For
the past few years, since I began using this weekly blog to share stories about
sales and sales management, I have been receiving numerous questions from
readers including my own clients. Over the next several months I am going to
use my weekly ramblings to post one reader question with my answer. Please note
– my answers are based on my personal and professional experiences and in no
way reflect my company or specific clients.
Q: In your opinion should an employer challenge
a dismissed employee’s claim for unemployment?
A: I cannot speak from a traditional
human resource or legal perspective, but I can speak from a sales manager’s
point of view. I have and would challenge a claim filed by a dismissed employee
if that employee was terminated with cause. Sales people in particular can and
should be held to a very specific performance standard. Whether you call it a
set of goals, a quota, or a position agenda, the sales person must perform.
When they do not, they become a burden on their entire company. Sales people in
general are also relatively easy to track from a performance standpoint. Numbers are black & white and do not lie. If the time comes when an underperforming
sales person is terminated, it should be considered with cause, and there
should be documented performance evidence to support the case for termination.
If that sales person who was terminated with cause, after being warned, on
probation or on a Performance Improvement Plan runs out and immediately files
for unemployment, then I will challenge. They key is with cause and I must take
a protective position for my company especially when our unemployment premiums
are subject to an increase because of this former employees filing.
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