Unacceptable employee behaviour

Unacceptable employee conduct comprises a number of behaviours and sometimes volatility levels. An employee may be having a bad day and snap at co-workers and bosses. Another employee may be going through problems at home and is late for work or absent frequently. There have been instances where some employees felt that it was acceptable to purchase personal items on the company credit card. The good news is that proactive measures taken by the company can be helpful in preventing an escalating incident.

The term “difficult employee” is typically used to refer to a worker who fails to conduct him or herself in a responsible, professional manner in the workplace. Effectively dealing with these types of workers can be among the greatest challenges that face smaller business owners and managers. After all, few people relish the prospect of disciplining or criticising other people, either in or out of the work environment.

But when problem employees emerge as an issue in the workplace, their failings must be addressed quickly and decisively. Otherwise, they can significantly erode company morale and efficiency. “For many entrepreneurs, disciplining employees is very difficult,” admitted consultant Bob Turknett in Entrepreneur. “They tend to put it off, hoping the problems resolve themselves. But things just get worse.”

Problematic employee behaviour can take many different forms. Examples of such behaviour range from pervasive negativism, which can be particularly dangerous because it so easily spreads to other employees, to abusive language and behaviour toward co-workers, clients, customers, managers, or the small business owner. Other problems may include tardiness, shoddy and unprofessional work, substance abuse, or unappealing personality traits, any of which can disrupt business efficiency and hurt company teamwork and morale.

In many cases, this unwelcome behaviour is symptomatic of a general lack of motivation or focus on the part of the worker, and it can be stopped or curtailed by taking effective intervention steps. But in other cases, problem employees may simply be unable or unwilling to take the necessary steps to make themselves productive members of the company workforce, in spite of motivational application and coaching or counselling.

How to recognise a difficult employee?

A manager must be able to recognise the behaviour of a difficult employee. Difficult employees have a damaging effect on the workplace when they put a negative spin on decisions, undermine authority, create hostile work relationships, damage group moral and so much more. A difficult employee will also spread rumours, refuse to cooperate, break the rules, avoid work, be frequently late, complain constantly and display anger.

The types of difficult employees

It must be decided if the difficult employee has a personality or behaviour problem in order to decide on a course of action. There are five personality types: The Bully, The Procrastinator, The Passive Aggressive and The Gossip and The Constant Critic.

1 The Bully: Personality traits for the Bully may include physical and verbal intimidation, shouting, profanity, throwing objects, blaming others and threats. This behaviour is often caused by low self-esteem and from seeking control. In order to deal with a bully, a manager should be firm; use open-ended questions; not compete, take notes, and require their cooperation to sit down and talk. If there are frequent outbursts, it is critical to address the issues immediately to ensure a safe workplace.

2. The Procrastinator: Has trouble starting/completing tasks and lacks motivation. This is caused by a fear of humiliation, rejection, and failure. It helps to set procrastinators up on a specific timetable, with required “mini” updates. Also, a manager must be prepared to re-assign the project to someone else.

3. The Passive Aggressive: Is friendly to your face and negative behind your back. Not a team player, they agree with everything but end up doing what they want. The passive aggressive is angry but dislikes confrontation. The manager should be specific; concrete in expectations; clear about consequences; and try not to over supervise this type.

4. The Gossip: Talks to everyone about anything due to an extreme need to be liked and accepted. The manager should never participate in gossip and immediately identify it while using disciplinary action if necessary.

5. The Constant Critic: Falsely accuses and undermines others behind closed doors, including the boss and company decisions. This type also humiliates others in public settings in order to control the emotional climate at work.

6.  Antagonist: Rude and unpleasant to co- workers, vendors and customers

7. Blameless Rascal: Always has an excuse for everything

8 Whiner: Complains no matter what he or she is asked her to do

9 Insubordinate Subordinate: Challenges you in front of managers and other workers

Disadvantages of unacceptable employee behaviour

•  Reduced productivity: Employees with bad attitudes often perform at a level far below their potential and generally contribute minimally to team productivity. When an entire workplace is affected by a co-worker - or several co-workers - with poor attitudes, it is inevitable that the company will experience a considerable reduction in productivity. Workers who are distracted by office dramas, gossip and disruptions, or are just plain unhappy, do not always work to their full capacity.

• Infectiousness: Unfortunately, a poor attitude can spread like an infectious disease throughout a company. Many times, when a worker has a bad attitude, it doesn’t necessarily mean he is not liked by his peers. When employees who are not disgruntled listen to constant daily complaints of dissatisfaction from friends in the workplace, they sometimes jump right on the bandwagon and display an unfavourable attitude themselves.

• Poor company morale: It is difficult for otherwise content staff members to maintain positive attitudes when forced to work alongside co-workers who have bad ones. For example, if one or two employees are continually complaining, arguing or whining about the establishment, it creates an unpleasant and distracting work environment. Constant aggravations by managers or co-workers with bad attitudes can create a workplace atmosphere so awkward and uncomfortable that the overall morale of the establishment suffers significantly.

• Cliques: When more than one bad attitude and poor company morale exist within a corporation, there is a good chance that cliques will form. Groups of employees take sides against one another -- or against management -- and work as rivals rather than as a unit. Such instances generally are accompanied by gossip, hurt feelings and the dissolution of team spirit among co-workers.

• Unfavourable reputation: In the long run, allowing one bad attitude to exist in the workplace leads to another, and another. Once morale is down, cliques are formed, animosities are built up and productivity is suffering, it’s usually never long until business on a whole starts going downhill. Most consumers don’t favour paying for substandard services and inferior products, and associates prefer not to do business with partners who have few positive feelings about the corporations that employ them. Ultimately, the spread of bad attitudes in the workplace leads to an unfavourable reputation and significant loss of business and profit.

