difficult employees

Supervisor Techniques For Dealing with Difficult Employee Situations

Although all employees tend to put their best faces forward when they are starting a new job, personalities may change as they become more comfortable in the workplace. If you find that you have been charged with the task of managing employees who have become difficult or contrary, it can be stressful. With the right managerial techniques for how to deal with difficult employees, you can help defuse tense situations and help ensure that your team works together in the most efficient way. To begin with, it’s important to evaluate the situation.

At times you will only have a few seconds to react to an offensive statement or evaluate the situation. This is particularly true if there is any element of danger, such as if your employee brings a weapon to the workplace. However, in most cases when you learn how to deal with difficult employees the situation will not be so dramatic. Almost all employees have their off days, which could be caused by stress away from the office. Be sure to try and get to the root of the problem before you act. It’s important not to act on office gossip, but to find out what is really going on in the situation so that you can act on facts alone. This will earn you a reputation for being a fair manager.

Once you have collected the pertinent facts and evaluated the situation, with however little time you might have to do so, the next step for how to deal with difficult employees is to formulate a plan. This could simply involve listening to what your employees have to say, and acting as a mediator if there are any disputes. It’s best to choose a private location for any discussions that take place, rather than confronting employees in front of the whole office. Try to create a quiet atmosphere where employees will feel comfortable talking to you. If you can draw out the reason for the disruptive behavior, this is the best way to address the problem at the source.

Be sure not to use judgmental language. When employees feel as if they are being attacked, they may become more defensive and it will be difficult to reach any sort of solution or have your own points listened to. When you are seeking a way to go about how to deal with difficult employees, try to remain impartial and listen to all sides of the story.

Dianne Shaddock is the Founder of Easy Small Business HR, Employee Hiring and Managing Tips. Through the Employee Hiring and Managing Tips podcast, blog, and weekly ‘quick tips’ e-newsletters, Dianne offers expert advice on how to make better hiring decisions, manage difficult employees, develop employee policies, motivate staff, and so much more. No stuffy, corporate HR policy lingo; but straight forward, easy to understand and implement advice for businesses just like yours. Stay ahead of the curve and go to Easy Small Business HR for more tips on how to hire and manage your staff effectively.

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Are Your Employees Disgruntled: Eight Clues That You Should Address Immediately

I spent a few minutes digging in the Archives for this particular article.

It was very popular when originally published so I thought I’d share the article with newer visitors to the site.

Enjoy!

All organizations have at least one disgruntled employee. ALL companies. Despite how progressive a company may be. Regardless of all of the employee benefits and perks a company may offer. Despite having the most open and accessible supervisor, every organization is faced with this issue. Oftentimes, the fact that an employee is unhappy is obvious. Other times, it’s less transparent.

How to you deal with an unhappy worker? The first step is to take stock of the obvious clues and then determine the best approach to salvaging the working relationship.

Common behaviors of a disgruntled employee include:

Arrives late to company meetings, or misses meetings altogether
Attends meetings but is quiet, agitated, or bored.
Frequently misses deadlines.
Employee’s work quality changes from strong to mediocre or poor. Has trouble keeping up with the pace of the work.
Frequently leaves work early, arrives late or calls in sick.
Spends time surfing the Internet or on the phone.
Responds in a confrontational, angry, or overly aggressive way to simple requests or comments.
Always negative; finds fault with everything.

The first step is to determine the reasons for the change in behavior if possible. If the negative change in behavior is work related, is it because the workload has increased? Is your employee feeling overwhelmed or not supported? Are there issues with other members of the team that are negatively impacting your employee?

Make it a part of your business best practices to check in with staff on a regular basis, both at group meetings and in “one on one” meetings. Let your staff know that you or others if appropriate are available to talk if there are concerns relating to the work.

Sometimes an employee’s unhappiness has nothing to do with the workplace and everything to do with something happening in their personal life. Although it can be a slippery slope to venture down the path of personally helping employees deal with personal issues, you can offer support by allowing the employee some time off or the ability to leave early to focus on issues that are likely distracting them from their work. If your company has an Employee Assistance Program, refer the employee to it, or remind employees’ to take advantage of mental health support as part of their medical plan if your company offers one.

A little compassion and a lot of communication are the first steps in turning a worker who is unhappy into a more motivated and engaged partner in your business.

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Are Your Employees Scaring Your Customers Away? Teaching Customer Service

What is good customer service and how do you teach good customer service to your employees?

This post is one of my personal favorites. I wrote it based on an experience that I had last year when I decided to try a new Opthalmologist.

Based on the types of queries that I receive from managers, customer service skills… quality customer service skills is a top priority for many businesses.

Anyone in any type of service industry can get some insights on how even perceived slights can send your customers running to your competitor’s door!

Are Your Employees Scaring Your Customers Away?

It was time for my yearly eye exam and I decided to change my Ophthalmologist. I needed to find an optical shop closer to home.

I spent a lot of time finding this particular optical shop and was happy that the shop was conveniently located, had plenty of parking available, and was open during the evenings and weekends.

When I called to schedule the appointment, the receptionist was very pleasant and accommodating. Convinced that I had found the perfect place for all of my optical needs, I scheduled my appointment.

On the day of the appointment, a friendly employee at the front desk greeted me. She took all of my pertinent information and asked me to “Take a seat, the Doctor will be with you soon.”

Things quickly went down hill from there.

The Doctor greeted me with a loud, “Next victim”! I guess this was my cue to go into his office, which I did.

The actual exam was quite uneventful. When it was over, he uttered, “Let’s get to why you’re really here; to get contact lenses”.

No, why I’m really here is to get my annual eye exam. I never mentioned needing contact lenses; but I guess he knew better than I why I scheduled an appointment with him.

The kicker was when the doctor led me out of his office, and in the public waiting area bellowed, “Have a good day and stay out of jail”.

Have a good day and stay out of jail? Hmmm. Not sure what it was about me that made him think that I might be prone to being on the wrong side of the law…

In case you’re wondering, I’ll never go back to this optical shop. And, I’ve told everyone who would listen about my experience. Of course I can’t tell the story without including the name and location of the optical shop. I don’t want my friends and family members to have the same experience as I had.

I’m guessing that the doctor thought he was being “friendly”, “funny”, “witty”, “familiar”, (choose one). I found him to be “offensive”, “unprofessional”, and “obnoxious”, (choose all).

One of the biggest mistakes that small businesses make is not ensuring that all of their employees are trained to interact with customers in a professional manner.

If you want to retain the customers that you have and benefit from the customers that they may refer your way, it behooves you to set some basic standards relating to your expectations on how to best interact with customers. That includes setting standards as to what type of small talk is appropriate, and examples of what is considered inappropriate. Otherwise, you’re leaving a lot of money on the table, and putting your reputation as a business on the online.

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ESBHR Special Podcast: What To Expect in 2011

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The new year will bring more expert interviews with professionals in their field such as Michael Davey, an employment lawyer with the firm Eckell Sparks, and Dianne Durkin, owner of the Loyalty Factor and author of a series of employee loyalty and employee management books.

Other podcast episodes will range from advice on handling difficult employees and handling workplace issues to zeroing in on small business policies and procedures that you need to be successful.

Right Click Here to Download the MP3 (4 min, 53 sec)

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