Dealing with a difficult employee

In a perfect world, everyone that works for you would be a model employee. They would come to work every day, on time, and be productive from the start of their shift to the end. Unfortunately, the world just doesn’t work like that.

Even in the current economic status of the country, there are still those who choose to be difficult for lack of a better term. Some are just consistently late and call out sick. Others ride the gossip train and cause dangerous internal issues by spreading rumors and generally lowering associate morale.

Your approach will make the difference in how these types of things are dealt with, and the ultimate outcome and course of your career as a leader. Dealing with tardiness and call outs is simple, just follow your companies policy regarding the matter. Most have pretty strict conditions that warrant disciplinary action in the event that an employee is consistently late or misses work.

Dealing with those who spread ire amongst their fellow workers can be a little more difficult to deal with. If they are merely social bees you can generally deal with the problem by monitoring their productivity (or lack thereof) and holding them accountable for it.

If the associate doesn’t have a productivity issue, most companies have policies regarding respect in the workplace. If you ask enough questions and make your presence known around your work area, you will typically stumble upon some sort of policy violation.

I have witnessed quite a few examples of this. Some have ranged from simple rumor spreading to outright disrespect and sometimes even harassment. The degree of the behavior will go a long way in determining the outcome and level of accountability.

The most important thing to take home from all of this is to get yourself out in the midst of your employees. Ask questions, and not just work related ones. If you go out of your way to show your employees that you care about how they feel, it will go a long way in determining your success as a leader.