Learn how to deal with difficult employees.
Working with difficult employees can cause some serious troubles down the road. They can sap the energy out of you and leave you reeling with frustration at the end of the work day. Worse, these types of people can even jeopardize the success of your business.?
So, what should you do if you find yourself in this situation? How do you deal with employees who don’t perform well, have a hard time getting along with others or are simply impossible to deal with? Here are some tips that you may find useful when dealing with such people.
Take time to listen. This may seem like an impossible task, especially if you are dealing with a difficult employee, but you need to listen to understand his point of view. Keep in mind that this is your best shot at improving the situation so do it for your company’s sake.
Give clear feedback. Instead of complaining about the situation, you need to tell your problematic employee what he or she should be doing differently. You need to personally address the issue and let your employee understand that his or her behavior is starting to cause problems in the organization. This may be a tough call but you need to let your people know how they can do better. Don’t ignore the problem and take the proper action as soon as possible if you don’t want it to worsen over time.
Let them know of the consequences. Let your employees know how their unacceptable behavior will affect their work. Let them know that if things don’t change, they may never be eligible for a promotion, be put on warning or worse, you may be forced to let them go.
Lend a helping hand. Coach your difficult employee so that he or she may learn to display more appropriate behavior in the workplace.
Keep a record. Most business owners and managers hate to do this but if you have a difficult employee, you need to keep a written record of his or her bad behavior. This will come in handy if you need to let the employee go.
Take a firm stand. If you need to fire your problematic employee, you need to make sure you do it by the book. Stand by your decision and don’t let someone else do it for you. Never make any excuses and don’t put it off. Prove that you are a good leader by taking a firm stand on the issue.
Dealing with difficult employees may even be more challenging than dealing with difficult clients. However, it is not impossible to turn things around so you need to do your best to help him or her in this journey. Remember, the success of your business may depend on it.
