I’ve had my fair share of difficult employees throughout my career. Whether they’re going through a challenging time in their life, or they’re just more complicated than other people, some employees will always mess with that perfect team chemistry you’re trying to achieve. I’m sure most of the times you’re tempted to go for the simple solution, but that might not be your best option.
I used to deal in absolutes as well. The time investment needed to set an employee on the right path didn’t seem to be worth it, especially when you consider that in most cases you might not change someone’s attitude that much. However, some of the most devoted, creative, and productive members from my teams used to be annoying at one point, so I strongly urge you to reconsider before making a final decision. Most attitudes can be turned around, or at least swayed into something that you can work with.
In this article I will go through the most important steps that I personally take whenever I need to get on the same page with a difficult employee.
Before you get to work, you need to keep in mind the following:
The success belongs to your team, while the failures belong to you. You’re fully responsible for their performance, that’s why you’re their manager in the first place. That being said, your employees should always come first. Make sure to get to know them as well as possible, because every single one of them is different, and while some can motivate themselves, others will need extra care.
Essential steps for a better collaboration:
1. Identify the problem and start gathering facts
Identifying the problem shouldn’t be difficult, you probably wouldn’t be reading this if you weren’t already in such a situation.
Gathering facts will probably be your most useful effort overall in the quest to change someone’s attitude for the better, mainly because most people can’t argue with facts, and if they do, they’re probably a lost cause anyway.
2. Acknowledge the problem together with the employee
This means that you’ve identified the problem, and you decided to have a sit-down with that particular difficult person. Use “what can I do?” or “how can we collaborate better?” instead of just throwing remarks around. At this stage it’s important to try and reach the rational side. You can even go through repercussions of the behavior from a business standpoint, just to enforce this perspective.
Usually, this will trigger one of two reactions:
- The “I see” reaction – the employee understands why he’s got an attitude problem. To hit it home, I add a personal touch (works on 8/10 people): “Look <name>, I really appreciate your <quality>, and I want us to keep working together. We can achieve so much more…” You can go for something more personal if you feel like it. Most will react positively to this, and you’ll be left just with some steps to work on.
- The arguing reaction – he keeps arguing and usually placing blame. In this situation you just have underline the facts as many times as it’s needed. His responsibility should kick in at some point, and he’ll usually give up. If he can’t admit to his mistakes even with the facts on the table, you’re probably better off without him.
3. Come up with a solution
It’s difficult to identify universal examples that are useful for everyone, because your solutions will be as various as the people you need them for. By this point one of two things has happened: either the employee is getting on the same page with you, or you still have some convincing to do. Whatever the solution, always put the needs of the company first, and take a pragmatic approach. Would it be productive on the long run for you to invest more of your valuable time, or should you just move on? The sings should be clear by now.
Here are a few examples of solutions that I had to use in the past (they all worked):
- Problem: Never admitting his mistakes. | Solution: Get other employees involved in the discussion. It’s harder to argue when the numbers are against you.
- Problem: Employees that didn’t get along. | Solution: Project/s just for them, that forces them to collaborate with each other. They probably won’t become best friends, but usually they find a way to cope with each other.
- Problem: Always against anything I say/do, usually trying to persuade others to do the same. | Solution: Make him a project leader, so that he has to motivate and manage other colleagues.
4. Keep documenting
If you decided to keep trying, you’ll just have to carry on documenting the incidents, and go through the steps above again and again. Hopefully you won’t have to repeat them too many times.
The harsh truth
This might not be what you want to hear, but not everyone can be turned around. Some employees might just be unhappy with what they signed up for. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try at all, but if everything fails, at least you will have enough proof to enforce your decision.
