Heath-Adams & Co

29/06/2026

“Three warning letters and then dismissal…”

Many people are familiar with this. There is a little more procedure to it than that, but for the most part, it is a basic understanding of good industrial relations practice.

But that just focuses on the process. Really, the focus should be on the people.

The process is there as a minimum standard to ensure fairness and to protect against abuse and oppression.
But the best leaders strive to go beyond this minimum standard.

In a business, especially the bigger you get, you are almost guaranteed to encounter conflicts, discipline issues and performance challenges.

But when you face these things, the goal is not just to start issuing warning letters until you think it is fair to terminate.

Yes, the industrial relations process- investigations, hearings, sanctions- is important, but even more important are the people involved in the issues.

When there are disciplinary issues (for eg, poor attendance or tardiness), the first goal should always be to understand the reason behind it. These problems don’t happen in vacuum, there is a human element to it.

Your employee might be going through personal difficulties, there may be issues with the supervisor, etc.

Your employees aren’t coming to work with the intention to underperform or behave poorly. Just like you, they want to do their best, they want to be successful, they want to make others proud.

Unfortunately, sometimes poor decisions are made in the heat of the moment, or the pressures of life cause people to falter.

Whatever the cause, if you approach problems with empathy and compassion, rather than simply trying to issue letters, you will get a better understanding of the root cause and then you might actually be able to make a positive impact.

Take the time to understand and show your employee that you are willing to give them chances to improve.

This approach can help you earn more loyalty and commitment from your employees, which will lead to improvements.

But rushing to issue letters causes your employees to fear for their jobs, adds to any potential personal issues they may already be facing, causes them to feel unsupported & demotivated, and makes them feel as if it is you against them, rather than being on the same team working towards the same vision.

The industrial relations processes are important. It helps to ensure a minimum level of fairness.

But only focusing on the process and not the people is a recipe for a broken culture.

Prioritize empathy, compassion and understanding.

Look at discipline/performance issues as opportunities to strengthen your relationships with your employees. A chance to help them grow as people.

Take the chance to work more closely with them and inspire them to grow beyond their mistakes.

There is, of course, a right time for sanctions and even dismissal. But that should not be your starting point.

Prioritize dealing with problems with empathy and compassion to help your employees improve.

25/06/2026

Hiring is about more than who has the best CV…

Getting hiring right is the number one way to avoid dealing with discipline issues, culture problems, and unfair dismissal cases.

Hire people who believe in your cause and who share your values.

Don’t just bring people because they have a nice CV.

You have to be careful about who you hire and who you keep.

Some leaders care so much about the organization, the purpose and the people they lead that they do everything to protect the environment and ensure that only the right people come on board and stay on board.

Other leaders just care about filling a role as quickly as possible.

If you are a leader who believes in your cause and takes care about who you bring on board, this is one of the best things that you can do to maintain a positive environment.

Who you hire and who you retain plays a big part in your culture and your ability to advance your cause. It’s not easy to hire correctly or fire fairly, but it’s possible.

And if you’re a leader who cares about getting both those things right, we want to help you so that you can continue advancing your cause and fulfilling your purpose.

24/06/2026

A lot of leaders think you have to be constantly “standing over” employees for them to do their jobs.

That you have to tell them exactly what to do, you have to get updates every minute, and that if you don’t stand over them, they won’t do the work.

We have heard people say that employees’ goal is to do as little work as possible.

But think about it concerning yourself: Do you prefer to be treated like that? Do you prefer to be micromanaged and to get “rough up”? Is your primary goal to avoid doing work?

Or do you prefer to be trusted and given space to do your job? And to be given helpful support if needed? And to be rewarded when you get it right? Or taught how to improve when you get it wrong, without being made to feel like you’re stupid or that you’re going to be fired?

So if you prefer it one way, why wouldn't you assume that employees prefer it that way too? No one likes to go to work to be treated like they are incompetent.

And when you treat people like that how do you expect them to respond and perform?

Most people will continue to treat employees in that way.

But we’re interested in the leaders who know that there’s a better way to lead and manage.

Just because the majority do it that way doesn’t mean it’s the only way, and certainly doesn’t mean it’s the best way or even the right way.

