RALEIGH - Governor Pat McCrory says personnel issues are the challenge that has surprised him most during his first six months on the job. The governor says that it's harder than he thought to reward state employees for good work and to get rid of those who aren't working out.

“I think the toughest thing for us and the operation of state government is how hard it is to reward good employees and how hard it is to get rid of employees that aren’t doing anything.”

McCrory says the state recently had to fire one employee who hadn't shown up for work in three months but was still on the payroll. “We have rules where if you’re a political appointee and you’ve stayed there for over 10 years, I can’t get rid of them…even if they have nothing to do.”

Governor McCrory says he's asking the legislature for help in changing the state personnel act. “We have union type laws and in fact our civil service laws are more stringent than any union. And that was the big surprise to me.”