Dealing With Difficult Employees
– Rupert Turton
Years ago, at the company I was working for at the time, the CEO in his ‘all employees’ address made a statement that has stuck with me ever since. He said “No one comes to work to do a bad job.” So simple and I believe true! There are people who seem hell bent on doing everything wrong but let us assume that is not their intent, simply the outcome!
So, what can you do as a Leader to get your team performing? You decided to hire that team because you thought they would bring value to your company; however, this value may not be currently materialising! So, what can you do? My advice is to read the tried and tested strategies below and ask yourself; am I already doing this effectively, or could I change my approach to get the best out of my Difficult Employees?
Make sure you communicate in a way that is clear and effective
Firstly, think about the personality type of the Difficult Employee. Some people need constant reassurance that they are doing the right thing and want to discuss every element of what they are doing, others just go and get on with it. Some people like direct communication, others prefer a gentler approach. Think about how you communicate with the Difficult Employee, are you communicating in a way that is most effective for them?
It always surprises me how many Leaders complain that members of their team are not behaving as they want them to, yet they have never talked to their staff about what is expected from them. Make sure you have clearly communicated the types of behaviour you expect from everyone in your team and get them to tell you what they expect from you and their colleagues so that there is a common agreement. Don’t assume everyone knows!
Have you ensured the Difficult Employee can complete the task as you expect?
Does the Difficult Employee know how to complete the activity you have given them? Miles Downey (who is an acknowledged authority on Performance, Coaching and Leadership) talks about the What, How and Why! when you ask an employee to do something;
1). Start with the ‘What’ you want them to do, clearly describing the outcome, quality and time scale expected.
2). Next work with them to agree ‘How’ they are going to complete the task. Don’t simply tell them, discuss how they are going to do it and be open to alternative solutions.
3). Across the board make sure they also understand ‘Why’ they are doing the task. Explain how it fits into the bigger picture of how the company works and what it is looking to achieve.
Also make sure the employee has the skills required to complete the task, we all have a tendency to assume everyone can do everything we can which is usually not true! Just because I can manipulate data in a spreadsheet easily does not mean all my team members can. When you do find a skills gap work out how you are going to address it. It may mean a short term fix of having a colleague completing part of the work while putting training in place for the Difficult Employee to learn the skill in the next couple of months.
Is your own management style the problem?
High performing teams have a common goal that they are all working to and a plan of how that is going to be achieved, what their department will do and what they individually need to do. Make sure your staff understand your vision for the company, what the goal is for the year, for this quarter and this month?
Also be vary aware of your own behaviour. Do you find yourself doing the work for someone as it is quicker, rather than investing the time to teach them how to do it? You don’t need to be a genius to realise this is not a great long-term solution, although it does make you feel indispensable!
If you are the sort of manager who routinely says ‘let me sort that out’ and ‘let me think about that and come back to you,’ you are probably also really busy all of the time working late every night and weekends while your team start at 09:00 and go home at 17:30 plus they had an hour for lunch! Ken Blanchard in his book One Minute Manager Meets the Monkey explains how to delegate effectively to make sure your team do the work, not you! It could be a great investment of 3 hours of your time to read it!
Is there something else going on you are not aware of?
Make sure you have open communication with your team so they have an opportunity to raise any issues they may be experiencing. Some problems will be under your control, some will be outside your control.
Regular, scheduled one to one’s with no defined agenda give the employee an opportunity to raise issues directly with you as their manager, which you can then address together. You won’t to be able to fix problems in their private life, but you can work with them to minimise the impact on their work.
Have you given the Difficult Employee reason to behave as they do?
Lastly ask yourself if you have given the Difficult Employee a reason to behave as they do? Have you reacted badly to something in the past making them nervous of a repeat? Are you giving them too much work? Are you constantly cancelling their one to ones?
Do you ignore them when they arrive at work, and when they go home?
Strong Leadership requires you to not only set a clear direction, but to be fair and supportive as well. Make sure everyone feels included in the company, not just a chosen few!
If you would like to discuss some of the concepts above, please get in contact with me at: rupertturton@actioncoach.com or call me on 01572 497 030
