At one point or another in a manager’s career, there will always be employees who are difficult to manage. It is a manager’s job to manage these people appropriately and professionally and figure out what is necessary to create a positive office culture. Here are some tips on how to deal with difficult employees.
- Develop a plan. Device good planning strategy to deal with difficult employees. It involves gathering all the information you need and planning the perfect timing of confrontations and meeting place or whether HR or key people need to be present etc. Thoroughly gather all information before taking action.
- Hear. When meeting with a difficult employee, maintain a positive and calm demeanor, listen actively, and be impartial. Avoid being judgmental. Have a clear understanding of what may be causing such behavior. It may also result in employees starting to act differently once they are given a chance to be heard, and indeed you may spot problems within the system that need to be addressed. Do not assume that inappropriate behavior is due to negative intent. It may be that the person has some personal problems or perhaps because of confusion, fear, motivation problems, etc.
- Give concise behavioral feedback. It is common practice to set up monthly, quarterly, or annual meetings to receive feedback on an employee’s performance and general conduct. This meeting is the best time to address behavior problems. While giving negative feedback can be difficult and uncomfortable, good managers must know how to get their message across clearly and advise their employees specifically in which areas they need to improve or change.
- Deal with the behavior and not the person. Many times anger gets the better of us when we act unprofessionally, but a good manager must be able to control emotions, focus on the problem and not attack the person.
- Give notice and establish consequences. The employee must know that there will be repercussions if they do not try to improve or change. Give verbal and written warnings. Work with Human Resources regarding company policy regarding ongoing employee misconduct.
- Document. It is prudent to have documentation of these misconduct by employees. In the worst case, you have something to look back on if the issues are unresolved and/or irreconcilable and you have to fire an employee. On the other hand, if the problems smooth out, you can always put your documentation aside.
- Be brave. If the situation gets to the point where firing the employee is unavoidable, don’t let someone else do it. Do it properly and professionally.