Dear Bob ... I have an employee who's driving me nuts. He has all the aptitude in the world, is smart and technically sharp, and causes far more problems for me than he solves. His problems are twofold. First, he's sloppy. Nothing he does is right the first time, which wouldn't necessarily be a problem except that part of his job is to put things into production. Too often he just shoves a change in - with the b Dear Bob …I have an employee who’s driving me nuts. He has all the aptitude in the world, is smart and technically sharp, and causes far more problems for me than he solves.His problems are twofold. First, he’s sloppy. Nothing he does is right the first time, which wouldn’t necessarily be a problem except that part of his job is to put things into production. Too often he just shoves a change in – with the best of intentions, to fix something – which turns out to have some glitch that messes up production jobs. Then he goes home, without checking to make sure his fix actually works, which means it’s often the next day before his problems are spotted. The other problem is that he doesn’t have a preventive bone in his body. No matter how much evidence is in front of him that problems are brewing, he nonetheless waits until we’re in a crisis before taking any action. Until then he’ll argue that we can’t prove a problem is about to occur.In his defense, he’s never had a good manager to show him the ropes. Against his defense, I’ve been trying for months to help him understand where he needs to change his way of operating, with no noticeable change.Worst of all, he’s asking me for a promotion. I just can’t seem to find the key. Any advice would be welcome.– About to boltDear Bolt … Can’t seem to find the key? Too bad, because you know what you need to do: Lock him out.You have two choices, both simple. Either put him under someone’s close supervision so he learns how to do things right, one task at a time, or fire him without regret. Your responsibility is to provide opportunity, not unconditional employment. The chance of salvaging him is minimal – the critical clue is that he’s so far in denial that he’s asking for a promotion.If it will make you feel better, find someone to oversee his responsibilities, review his work, and provide him with clear criteria regarding what it means to do his job professionally. Who knows – with close enough review, he might catch on after all. Or, show him the door. If you haven’t been documenting his issues and given him a formal warning, now’s the time to start, because the odds of his becoming a reliable employee are minimal.But whatever you do, take away his production access. Servers crash enough without an employee taking things down by not paying attention.– Bob Technology Industry