Jacob’s doing a good job for us. He comes in on time, gets to work, fits in, keeps clients happy, and pitches in when anyone needs help. He’s a good employee and member of the team.

There’s something about him, though, that makes me wonder whether we should let him go.

What do you do when you’ve got a good employee but he’s not growing? What if he’s not on the way to becoming a great employee?

Is it good enough to be good? Or are we losing out if he’s just good but not great? Would we be better off filling his seat with someone who might have more potential?

Two Types of Hires

We’ve only got so many chairs in our office (and since we work remotely, I mean “office” in a very abstract sense).

Each “chair” can be filled by only one person. Filling a chair is expensive. We can’t afford extra people. We need to fill each chair with someone who can get the job done.

Sometimes we hire someone who takes her responsibilities and runs with them. Suddenly she’s doing everything we need her to do, and she’s looking for more things to do. She may already know how to do these extra things, or she might teach herself to do them once she knows what needs doing.

Sometimes, however, we end up with someone very different. He gets started and quickly learns the responsibilities of the job and gets the work done. He’s efficient and effective, but he’s not interested in going further. He’s got his domain under control, but he has no interest in taking it to the next level.

This less ambitious employee is good, but he’s maxed out. He has peaked. When we make opportunities for growth and training available, he’s ambivalent. He’s happy with what he’s doing, and we’re happy to have it done.

Is Ambivalence a Problem?

If he’s getting the job done, then what’s the problem? Why am I writing about him today? Why not just leave well enough alone and let him keep cranking away?

Maybe I’m a difficult human being, but it frustrates me terribly to give this less ambitious employee the chair when chairs are so limited. I want to put someone who’s interested in growth in that seat. Wasting the chair on someone who’s only going to get the job done rather than striving to take it to the next level makes me slightly crazy.

Every time we fill a chair, I see it as a bet. I’m doing my best to pick someone who’s going to pay off big. Sure, we need the job done, but I’m secretly hoping we’re going to end up with someone who delivers more than we expect and require. I’m betting that we might win big.

When that doesn’t happen—when we get that less ambitious employee—I’m disappointed. I feel like we wasted our shot, and now we’re stuck with a chair filled with someone who’s good enough but going nowhere.

It really bothers me to have that person in that chair.

Is It Possible to Win the Hiring Lottery?

What do I do about it? Sometimes I fantasize about the person going away. Maybe he’ll quit? Of course, that doesn’t happen. If the person were more ambitious and looking to move up in the world, we wouldn’t be in this situation.

Can I just fire the person? Not easily. Firing him may lead to other problems:

• Angst in the organization. We can’t just fire people who are getting the job done without stressing out everyone else.
• Legal liability. My state isn’t particularly protective of employee rights, but many places have very different laws. One friend of mine in New Zealand has to practically do cartwheels to terminate an employee (and that’s when the employee isn’t doing a good job).
• Unemployment insurance rates. If we terminate an employee without cause (and lack of ambition isn’t cause), it increases our overall cost of unemployment insurance (in my state, anyway).
• Bad karma. The employee did what you asked and did it well. How can firing that person not come back to haunt you?

I suppose I could make “being ambitious,” “learning all the time,” and “taking on new responsibilities” part of the job description and push people harder to be that kind of person. I’ve tried. By and large, it doesn’t work.

I suppose I could do a better job of spotting the kind of people I’d like during the interview process. However, I’ll tell you that I’ve tried for years to do better and, so far, I’m not even close to performing as I’d like.

I suppose I could just chill out and be happy that we’ve got so many people meeting or exceeding our expectations and stop focusing on the few chairs we’re wasting on less ambitious people. Sadly, I’ve tried that as well without much luck.

That’s where I am right now. I know what I want, but I have no idea how to get there. I know seeing someone taking up a chair without working to take it to the next level is horribly disappointing. So far, I’m not sure how to get myself to the next level on this issue.