5 steps to dealing with difficult employees
It seems that some people are only born to be difficult. We all worked with them and most of us do not like them. Difficult people are easy to spot - they arrive late, leave early, do not do their job on time, and have an excuse for any failure.Wait, there is more. These difficult people are harassing you and others, asking too many self-explanatory questions, neglecting details, distracting you and challenging you and others over and over again. Worse still, when they interact with clients, sellers, and people who are in the corporate hierarchy, they may be grumpy, rude, condescending, uninformed, misleading, inappropriate, or simply wrong. Do you know someone like this?
Of course nobody wants to work with difficult people. When dealing with problematic employees, productivity decreases, frustration increases, morale drops, and customers and salespeople become angry.
How to treat them
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1. Do not ignore the problem.
Assuming that the employee has value to the company and has redeeming qualities, there are opportunities to deal with difficult employees. Mostly, managers will simply ignore problematic employees. Managers who live by this rule hope that the problem will simply disappear; that these people will somehow turn around or stop being annoying. Ignoring the situation is the wrong solution for what is likely to become a progressive problem.2. Intervene as soon as possible.
It is important to take action as soon as the negative behavior pattern becomes visible - if it is not changed, this problem will only escalate.Occasionally the difficult employee has no idea that his behavior is a problem or that others react negatively to his actions. This is because most people tend to accept the annoying behavior and "join in". At the same time, some employees simply view it as "job frustration." Just like some managers, employees want to be liked by colleagues and subordinates and are therefore unwilling to comment when a problem arises.
Ultimately, it is the responsibility of the manager to take appropriate action to remedy the problem. Regardless of whether the concerns are projected onto someone else due to lack of employee knowledge, lack of feedback, or difficulties, it is the manager's responsibility to address and reverse the predicament. The manager must collect information from employees to identify the extent of the problem and personally observe the employee interacting with customers or suppliers.
3. Research the problem personally.
With precise data and examples, the manager then has to bring that person to a conference room or office - away from others - and tackle the problem in peace. To begin, the manager must ask the employee if he knows about ongoing issues to determine if the difficult person is aware of the issues.If the employee is unaware, the manager must describe the unacceptable behavior. The employee may interrupt to disagree or to face the existence of problems. Nevertheless, the manager must continue to give clear examples of the undesirable behavior. "
The manager must also allow the employee to respond to the allegations. If, despite the evidence, the difficult employee does not believe that the allegations exist, the manager can only hope for an intellectual acceptance of the possibility that a problem exists.
4. Help the problematic employee get back on track.
Once the employee begins to understand that these negative behaviors are real and experienced by others in the organization, the HR manager or HR should begin by helping the difficult employee demonstrate more acceptable and appropriate behaviors. The employee needs time and practice to "try on" new, more appropriate behaviors. HR and / or the manager must give that employee specific feedback about the success or failure of their efforts to minimize the negative actions and to implement those that are more positive.5. If all else fails, termination may be necessary.
If the employee continues to refuse his inappropriate behavior and refuses to improve the situation, the manager must put that person on the fast track. Often this involves the recording of a series of well-documented verbal and then written feedback on the behavior. In strict compliance with the company protocol, the employee should have a deadline to address the questionable behavior. If this test phase does not lead to improved behavior, the employee must be terminated.Most employees will recognize the negative behavior and at least try to reverse it. This is especially true in difficult economic times when unemployment is high and it is difficult to find a new job. In any case, the manager must follow corporate policies to identify unacceptable behavior by providing direct feedback and contributions to try to reverse them and eventually take timely action.
Not doing so is a poor service to the problematic employee, other employees, and the organization's success.
Source: businesstrainingmedia.com