5 Ways to Deal With Difficult Employees

A difficult employee is not just a problem between one employee and another. If one person makes life difficult for the company, discontent can fester and become a major distraction. The air of dissent affects everyone and can cause a dramatic decrease in productivity and retention of other employees.

Dealing with difficult employees is an unavoidable part of the job, and it’s best to address the matter sooner rather than later. When handled correctly, you can retain the power to diffuse the situation created by a difficult employee and ensure that the team’s productivity is not affected.

Here are a couple of tips that can help you deal with difficult employees:

* Address the issue as soon as possible

Don’t expect the problem to resolve itself. Ignoring it will only worsen the situation. Therefore, it is important to address the issue as early as possible. If you are perceived as ignoring the problem, it might affect the morale of the rest of your team. The bad attitude and actions of one employee can hurt the morale and culture of the entire organization. It can spill over to clients as well.There’s too much at stake to ignore the problem, take up a conversation it resolve the issue as soon as you notice it.

* De-personalize the conversation

The success of your conversation depends critically on how you interact with the employee. Create a professional and comfortable environment for the conversation where the employee feels welcome to share what they are experiencing.Remember that your goal is to have a relaxed, free-flowing discussion. While stating the behaviour to be addressed is the motive of the conversation, it is important to refrain from accusations and negative remarks. Demonstrate that you care but you’re also there to meet the goals of the organization.

* Avoid making assumptions

Don’t jump to conclusions. Have a seek-to-understand conversation. When you open a dialogue with the person, find out if they’re aware of their behaviour and its impact on the team. Using tact and by illustrating specific examples, convey why you found the meeting necessary. Factually describe how their behaviour impact the entire team. There may be issues they have been reluctant to discuss. Determine if there may be external, personal factors influencing their actions. The employee’s personal life may be in turmoil, and they may not realize that it’s apparent at work. If there are indeed problems with the personal life, offer the assistance which is professionally possible to bring their life in orderHowever, don’t assume someone has an issue outside of work that’s contributing to their behaviour.

* Suggest improvements

Once you determine the problem, then the appropriate tools and resources can be brought to bear. Get them to articulate what support they need to improve their behaviour.Remind the employee that a part of their job performance is measured by how well they contribute to the organization’s success. Any suggestions for improvement should be objective, measurable, realistic and helpful. However, there are no one-size-first-all solutions. Tailor your approach to the needs of that employee that allows them the best chance for successfully reintegrating with the team.

* Follow through

Once you have had the tough conversation, uncovered the underlying issues and implemented a tailored plan; you must step back and monitor the individual’s progress.
Establish measurable goals and time frame for completing them. How frequently you check on their progress should also be tailored to the process. The key is that all parties set and agree upon a concrete timeline.

However, human behaviour is unpredictable. If, despite all your efforts,the undesirable behaviour continues, consider disciplinary action. At this point, looping in the human resources department will be the ideal thing to do.