Don’t the majority of employees also complain about how unhappy they are in their jobs?

You can create a culture where people aren’t micromanged, where they are trusted and given responsibility, where they take initiative without being asked, and they go above and beyond in their work.

Many leaders would refuse to give employees that level of trust and freedom. Maybe because of bad experiences in the past. Maybe because they just don’t think it would work.

But if you believe that’s how you should manage your employees, you can choose to run your business like that.

It will always have those who say that that’s not how it’s supposed to be done. That it doesn’t work like that.

But that’s why you started your own business. To follow your own values and beliefs. And to do things the way you think they should be done. To do what you think is right.

Nobody can guarantee that you’ll be successful if you do things your own way, but there’s also no guarantee that you would be successful if you follow the crowd and do it their way, so you might as well do what you believe.

And try to create something you are proud of.

And more importantly, strive to lead and live in a way that you are proud of.

23/06/2026

“Trinidad has a shallow talent pool…”

We have heard that many times and we strongly disagree.

We don’t have a talent problem. At all.

There is an inspiration problem.
A fulfillment problem.
A confidence problem.

We have very intelligent, talented people.

But we don’t have the environments and the cultures that allow them to show their best work.

The environments and cultures that we have, which are not just limited to the workplace (it also applies to schools and for some people, even their homes), cause people to feel less confident, afraid, anxious, unfulfilled, and the end result oftentimes is lower performance than they are capable of.

Many leaders approach hiring as just “getting a warm body in the chair”.

From the outset, they don’t believe that their people are capable of anything special, they don’t see it as their responsibility to understand their people’s strengths and gifts, and they definitely don’t see it as their responsibility to create the best conditions to allow each individual to thrive.

When your actions (and sometimes even your words) show employees that you don’t believe in them, for many of them it kills their confidence and their drive to perform well.

They will feel afraid to voice their opinions, contribute ideas, take risks, or take initiative. They will just try to follow instructions.

It would be a self-fulfilling prophecy. You think little of your people, you expect little of them and you don’t do anything to create genuine opportunities for them to improve, they will live up to your expectations.

But there are leaders who understand their responsibilities to their people.

Leaders who take the time to understand their employees, give them responsibilities aligned to their skills, empower them, encourage them to grow, are patient, and importantly, they give their employees a vision to work towards & show them exactly how they contribute to achieving that vision.

This is when you see people at their best.

Trinidad is not at any inherent disadvantage when it comes to individual talent.

If you feel that you are at a disadvantage because you are from Trinidad, then that’s your belief, and of course, directly or indirectly, that will spread to your team.

But if you believe you are capable, then why would everybody else be incapable? Why would you be the only one with talent, and somehow all your employees are inferior?

We have the talent to achieve what we want to achieve. It's the environment and culture in our businesses’ that need to improve.

We want to work with leaders who believe in their people, who think that all of their people have unique gifts, talents and genius. Leaders who understand that if we find the right ways to inspire, employees would be able to fulfill their potential and become more than they ever imagined possible.

We have talent. But we need to nurture that talent.

And success would follow.

22/06/2026

We believe work should be fulfilling…

It shouldn’t just be about money.

We also believe that:

- Employees shouldn’t have to feel unhappy or stressed about going to work.

- Every person (employee) has unique gifts and they have the ability to make meaningful contributions to a worthy cause.

- None of us is better than the other; we just have different gifts. We should respect everybody and appreciate the unique things they bring to the table (and create the space for everybody’s gifts to show).

- You do not have to make immoral or unfair decisions to succeed.

- You don’t have to compromise your principles to succeed.

- It’s better to fail doing the right thing than to succeed doing the wrong thing.

- Business should be about trying to fulfill a purpose or a meaningful cause, it shouldn’t just be about trying to make money.

- Work should be engaging, curious, challenging and it should push us to consistently improve.

- Leaders’ primary responsibility is to the people they lead; not money, fame or anything else. A leader must never put any interests above that of the people they lead.

- And if leaders treat their people this way and create this type of culture, everyone would be loyal and committed to the organization and its cause.

Not everyone shares these beliefs and we’re okay with that. Some might say they do but their actions show otherwise.

We only want to work with people who share these beliefs.

