HIGH MAINTENANCE STAFF QUESTION FOR DAN O’DAY: On another note... what about high maintenance type staff? There always seems to be one person claiming to be laiden down with more stuff than the next guy. If it's not that, their throat is sore, their feet ache or some other sort of problem. I admit, I've had strep throat, not a thrilling thing to have when you rely on your voice to make a living, but there's always those people who have it worse. Does one just sit back and watch the business weed them out, or should they be taken aside and chatted with one on one? DAN REPLIES: As Paul Simon said, "Some folks' lives roll easy, some folks' lives never roll at all." On the job, what matters is the employee's performance. If the employee's problems continually form an excuse for not doing the job that is required, then a conversation is in order. I'm not sure, however, that that should be the job of the Assistant Program Director. The APD should be helping the PD's systems run smoothly. But serious personnel problems should be handled by the PD or GM.