Script 7 · from the Firm & Fair Playbook
What to say to two employees who aren’t getting along
Talk to each of them alone first, the same day, then both together the next day for ten minutes. Start with the facts, and don’t pick a side:
“Wednesday a customer heard you two going at it over the proof box. Saturday the Delgado order wasn’t ready.”
“I’m not here to decide who’s right. Tell me what’s going on back here.”
Then set a written split of the work, and listen for anything that’s really a complaint.
The situation
Lori and Becca open the bakery together at 4 a.m. For a month they’ve talked to each other mostly through sticky notes on the mixer. Last Wednesday at 7, with a line at the counter, a customer heard them snap at each other over the proof box. “I’m not your assistant.” “Then stop acting like one.” Saturday, the Delgado order, five dozen cupcakes for a ten o’clock birthday party, wasn’t boxed at pickup, because each of them thought the other had it. You’ve already told them twice to work it out.
Before you talk
- Know what you’re asking for. Liking each other is optional. Running the morning together is the job, and right now the morning isn’t running.
- Talk to each of them alone first, the same day, with the same questions. Then both together the next day, for ten minutes.
- Have the facts: the exchange at the proof box, the Delgado order, the dates.
- Listen for something bigger than a clash. If either one says the other has made comments about her age, race, religion, body, or anything like that, you’re holding a complaint. The complaint protocol takes over, and the joint meeting doesn’t happen.
- Don’t fix it by moving whoever complained to the worse shift. From the outside, that’s what retaliation looks like.
- Know which talk this is. First time: this talk and a written split of the work. If one of them keeps breaking it, the documented conversation, for that one.
- If this ends in a write-up for either of them, run the Check below first. Pay special attention to whether either has complained about the other.
- Pick the moment. After the rush, once the case is full, at the back table with the door to the front closed.
The first words
Say this to each of them, alone. Here it is for Becca:
You“I’m talking to you and Lori separately today, then together tomorrow. Wednesday a customer heard you two going at it over the proof box. Saturday the Delgado order wasn’t ready.”
“I’m not here to decide who’s right. Tell me what’s going on back here.”
What they’ll say, and what you say
They“She treats me like her assistant. She’s been here longer, and she acts like I work for her.”
You“Give me a day and what she said. The more specific you are, the more I can do.”
The next day, with both of them:
You“Here’s how mornings run. Lori, bread and the case. Becca, cakes and special orders, and the order board is yours. Every order gets initialed when it’s taken and when it’s boxed.”
They“Can’t you just put one of us on afternoons?”
You“Not now. Let’s see if the split works. If I change anybody’s shift later, it’ll be about what the bakery needs, and I’ll tell you both why.”
The Playbook’s full script also covers the rest of each one-on-one, and what to do if it turns: if one of them says the other makes comments about her age, if one starts crying in the joint meeting, if one says you always take the other’s side.
Never say
- “I don’t care who started it.”Why: Sometimes who started it is the whole story. If one of them is being harassed, this line tells her not to bother telling you.
- “Just work it out between yourselves.”Why: You’ve said it twice. That’s how you got a missed order and a fight over the proof box.
Write it down the same day
- Tonight, a separate conversation record for each: the date, what you raised (Wednesday at the proof box, the Delgado order), her account in her words, and the split you set. Keep each account off the other person’s record.
- Tape the split up next to the order board, with today’s date on it.
- If one of them breaks the split, or they argue where customers can hear it again, the one who did it gets the documented conversation.
Before any write-up or firing: the Check
Trouble often starts with something reasonable done at the wrong moment: a write-up the week after a complaint, a firing right after a request for time off. The Playbook has you run the Check first.
Before you act, has any of this happened?
- They complained about something at work recently.
- They asked for time off, or for a change in how or when they work.
- They told you about something personal that may need time off or a change at work.
- There’s a workers’ comp claim.
- They were a witness in someone else’s complaint.
- They’ve talked with coworkers about pay or working conditions.
- The timing could look like payback.
- It’s a layoff, and you’re choosing someone 40 or older.
- Someone could believe the real reason is a different one.
Any yes: stop, and get advice before the next step.
A tip from the Playbook: many business insurance policies include an HR or legal helpline. Find out whether yours does now, before you need it.
The Firm & Fair Playbook
This is part of Script 7 in the Firm & Fair Playbook. The full script has every beat, what to do if it turns, what never to say, and what to write down the same day.
32 conversations, word for word, 18 templates with a filled-in example each, and Quick Cards for your phone.
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See what’s insideQuestions owners ask
Should I talk to both employees together, or one at a time?
Separately first, the same day, with the same questions. Then both together the next day, for ten minutes, to set the split of the work. If either one tells you the other has made comments about her age, race, religion, body, or anything like that, the joint meeting doesn’t happen: that’s a complaint, and the complaint protocol takes over.
Can I just move one of them to another shift?
Not as the first fix, and never by moving whoever complained to the worse shift: from the outside, that’s what retaliation looks like. Try a clear, written split of the work first. If you change anyone’s shift later, make it about what the business needs, and tell both of them why.
Should I write up both employees?
Not for a first time. A first time gets this talk and a written split of the work. If one of them breaks the split, or they argue where customers can hear it again, the one who did it gets the documented conversation. Before anything goes on paper for either of them, run the Check, and look hardest at whether either has complained about the other.
Related
- Gossip that’s splitting the crew One post in the group chat, and now the whole office is taking sides.
- When an employee brings you a complaint Harassment, discrimination, pay or safety: what to say first, and what to do next.
- The attitude (“not my job”, eye-rolls, the sigh) Eye-rolls, sighs and “not my job”: name what they did, not the attitude.
Free
Take Script 1 with you.
The complete first conversation as a PDF to keep, and the full contents of the Playbook. Then four short emails over eleven days: two more hard conversations, the four moves behind every script, and what’s in the full Playbook.
Not legal advice. Practical wording and process guidance for business owners, written for workplaces in the United States. For a specific situation, talk to an employment attorney licensed in your state.