We would be a terrible consultant for any company that doesn’t share these same beliefs because we would be misaligned and we would not be able to help them execute their objectives.

We have no problem admitting that because you have to know who and what works well for you, and definitely who doesn’t.

But if you hold these same beliefs, we want to work with you.

We want to work with leaders who believe that business should be about more than making money. It should serve a purpose, advance a real cause, improve lives, or make the world better in some meaningful way, even in a small way.

Whether your work helps people feel healthier, happier, safer, supported, or more fulfilled, we want to help you build the kind of culture that allows that purpose to grow.

Our expertise is in industrial relations and employee relations. We help ensure that your decisions are legally compliant, fair, and well-handled. But more importantly, we help you make the right decisions for the kind of culture you want to build.

A culture that helps employees feel inspired and valued, and driven to achieve something that’s bigger than themselves and that they can feel proud to be a part of.

As your business expands, it becomes harder to protect the environment, values, and standards that you were probably able to establish at the beginning.

We want to help you create and sustain the right workplace culture, make sound people decisions, and build an environment where employees feel valued, inspired, and empowered to do their best work.

09/06/2026

Many companies adopt a ruthless culture…

They demand immediate results, even if they provide very little training, don’t provide clear direction and don’t have a proper structure for employees to learn and thrive.

And crucially, in these environments, shortcomings in performance are met with threats of punishment or dismissal, and strict demands for improved performance without any real guidance, support or training.

Inevitably, many employees fail to excel in these environments. And the threats and warnings often lead to worse performance because all it does is frighten the employee and ruin their confidence.

There will be some employees whose personality suits this kind of environment and leadership style. The pressure and the ruthlessness might push them to achieve.

But it is questionable if this type of culture leads to sustainable excellence. And it’s certainly unlikely to create an environment where people feel happy or fulfilled.

In the vast majority of cases, people are unlikely to thrive in such an environment. If your only approach to underperformance is to threaten and demand improvement, your employees are unlikely to improve.

And when they are inevitably dismissed, that dismissal could potentially be deemed unfair because of the lack of coaching, training and support.

You might have fulfilled the requirements of raising the issues and giving warnings, but you might struggle to show that you fulfilled the other requirements.

Some managers themselves are under so much pressure from the executive level to succeed immediately that they don’t feel like they have the time and space to coach their employees.

They might instead feel pressured to give up on their existing employees and just try to get someone else who hopefully can deliver from the get go.

But that’s not very likely. And that’s why many companies end up with high turnover. They keep looking for the miracle hire, instead of working with the ones they have and helping them get to the top level.

This is not to say that employees should not be held accountable for shortcomings, but you must take a holistic view of the situation and look at how the organization’s culture might be contributing to the situation.

If a large number of employees are underperforming, particularly new ones, there might be a culture problem.

And if you are serious about getting improved performance from your employees, you might have to take a more holistic approach and start making changes to the way that you communicate, train, coach, give feedback, and ultimately, you must ensure that there is a real structure in place to help employees succeed.

It might require you to prioritize sustained long-term excellence over short-term results.

This is certainly more challenging than just issuing threats and demands, but it would probably end up being much more rewarding for everyone involved.

[Image from ChatGPT]

14/05/2026

An Underrated Tool For Helping Your Employees: Honesty.

To properly coach someone and help them improve you have to be honest about where they are falling short.

Unfortunately, many managers avoid having honest conversations with their employees.

So much of corporate life is about scheming and hidden agendas, and when an employee is underperforming, the first thought is often trying to figure out the best scheme to get rid of him.

And there’s a good chance that while you’re scheming, the employee has no clue what the real problem is.

Some managers shy away from the honest approach because it might involve difficult and awkward conversations with employees.

It’s not always easy to tell someone about their shortcomings, especially because you don’t know how they might react.

But whatever the reason for avoiding it, real growth and improvement can’t take place without honest discussions.

And honesty does not refer to rude and disrespectful comments disguised as being “blunt”.

You can communicate honestly with an employee and still show respect and compassion.

And that’s exactly what is required when dealing with underperforming employees.

Forget about scheming, avoiding, sugarcoating, or downplaying what’s actually going on.

Having honest conversations (with respect and compassion) is essential to helping employees improve and also necessary if you want to avoid being taken to court if the situation ends in a termination.

