Dealing with Difficult Employees

Readers, I would be interested to know how all of you deal with difficult employees.  I am sure that, at one time or another, you have asked yourself, “Why do some of my people have to be so difficult?”  I don’t know how you recruit your employees, but I know that I do not go out of my way to hire troublemakers or cynics.  So if I have hired someone who is proving to be a difficult employee, the first step might be to understand what has happened in their view to cause this behavior.

Here are some strategies and tips that have helped me deal with difficult people in the past.

You need to deal with the employee’s performance, not the person.  In your mind, you need to separate the employee’s professional role from his or her difficult personality.  This is a great trick if you can do it, and not easy in emotional situations, but try to deal with what the employee actually does rather than getting tangled up in the sort of person he or she is.

1. Don’t take it personally.  Recognize that this employee is probably having difficulties with other professional and personal relationships.  It’s not about you—it’s about the employee’s personality.  This will help you refrain from becoming emotionally reactive or stressed.
2. When you are faced with a difficult situation and “issues hit the fan,” focus on listening rather than on arguing.  Ask them questions like, “Do you mind filling me in on your thoughts on how we can better deal with this situation?”  This lets your employee know that you are really paying attention and that you care about his or her feelings and expertise.
3. Be very descriptive and not evaluative.  The best way to give feedback is to offer your observations of what actually happened and the consequences, rather than judging things as good, bad, or otherwise.  Your employees can argue with you about your judgments, but they cannot argue facts. Remember the less you say, the more likely you are to be heard.
4. Never comment on the person’s attitude.  Attitude is very subjective in the work environment.  All of us believe that our attitude is useful and appropriate or we would change it, so telling an employee he or she has a bad attitude is meaningless.  Just taking a few minutes to describe the cause and effect will prove much more productive.
5. We need to deal with problems when they’re small.  If someone is upsetting you or your team, deal with the problem immediately.  Often employees do not realize the effects of their actions and need it pointed out so they do not continue their bad behavior.
6. Don’t take sides.  If a member of your management team asks you to assist with a problem with another employee, say that you will look into it.  Do not make assumptions or agree with anyone until you have gathered all the facts.  The same thing applies to handling customer complaints.
7. Conversations with a difficult employee should be conducted in private.  If the employee has committed a serious infraction, you may have to have another employee participate in the conversation.
8. Have an open door policy.  If difficult people feel that you are approachable, they are more likely to keep the lines of communication flowing and less likely to let things escalate to a problematic or crisis situation.
9. Whatever you do—do not bury your head in the sand like an ostrich and hope your problems will go away.  If you don’t deal with problems, they can become very costly and definitely send the wrong message to the rest of your employees.
10. Be prepared to cut your losses.  Tom Peters said, “No one should be on your payroll that’s not improving things.”  Put a limit on tolerance of marginal or poor performance.  Sometimes change is the best thing for the company and the employee.