he brings in a lot of work, maybe it's just different to the style of the rest of the group.

It sounds like he might have a personality