11/05/2026

“I Have An Employee Who is Not Performing Well. How Can I Get Rid of Him?”

Your focus shouldn’t be on how to make a termination look fair. The primary focus should always be on how you can help your employee to improve.

Otherwise you will have a lot of underperforming employees and chances are when you terminate, it may still be deemed unfair and you may have to pay compensation.

Good Industrial Relations requires employers to take multiple steps when dealing with an employee who is performing below expectations.

These steps typically include:
- Ensuring the employee has a clear and accurate job description, proper orientation and adequate training
- Providing feedback and guidance- bringing performance concerns to the employee’s attention early
- Providing necessary coaching and support
Implementing a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) where appropriate
- Issuing warnings if performance continues below standard
- Exploring alternatives such as redeployment or demotion before termination

Only after these steps are taken- and the employee still fails to meet the required standard- should termination be considered.

Most companies get most of the steps correct (because for the most part these steps just involve documentation).

The one that companies often struggle with, and which is probably the most important, is Coaching.

Managers often say that they don’t have the time to coach, and many of them may not know how to coach. Lots of managers get promoted to their position because of their technical competence, not necessarily for their ability to manage and lead others.

An employee might need coaching in hard skills (the technical aspects of the job) or soft skills (attitude, communication, etc.). Both are just as important for the employee to succeed in the role.

If an employee does not get the specific coaching that he needs, then this makes termination almost inevitable.

And at that point, companies might bring in an external consultant to help them properly document the termination and hopefully make it fair.

But the reality is that if the managers did not provide proper coaching throughout the employee’s tenure, then regardless of what you do at the end, the termination may still be deemed unfair and you may be forced to pay compensation.

If you or your managers cannot coach your employees, that’s when the company should bring in external support- to provide or assist in coaching, not just to terminate.

That’s the only way that you can get improved employee performance and also avoid legal liability for unfair terminations.

Coaching is by far the most time-consuming and the most challenging of all the required steps when dealing with poor performance. This is why so many companies and managers neglect it.

But if you don’t get the coaching right, you are going to be stuck with underperforming employees and then still face the risk of liability when you terminate.

If you or your management team don’t have the capacity to properly coach your employees, then prioritize bringing in external support to provide proper coaching, and not just to help with your terminations.

That gives you the best chance to help your employees, improve your company’s performance, and hopefully avoid being taken to court.

31/03/2026

If you are entitled to paid leave, whether based on your contract or the law, your employer is supposed to pay it accordingly.

If your employer fails to do so, you may be entitled to resign and seek compensation.

You may even be entitled to receive back pay for the unpaid leave you were supposed to receive.

Click the link and check out the blog to learn more about if you are supposed to be receiving paid leave and what steps you can take if it’s not being given to you.

If you are entitled to paid leave, whether based on your contract or the law, your employer is supposed to pay it accordingly. If your employer fails to do so, you may be entitled to resign and seek compensation.

24/03/2026

6 Ways That You May Be Unfairly Dismissed From Your Job

You should not be fired from your job unless your employer has a legitimate reason and has followed the proper process.

If your employer fired you without a legitimate reason or without following the proper process, then you may have been unfairly dismissed, and you may be entitled to get compensation or even to get your job back.

Employees get dismissed in many different ways, and oftentimes these dismissals are unfair.

Here are 6 ways that you may be unfairly dismissed:

1. If you are accused of misconduct in the workplace (eg. absenteeism or breaching a company policy), and your employer fires you without conducting a proper investigation and giving you a fair opportunity to defend yourself;

2. If you have been fired for “performing poorly”, but your superiors have not provided you with the necessary training or given you enough opportunities to improve your performance;

3. If your employer gives you notice of termination and there is no valid reason for firing you (even if your employment contract states that it can be terminated by giving written notice);

4. If you are fired, without notice, for no reason;

5. If your employer forces you to resign;

6. If your employment contract is allowed to expire without being renewed;

Even if you do not have a written employment contract, you still have the right not to be unfairly dismissed in any of these ways.

If you were unfairly dismissed, you may be entitled to compensation or even to be reinstated in your job.

It is best to get advice as soon as you are dismissed from your job.