It’s an all-too-common problem for team leaders and managers: dealing with an employee who isn’t performing well. Maybe they’re always showing up late or calling in sick. They require constant supervision and don’t seem to care about their job, turning in sloppy work. And remote working during the pandemic may be exacerbating the problem.
This difficult employee isn’t only a problem for you. It’s a problem for your best employees, too. They’re picking up the slack and they need you to fix the situation. If you want to avoid all the back-biting and anger between employees, you have to address the situation immediately. Doing nothing and hoping “this too shall pass” isn’t the right thing to do
In business, your people should be your biggest asset. But if you’ve been a manager long enough, then no doubt you’ve run into people who feel more like liabilities.
Follow these tips, to make poor performance and challenging employees rare – or even non-existent – in your workplace.
Be Clear About Expectations
Managing all employees, good and bad, starts with having a clear mission, vision and values for your company, and ensuring everyone knows exactly what is expected of them. And then, holding yourself and your team accountable to themselves, each other and the business.
Does the difficult employee have a clear, effective job description? Do they have explicit instructions, and are they aware of your expectations? Do you provide regular feedback in a way that inspires and motivates them?
If the answer to any of these questions is ‘no,’ then the employee may not be acting in bad faith, but in ignorance.
Determine The Root Cause
Most people want to do a good job. So when they don’t, try not to jump to conclusions about their work ethic or commitment. This is especially true, of course, if there is a sudden, negative shift in their performance.
Your role as manager or team leader is to help determine what, if anything, is preventing your employee from achieving great results. Check in with them to see how they’re doing, and try to determine what may be fueling their less-than-ideal attitude, such as:
- Are they having personal issues?
- Are they unhappy with the job? Being given too much too quickly?
- Is there a problem with a supervisor or co-worker that should be investigated?
- Do they have all the tools they need to perform their job? If they are working from home, do they have an appropriate setup that includes reliable internet, a working computer, and a dedicated workspace?
Start dealing with a difficult employee by seeing how they’re doing and if you can help. Perhaps if they have access to counseling services, a mentor, career development training, or help setting up their remote office, their performance will improve.
And remember that almost everyone has been struggling with motivation and productivity due to the restrictions COVID-19 has put on both our personal and work lives. Be sure to stay in contact with all remote workers on a regular basis. Find some tips on creating a great remote workplace culture here.
Offer Goals and Incentives
If your employee has a ‘no big deal’ attitude and never follows through, maybe it’s because they actually feel like their work is no big deal. They may need an extra push to bring their best selves. If this is the case, you may want to reframe how you incentivize your employees.
Of course everyone is working for their paycheck, but are there other fun ways to get your team excited? Earned bonuses can be money, of course, but also gift certificates, tickets to the big game, flexible work hours or time off. Limited budget? Here are five great employee incentives that don’t break the bank.
Use Corrective Action
At the end of the day, you can be the world’s best manager, but some people just aren’t going to change unless there are consequences. As much as you might want to avoid confrontation and have the whole thing just go away, sometimes you need to have the difficult conversation.
If offering support and great incentives doesn’t change an employee’s attitude or sloppy work, then it’s time to consider the Corrective Action philosophy. This is a technique that uses communication strategies that identify the problems, causes and solutions of bad employee work. The goal isn’t to punish the employee or to negatively affect his/her self-esteem, but to help improve their performance in a constructive way.
Corrective action usually starts with oral warnings, followed by written warnings. It is best to have a set framework in place for these types of actions, as there can be legal consequences to your actions. Working with a human resources consultant now can save you a lot of headaches down the road.
But in general, I like to follow a baseball rule: give them 3 chances and after 3 strikes, they’re out! At the end of the day, you hired them to do a job and if they aren’t doing it well, then you need to let them go and replace them with someone who has the right attitude, skills and experiences to be successful on the job.
Set Boundaries – And Stick To Them
Like Kenny Rogers says, you gotta know when to fold ‘em. Sometimes, dismissal is the only option for a difficult employee.
If you think you may need to fire an employee, start gathering supporting material now. This can include evaluations, writeups, formal complaints from others and peer reviews. Document all their offenses and all your interactions with them.
If you don’t cross all your ‘T’s before a dismissal, then you set you and your company up to be sued. Fire someone the wrong way, and you can face charges of discrimination, retaliation, wrongful discharge, wage and hour liability, and defamation.
In my experience, it’s dangerous to approach firing an employee in a casual way. That’s why I offer free consultations to companies, to help ensure they have the proper policies and documents in place – book yours here.
You can also learn more about how to fire an employee without getting sued here.
Finally, if you do let someone go, be upfront but brief with the rest of your team. Try to discourage gossip as much as possible, which can be very bad for morale.
Hire Winners
Of course, the best way to handle a difficult employee, is to not hire them in the first place. That requires that you know how to find and interview your ideal candidates right from the beginning.
I recommend that companies be proactive in the hiring process. Specifically, every time you are looking for a new hire, you should follow these steps 4 steps:
- Properly define the job before you start interviewing. This will help you set clear expectations during the hiring process, as well as give you a reference point down the road when you’re measuring performance.
- Pre-screen potential candidates. By having a phone conversation with a potential employee, you can get a feel for the person, whether it’s a red flag or a gut instinct that they’d be a great fit for your team.
- Do a COREMap Assessment. This will give you a complete picture of the potential employee that includes their strengths and abilities, reactionary patterns, coping skills and emotional intelligence. Learn more about COREMap Assessments here.
- Ensure you have a standardized interviewing process. According to a recent talent acquisition study from Brandon Hall Group and Glassdoor, organizations that lack a standardized interviewing process are five times more likely to make a bad hiring decision than those that do
Developing a standardized employee search and interviewing process is one of the most important ways managers can set themselves up for success. That’s why I offer a high-impact online training course to take all the guesswork out of hiring.
At the end of the day, your organization is only as strong as your weakest link, so it’s critical you handle difficult employees compassionately but effectively. While your goal should always be to have everyone on your team thrive, don’t let one bad egg drag everyone down.
Business Leadership, Personal Development, Team Management