Problem Employees And How To Deal With Them
No matter your company or area of business . If you’re a manager, you’re going to have to deal with employees that will cause you difficulty. You have to deal with this, as there will always be people that will cause you problems for whatever reasons and if you don’t deal with issues, they can only worsen.
What makes a difficult employee?
There could be plenty of reasons. The chief reason why employees might be difficult or problematic to your cause is that it may have worked for them in the past and they simply know no other way to get through the working day. This behavior is chosen because it gets results for them and they believe it to be the most effective way of progressing.
If you can make the difficult behavior unrewarding and ineffective to the employee, you will achieve success in dealing with them. The comparison can be made between difficult children and difficult employees because what is an adult if not a grown-up child?
“In many ways, it’s like dealing with children. If every time a child screams, its parents give it candy, what will the child do when it wants candy? It will scream, of course. The same is true for the employee who “blows up” whenever anyone disagrees with him. When he does that people, stop disagreeing with him and he thinks he has won.”
What you must do is simple – evaluate the behavior and situation. Think before you jump into action and always take the best action for your business, team, and workplace. That’s not always the first option that comes to mind. If you can step back and evaluate the behavior, you might notice patterns and that the behavior may be caused from out of work issues or stress in the workplace.
If you take the time to evaluate it, you can act on the facts of the situation and not rely on workplace gossip to propel you into action.
It is extremely important to do your research and build a case before you act but act promptly. Plan the talk you are going to have with the employee causing issues and use your case in a professional manner. You might want to speak to an HR representative or a legal entity for advice here, because if you want to – for example – sack someone for being off sick too much, you need to go through the right channels before doing so.
You need to confront issues in the workplace , and as a leader, you need to manufacture a harmonious working environment. Allowing issues to stew and grow is cancerous to the workplace and most problems will not fix themselves without your intervention. Be proactive about this and do not shy away from difficult issues.
Above all, be supportive and always try to bring employees onto your side. Don’t be afraid to nurture, but on the same token, don’t be afraid to be firm when it is needed.
Ingrid Maldine is a business writer, editor and management consultant with extensive experience writing and consulting for both start-ups and long established companies. She has ten years management and leadership experience gained at BSkyB in London and Viva Travel Guides in Quito, Ecuador, giving her a depth of insight into innovation in international business. With an MBA from the University of Hull and many years of experience running her own business consultancy, Ingrid’s background allows her to connect with a diverse range of clients, including cutting edge technology and web-based start-ups but also multinationals in need of assistance. Ingrid has played a defining role in shaping organizational strategy for a wide range of different organizations, including for-profit, NGOs and charities. Ingrid has also served on the Board of Directors for the South American Explorers Club in Quito, Ecuador.
