[This is story one of my friends who waited tables at a national chain related to me about another employee who had decided to quit.]

WAITER: Good evening, sir. What can we get for you?

ROTUND CUSTOMER: I’d like the 16 oz. steak with fries, a soda, and a baked potato.

WAITER: No. I won’t do that. You’re too fat already. I can’t imagine what it would do to your cholesterol.

ROTUND CUSTOMER: What!?

WAITER: Yeah, actually, the only thing I’d be willing to serve you is a salad and some ice water.

ROTUND CUSTOMER: Well, I have never -

WAITER: It’s for your own good, sir.

The morals of the story?

1. Unhappy employees can cause serious damage.

No doubt, this customer was offended. And rightfully so. Given  the speed with which news can travel, the restaurant proved lucky that this didn’t end up as a chain e-mail. Or, worse yet, a viral video produced by the employee.

2. Someone has to clean up the messes unhappy employees make. That someone is you.

Can you imagine trying to deal with this customer having just witnessed this interaction and knowing that you aren’t wearing kevlar?

3.  Either of two things could have prevented this from happening:

a. Keeping this employee happy.

Whether it was through bonuses, better scheduling, personal attention, or whatever it was this employee needed but wasn’t getting (asking is a good way to find out if you’re unsure), someone could have kept him happy enough that he would, at the bare minimum, quit in the traditional way.

b. Firing his happy ass.

After realizing just how checked out he was, someone should have gotten rid of this particular employee. Employees throw off all kinds of signals that they no longer care. In my next post, I’ll be looking at some of those behaviors.