Dealing with Difficult Employees: How to Effectively Handle Problem Employee Behaviour

Navigating the complexities of running an effective team of people who likely have a broad range of personalities, values, and working styles is always going to have its challenges. Throw a difficult employee into the mix, though, and it can suddenly become a much more problematic situation. 

While delaying the conversation can be tempting, addressing the issue promptly is the key to managing things effectively and avoiding escalation, and aside from a few clear reasons for instant dismissal, firing an employee should never be the first option. Let’s dive into what exactly difficult team members can look like, and what we can do to effectively handle problem employee behaviour. 

What does a difficult employee look like?

Difficult employees who have become disengaged with their work often display the same few behaviours: 

• A lack of motivation or laziness: employees who do not fulfil their responsibilities or miss deadlines can cause tension for those who need to pick up the slack.

• A poor attitude: a negative attitude towards work, managers, or coworkers can create a toxic environment that wears down everyone, and can impact business, individual, and team performance. 

• A bullying nature: if an employee is bullying others, it can lead to a negative work culture, a higher employee turnover rate, and a poor workplace reputation. 

• They undermine authority: undermining others' authority can disrupt employee morale, productivity, and the overall effectiveness of a team. 

  
  

How to deal with difficult employees

If you are currently managing a difficult employee, the following tips should be used to help identify and resolve the situation.

Listen and understand the root cause of the issue

Before addressing the behaviour of a difficult employee, it is important to attempt to understand the underlying issue surrounding the behaviour. Personal issues, a lack of job satisfaction, misunderstandings, fear, or even inadequate training can all lead to employees lashing out in inappropriate ways. 

To get a better understanding of the situation, open communication is key. It is important to conduct the conversation in a safe environment, one-on-one is generally best, and it should always begin with empathy and without accusation. Adjusting your language and using phrases like “I’ve noticed lately…” rather than “You always…” can help set the tone for a non-confrontational conversation. 

Be clear with your feedback

When having a conversation with a difficult employee, you must be able to provide clear feedback on what the problem is. Providing specific examples and being frank can help clarify the issue and is a better approach than assuming they already know what the problem is. Be sure to continue to show empathy and remember to keep the conversation non-confrontational. 

Create an action plan together

After diving into the root cause, understanding and accepting that the behaviour is unacceptable, it's time to develop an action plan to address it. If possible, identifying opportunities to improve the situation should happen in collaboration with the employee to maximise buy-in. If required, you may need to loop in another resource, like someone who has completed human resources courses and would have specialised experience in managing this type of work. 

When building a plan, you may want to consider:

• Documenting the action plan for easy future reference. 

• Ensuring the expectations and standards are outlined clearly, including what behaviours are considered acceptable and what is not. 

• Identifying what will happen if the difficult behaviour continues. 

• Including advice on boundary setting with other employees.

• Where possible, offering additional training, mentoring, or counselling services.

• Ensuring the employee understands they are valued and creating a fulfilling and enjoyable workplace for all is the ultimate goal. 

  
  

Continue to monitor the situation 

Holding the difficult employee to the action plan is just as important as creating the plan itself. Schedule regular follow-up meetings to discuss the employee's progress on the plan, address their ongoing understanding and feelings regarding the situation, and adjust the action plan if needed. This time should also be used to reinforce accountability. Documenting these interactions is important in case more formal disciplinary action is required in the future. 

It is also important to check in with other team members who may have been impacted by a difficult employee. Ensuring their well-being is not only important for every individual, but also ensures that the work environment, productivity levels, and employee motivation have the best chance to recover from any negative influence. 

Implement disciplinary actions if required

If all interventions fail, and the employee’s behaviour continues to be unsatisfactory, it may become necessary to implement disciplinary action. This may begin with mild actions such as a verbal or written warning, or they may be placed on a probationary period. A Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) is a formal document to help employees reach expectations and may be used if the issue is underperformance.

All disciplinary action must be consistent with company policy and be fair in its distribution to help avoid perceptions of discrimination or favouritism. 

Understand when it is time to let go

Despite all your best efforts, if the action plan and disciplinary actions do not trigger a change in an employee’s behaviour, and their presence continues to negatively impact team members or the workplace, you may need to decide to terminate their employment. Even the best of managers cannot solve everything, particularly if the other person is not willing to work with you, and although it may not initially feel like it, ending their employment is likely the best thing for all involved.

When terminating an employee, it is important to follow all company and legal protocols and policies to ensure there are no ramifications. Following the termination process, it is important to again follow up with your team and any other individuals who were affected by the difficult employee to check in on their work status and well-being.