Terminating a difficult employee

Why is it the worst employees, the ones that you simply must fire, are always the ones most likely to sue you? Many small business owners and human resources managers find themselves asking this question. They must know how to terminate an employee while limiting their liability if the case goes to court.

With the sue-happy nation we live in, it is easy for a terminated employee to bring a case against you and claim that you had no real ground for termination. In fact, the employee may claim that you discriminated against him or her. This can get you in both financial and legal troubles. Therefore, you must know how to terminate an employee properly to keep yourself out of hot water.

If you have planned a harassment of the employee thereby making his work life very unpleasant, plan accusations against him/her just to construct a file of evidence to ‘fix’ him/her or have not taken interest to help the employee through training/coaching/counselling, etc., you are bound to fail in labour court.

Step 1: Document

The first step you need to take when terminating an employee is to document everything. You may think that writing down every little detail is time-consuming and tedious – and it is. Nonetheless, it is necessary. Pay attention to details when documenting problems. This can be a life saver if legal troubles follow the termination.

Step 2: Discuss it with the employee

In step two, you must discuss the issue with the employee. During your discussion, you must tell the employee what he or she did wrong, tell him or her of the actions you will take, and warn him or her of the consequences if the action re-occurs.

Document this discussion and have the employee sign paperwork proving you addressed the matter and that he or she is aware of the outcomes.

Step 3: The exit interview

If you have completed the first two steps in the termination process and the employee still is not working up to your expectations, it is time to begin termination proceedings. To do this, you will need to coin an employee termination letter that details the reason for dismissal and the effective date of termination. It should also include whether the employee is eligible for rehire and any benefits that he or she may or may not still receive after termination.

Finally, sit down with the employee and discuss the termination letter. Keep the exit interview brief and avoid saying too much, as anything you say can be used against you later if the employee decides to file a lawsuit.

Handling unacceptable employee behaviour

Every company has them – employees with bad attitudes who make the work environment uncomfortable. They cause problems, make everyone miserable, and basically make the workplace run less efficiently. So how do you deal with these people? How many chances do you give them?

Problem employees can be hard to approach because they already are causing problems. But when they are affecting the people around them, and the customers, it’s time to do something about it. First of all, take the employee aside. It could be that they are just having a bad day. There may be things going on at home that they aren’t comfortable discussing. Before you decide that an employee is a ‘problem’ employee, find out if there is an underlying cause.

After you have come to the conclusion that it’s not just a onetime thing, take the employee aside. Remember to do this in private, so that they don’t feel as if they are being put on display. It’s not a bad idea to take them away from the workplace to a neutral environment, like a coffee shop or a restaurant. This might put them at ease and make them more open.

Remember to stay calm when talking to the employee. Tell them why you are concerned and find out what may be causing them to act this way. Don’t be accusatory, but listen to what they have to say. They may tell you something that will shed some light on the subject. If the employee has just cause for something such as being late all the time, and by just cause I don’t mean that their alarm clock doesn’t work, offer them a solution that will help the both of you and resolve it quickly. If the person is late because of caring for an ailing parent, for example, offer to let them come in to work an hour later, and stay an hour later.

If the employee shows no remorse for what they are doing, then calmly explain to them what your expectations will be from now on, and what will happen if they aren’t met. Depending on the employee and the circumstances, it might be a good idea to put the expectations and what will happen if they aren’t carried out on a dated document which the employee signs. Give the employee a copy and keep a copy on file with their employee records. This way you have proof that you gave the person proper warning.

When dealing with problem employees don’t bluff and don’t make threats that you have no intention of carrying out. This doesn’t help your company and it sure doesn’t help the employee.

If your other employees see that they can get away with things without consequences, what’s to stop them from taking advantage of you? The other thing is if you don’t follow through on consequences for one employee, but you do on someone else, it looks like you are playing favourites.

Tape recording talks with problem employees is a bit extreme, but it’s not a bad idea to have a written record of what happened with the employee. Make notes, outlining what you said, what the employee said, and whether or not the situation was rectified. Once the employee has been dealt with, in one way or another, it’s a good idea to look back and see if there is a pattern with problem employees.

Once you have done everything you can to help the employee and get them to change their attitude problems, you may have no choice but to let them go. Be certain that they have had ample warnings to avoid a lawsuit, and if you are concerned about a possible lawsuit, talk with the company attorney about what has happened with the employee, and make certain that there is documentation to support the person’s dismissal.

One thing to remember is that there are always going to be one or two employees who are going to cause problems. Do everything you can to help them, but sometimes they just don’t want to be helped. If you have to let them go, at least you will know that you did everything you could to help them and will have a clear conscience with your decision.

(Nalin Jayasuriya is the Managing Director & CEO, McQuire Rens & Jones (Pvt) Ltd. He has held regional responsibilities of two multinational companies, of which one, Smithkline Beecham International, was a Fortune 500 company before merging to become GSK. He carries out consultancy assignments and management training in Dubai, India, Maldives, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Bangladesh. Nalin has been Consultant to assignments in the CEB, Airport and Aviation Services and setting up the PUCSL. He is a much sought-after Business Consultant and Corporate Management Trainer in Sri Lanka. He has won special commendation from the UN Headquarters in New York for his record speed in re-profiling and re-structuring the UNDP. He has lead consultancy assignments for the World Bank and the ADB. Nalin is an executive coach to top teams of several multinational and blue chip companies. He is non-Executive Director on the Boards of Entrust Securities Plc and Eswaran Brothers Exports Ltd.)