Almost every business owner has dealt with stale employees who refuse to change with the times. These employees have decided that they've learned everything they need to, and now coast by on their tenure without contributing their share to the success of the company. Unfortunately for you, the boss, these employees probably used to be exceptional in their positions. You probably have a great relationship, and they're likely your most highly paid employees. But if these members of your team don't change, you may have to choose between maintaining longstanding relationships or ensuring the success of your business. Can Stale Employees Be Saved? As an agency consultant, I have years of experience coaching business owners on handling these situations. While some stale employees can be saved, old habits are difficult to change. I had a client on the East Coast who owns an agency of about 25 employees. The owner was loyal to an account representative who had been with him for 15 years. Unfortunately, this employee had chosen not to embrace the digital revolution in his industry, and his skills had become irrelevant over the years. The owner felt so attached that he didn't realize what a burden the stale employee had become on his other employees until his star account executive quit, citing his frustration over covering for the stale employee as his reason for leaving. As a result, this agency's biggest client also left, and the owner had to lay off some of his workforce. That finally got his attention. Had he taken action earlier, people would have kept their jobs. He sat down with this employee and gave him a generous amount of time to change and specific progress goals to [...]