How Should We Handle an Employee's Foul Language Incident with a Client Without Termination?

Hello Seniors, I require your urgent attention to an issue in our organization. One of our employees used foul language with a reputed client, resulting in the client sending an email stating that it has badly affected the employee's reputation. The employee has acknowledged his mistake and provided a written apology. He is a very good performer, and his termination would result in significant financial losses to the company.

Possible Actions to Address the Issue

Please advise on possible actions that can be taken against him, other than termination, to satisfy the client. If termination is necessary, how should we proceed with the issue?

Thank you.

Does the client have any say in what action they expect your company to take? Some large clients have a say in how their vendors handle situations, not just such cases.

If no, then just pull this person out of handling this client and put him onto handling other clients.

If yes, then let someone senior in your company speak to this client on the PoA you plan to adopt—shifting him to handle other clients.

Also, please probe if this situation was the result of some momentary loss of temper or something more serious. If the latter, maybe you need to warn the employee not to repeat, and if it's repeated, there could be severe action taken against him.

All the best.

Regards,
TS

I second Mr. TS on [put him onto handling OTHER clients] — well, various situations happen with the client-employee relationship. Based on your query, you've mentioned "The employee has accepted his mistake and given a written apology," which certainly means that he had not done it deliberately. There should always be a SECOND CHANCE. As the saying goes, AFTER ALL, we are HUMANS! Unanticipated scenes tend to happen out of the blue.

You may send a letter/email requesting the client to absolve the person "as he is a good performer and is rueful for whatever happened." Being his first mistake, you may ensure a memo, and any next mistake will assure an excruciating TERMINATION. The employee may also implore the client personally, expressing his apologies and assuring that he will never repeat a similar mistake. Follow "saam daam dand bhed."

Suggestions for Handling Employee Misconduct

1. As the employee has accepted his mistake and given a written apology, that itself reveals his or her character. The employee could be an asset to your company.

2. Since you find the employee to be a very good performer, and his termination could cause losses in lakhs to the company, it is better not to resort to termination as an extreme step.

3. A client cannot direct the vendor to terminate the employee. If the client is demanding it, then I would say your client is not mature, and the requirement is based more on a personal grudge.

4. Allocate another resource to the client and assign this employee to another project.

5. If unable to find such an expert for the client, perhaps someone from the business side, along with the employee, should try to patch things up with the client and settle amicably.

Regards

Losing temper with a client due to any reason is not acceptable at any cost. Submitting an apology to you is also not the solution. I feel that if the client is very valuable, then you have to think about the client seriously. All clients are valuable, and in your case, the client is very important, so it's more serious. I feel first, you must hold an independent inquiry and try to find the circumstances and any fault on the part of the client as that will help you in pacifying the client.

Secondly, if the argument was with some employee of the client, then submit a fair report to his boss explaining all the circumstances and request him to pacify the aggrieved person. Tell your employee to patch up with the complainant, and he should feel sorry for the person he insulted. If nothing works, take back that employee and explain to the client that you are looking for a substitute and shall replace this person as soon as you find a substitute.

On the other side, if you find the employee was forced to lose temper by the acts or omissions of the other party, just tell the aggrieved party that action under disciplinary provisions is being taken against this employee and just to satisfy them, issue a warning letter and some fine like stopping the increment, etc. Copy to the client, and I am sure they will be pacified. Later, you may not actually implement that punishment. Please understand that many times you face such situations where clients demand things that are not genuine, and you have to find a way to satisfy the client without hurting the faithful employees.

Best wishes.

Dear Mayuri and Seniors,

Please do not publicize the matter within the company; you may lose the erring employee anyway. Please consider training your team members dealing with clients. This would be a proactive approach. It is not only anger management but also wholesome communication, both verbal and written. Have the erring person's department head appraise the client.

Evaluate moving the erring employee to another project. In the meantime, let the reporting boss interact with the client instead of the erring employee. Keep the erring employee informed of how concerned the company is for him to develop empathy in communication and delivering comfort. It is not unexpected for techies to get annoyed at customer demands. It is best to include client handling training for all techies dealing with clients.

After the training is completed, have the erring employee share the case with other trainees to showcase how good your company is! You would have achieved more than by taking an extreme step.

Best,
RB