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Script 16 · from the Firm & Fair Playbook

What to say to a high performer with a bad attitude

Talk in private before the day starts, not between appointments, and lead with what you want to keep before what has to change:

“Simone, your book is the best in this salon, and I want you here. I need to talk about how people are getting treated on the floor, starting with Saturday and the toner.”

Then stick to what you saw and what’s on the record, and hold her to the same rule as every other chair.

Firm & Fair · Checked October 2026

The situation

Simone does more color than any stylist in your salon, close to 40 percent of it. Saturday, with a client in chair three, she told the shampoo assistant, “I said the purple toner. Try listening.” Twice this month she’s taken a walk-in who was next up for Kelsey, and the front desk has quit asking her to move anything on the book. Two assistants left this year, and both brought her up on the way out.

Before you talk

  • Split it into two columns. Her results: excellent, and not today’s subject. Her conduct: things you can describe the way a camera would. Saturday’s toner comment and the two walk-ins, with dates from the desk sheet.
  • Ask what you’d do if your newest stylist did this. That’s your answer. If the top earner gets a pass, you lose the right to correct anybody else for the same thing, and the whole floor knows why.
  • Know your answer to “I’ll take my clients and go” before you walk in. If you can’t live with that possibility, she’s running the salon, not you.
  • Pick the moment. Tuesday at 9:00, before the first client, in the back office. Not between appointments, and not where the assistants can hear.
  • Use what you saw and what’s on the sheet. The assistants who left told you things on the way out; don’t quote them and don’t name them. If what they described sounds like harassment, such as comments about someone’s race or religion, that’s a complaint with its own process: how to handle an employee complaint.
  • If this heads toward a write-up, run the Check below first. The top earner gets the same Check as everyone, no more and no less.

The first words

You“Simone, your book is the best in this salon, and I want you here. I need to talk about how people are getting treated on the floor, starting with Saturday and the toner.”

What they’ll say, and what you say

They“So I get in trouble for caring about the work?”

You“You care about the work more than anybody here. I need the way you talk to the assistants to match it.”

They“Who’s been complaining? Is it Kelsey?”

You“I’m not going to get into who said what. I saw Saturday myself, and the walk-ins are on the sheet. That’s what we’re talking about.”

They“Half my clients would follow me if I left.”

You“Maybe they would. That’s your call to make. Mine is how people get treated here, and that’s the same for every chair, yours included.”

The Playbook’s full script also covers the toner itself (“She grabbed the wrong toner”), the walk-ins (“That’s how it’s always been”), the close with a check-in date, and what to do if it turns: if she says you’re singling her out, if she threatens to leave and take her book (and what not to say about a non-compete), if she walks out mid-conversation.

Never say

  • “Everybody knows you’re impossible to work with.”Why: “Everybody” sends her hunting for names, and “impossible” is a label, not something she did. Describe what happened and when.
  • “You bring in too much money for me to lose you, but...”Why: She’ll hear the first half and nothing after it. You’ve just told her the rule has a price, and what it is.

Write it down the same day

  • Tonight, write the date and what you saw: Saturday’s comment word for word, with the time and the client in the chair. List the walk-ins with dates and whose turn it was, straight from the desk sheet. Then what she said back and what you asked for, with the check-in date.
  • Leave what the departed assistants told you out of this record.
  • If it happens again after this talk, the next step is the documented conversation. If it keeps happening, the written warning.

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?

  1. They complained about something at work recently.
  2. They asked for time off, or for a change in how or when they work.
  3. They told you about something personal that may need time off or a change at work.
  4. There’s a workers’ comp claim.
  5. They were a witness in someone else’s complaint.
  6. They’ve talked with coworkers about pay or working conditions.
  7. The timing could look like payback.
  8. It’s a layoff, and you’re choosing someone 40 or older.
  9. 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

The Firm & Fair Playbook

This is part of Script 16 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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Questions owners ask

What if my top performer threatens to quit?

Know your answer before you walk in. If you can’t live with that possibility, they’re running the business, not you. If they say their clients would follow them, you don’t have to argue the point: “Maybe they would. That’s your call to make.” Then go back to how people get treated, the same for every chair. If it turns into “I’ll quit unless…”, that’s its own conversation.

What if coworkers have complained about them?

Use what you saw yourself and what’s on the record, and don’t quote or name anyone who told you things. If what they described sounds like harassment, such as comments about someone’s race or religion, that’s a complaint with its own process: how to handle an employee complaint. Never tell anyone who complained or reported: it puts that person in their sights and teaches everyone else to stop telling you things.

Can I write up my best employee?

Yes, the same as anyone. If it happens again after this talk, the next step is the documented conversation, and if it keeps happening, the written warning. Run the Check first: the top earner gets the same Check as everyone, no more and no less.

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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.