What to do with 'average' employee

[Scott T. Jensen]

I am a very small company (6 employees), and one of my
software developers (there are 4 of them) is just average.
He is basically worth his salary and no more.

You get what you pay for. What you're saying is for what you paid, you've
gotten what you deserve.

He falls short on alot of expectations that I have, yet he
understands his area and produces some results.

No, you've just said he's given you what you've paid for. You seem to be
bitching that you didn't get something more for your money than you deserve.

I hired him as a contractor to get this new version of ours
over the line, then a full-time programmer quit so I made
him an employee. He was not my first choice when I
interviewed for the job.

What does him not being your first choice have to do with anything?

Obviously, as a small business, every dollar counts.

And it sounds like you're getting your money's worth.

So I am faced with a dilemna... continue with him since
he knows his area and training another developer would
take months, or fire him and go through the interview
process again to find someone stronger.

He's doing his job. He's giving you your money's worth. Why are you
complaining?

Anyone else have similar experiences... advise?

Stop complaining. After you do that, offer him incentives to increase his
output. He may or may not bite, but he's still doing his job adequately so
you really have no room to complain.

Scott Jensen

[Robert Anderson]

I am a very small company (6 employees), and one of my
software developers (there are 4 of them) is just average.
He is basically worth his salary and no more.

I did not see the original post for some reason but now I have. Is this guy
really worth his salary or is he bad? Maybe you are a nice guy -- nothing
wrong with that -- and you are not saying what you really think. But do tell
us what you really think!

The other programmers make a similiar amount to him and are more productive?
Why do you think that is? Have you talked to this guy to try to figure out
what is going on? Maybe he needs more guidance from a more senior
programmer. Who knows. Talk to him. Try to figure out what is going on.

I'd say the next step for you (if you have not done so already) is to open
up the lines of communication...

[Manik Thapar]

People work for bread but not bread alone! What I mean by this is that
offering more money is not the answer. This individual might be looking
for a sutible work enviourment, something might be bothering him, you
dont really know. What you need to do is sit down and talk to him,
finmd out what is bothering him, and tell him you are there to help him
in whatever way you can. But make sure that you let him know that this
problem needs to be resolved ASAP and then set a time frame. At the
same time start looking for some one to fill his position, incase you
continue to have problems with him

You need to make sure that you have the right people on the bus and
wrong people off the bus.

for more on this subject visit www.careerpath.cc and click on the
MANAGERS MANUAL LINK

Regards
Manik Thapar