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A couple of you have written to ask how I deal with difficult staff. Well, it's a huge topic - and if I had the definitive answer I'd be a very rich woman now, as opposed to a slightly frazzled entrepreneur! But here are a few thoughts.

To be honest, I still think the best way of dealing with difficult people is not to hire them in the first place. That probably sounds a bit glib - but I genuinely believe that if people are going to be a complete pain in the proverbial, you ought to be able to spot it at the interview stage. Very few people can act their way through an entire recruitment process (unless it's rubbish).

I think I'm actually a pretty good recruiter. For me, three of the most important skills for a good entrepreneur are a) knowing what you're not good at; b) identifying that ability in someone else; and c) persuading them to use it to your benefit. So you have to be great at recruitment. Although part of it is just practice, of course: these days I've developed a kind of sixth sense, so if I'm interviewing someone and I have a bad feeling about them, I'll usually just invent some spurious reason why they're not suitable for the job and send them packing (don't tell my lawyers that though).

But however good you are, and however careful you are, you can't avoid difficult people altogether. Sometimes people just change after you hire them - I had one guy who went to pieces after his girlfriend dumped him and became a complete waste of space (I did try, honestly, but eventually he had to go). I've also had girls come back after having a baby who discover almost immediately that all their motivation to work has disappeared (fair enough, but I've got a business to run).

And then there's the most difficult category: the people you hire even when you know they'll be difficult. I interviewed a new sales girl a few years ago and realised two things very quickly: one, she was exactly what the business was lacking; and two; she'd drive me up the wall within six weeks. Actually, it was more like a fortnight. But I was right on the first count too: she really drove the business forward in the 18 months she was there (after which she inevitably jumped ship, to a job she hated that paid a bit more - idiot).

So what do you do about it? Well as I see it there are two options. If you can manage without them, it's easy: get rid of them as fast as you can. Difficult people make everyone's lives miserable, so the gains you get from everyone else will make up for anything you lose from their input.

If they're indispensable, it's more difficult. But there's no point just trying to grin and bear it. You have to try and smooth off their rough edges, and that means giving them the right kind of incentive to change. If all they care about is money, make it part of their bonus. If they want promotion, feed it into their development review. You have to try and work out what makes them tick, and then press the right buttons.

And if that doesn't work, get rid of them anyway. Life’s too short.

Previous Secret Diary entries:
25.07.08: About Me
01.08.08: Bad debts
08.08.08: Partnership troubles