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Do you remember the report cards elementary schools used to report your grades and your behavior? They covered areas of performance that transfer surprisingly well to the business of employee relations. Problem employees can be a quandary for everyone and may be the most problematic challenge a manager has to deal with. In fact, most managers find disciplinary actions the most disliked and the most difficult of all their functions.

What Defines A Problem Employee?

Problem behavior usually has a “history.” It usually develops over time and seldom from a single incident. Thus, it is your responsibility to be aware of the early warning signs and deal with the underlying causes before the situation reaches a crisis! This is very often easier said than done, but nipping this type of problem “in the bud,” is typically easier than when it reaches “full bloom.” Many people put off dealing with problem employees because the task is not particularly pleasant, only to find they have a larger problem to deal with later.

There are a number of areas where an employee can become a “problem.” Let’s look at some of the most common causes, and briefly discuss some of the ways to deal with these problems.

Poor performance — Poor performance may be due to one of several factors: lack of skill, disorganized or sloppy habits, a lack of motivation, or being habitually late. If poor skills are the cause, then additional training may be helpful.

Sometimes the employee may just be disorganized or sloppy. If this is the problem, these poor habits can potentially be corrected with proper guidance. If a lack of motivation is the problem, working with the employee to develop job expectations with a follow-up evaluation may be effective.

Poor performance may also be associated with employees who are habitually late. The importance of this factor depends on the job. In some cases being precisely on time is crucially important — such as opening the store at 8 a.m. In other cases, it may be more important to evaluate the job that is being done, rather than to bring up a tardiness issue with an employee who is occasionally late. J

ob incompatibility — Sometimes an employee becomes a problem because his skills just aren’t compatible with his assigned tasks. Solutions here range from offering the employee additional training to reassigning him to a job that is a better fit.

Sloppy work — Errors and sloppiness are not always easy to detect. When you do notice an employee has made some errors, point out those mistakes and monitor her work more closely. If the problem continues, speak with the employee and detail the most serious examples of problems with her work. Don’t scold the employee, but rather provide constructive criticism.

Disruptive behavior — Problems in this area include temper and anger issues and negativity. Experts suggest you should try to get the employee on your side — maybe take him out to lunch or coffee in a causal setting.

Then, give him the opportunity to express his feelings about the problem. It may turn out to be a personal problem or a simple case of feeling unappreciated. However, if the problem is more serious, arrange for a closed-door meeting. Show documented examples of the problem behavior — and then discuss the possible consequences These consequences may be a change in responsibilities, demotion or termination if the behavior does not change.

One expert suggests a business should never retain a negative staff member, particularly after customary remedies have been applied. He suggests “a positive team, working as a cohesive unit to provide exceptional service best accomplishes this objective; a negative staff member does not fit in this profile and will ultimately affect the others as they attempt to maintain a positive attitude. If you do not take action when a negative staff member begins to affect your organization, you reinforce to other staff that the behavior is acceptable.” Consequently, this expert states that attitude should be part of job performance evaluation, and even if work tasks are acceptable, a destructive attitude is grounds for dismissal. It is important to note that each job situation is different and many times as a supervisor you do not have the legal authority to terminate someone when their work is acceptable but they have a destructive attitude.

How Severe A Problem?

The severity of the problem is often quite subjective in nature. It is hard to determine the effect of a problem employee on your firm’s productivity, other employees and customers. This is where careful observation and communication come into play. Be observant and ask lots of questions. In many instances of this sort you will have to use an educated guess on how the situation will turn out if you intervene. In cases of poor performance, job incompatibility and sloppy work, as well as cases of disruptive behavior, the impact on the business may range from marginal to substantial. The ball is in your court as a manager to determine how bad things are and to tackle the tough business of rectifying the situation.

Strategies For Dealing With Problem Employees

Broadly, there are two basic ways of dealing with problem employees — do nothing or take action! It should be obvious that doing nothing accomplishes little and often exacerbates the problem. Waiting for the problem to go away is akin to encouraging the behavior.

If you decide to take the second choice above (which we strongly hope you do!), and take action — there are two broad ways to deal with the employee:

Coach or mentor the employee: This is a useful approach for a “minor” offense, a first-time nonserious offense or a work performance problem.

This generally involves just what the title implies — coaching the employee by visiting with them, outlining the problem or offense including explaining the issue and then suggesting a solution.

Discipline the employee: This approach is more appropriate for serious offenses, frequent offenders and problems involving the willful disregard of a company policy or workplace rule.

In either of the above cases there are five simple steps to follow:

1. Meet with the employee. You should meet with the employee face-to-face to discuss the problem. If the employee is never told you perceive a problem, he has no opportunity to improve performance.

2. Listen to the employee’s side. Take time to listen (as impartially as you can) to what the employee has to say about the problem. Many times you will learn there is another side to the situation, and that may be where corrective action should be applied. Now, you may not agree with the employee’s interpretation of the issue, but be willing to hear both sides.

3. Discuss a solution. If the problem is caused by the employee’s actions, discuss ways to eliminate the problem or correct the situation.

Many times the problem exists because the employee does not recognize the problem or doesn’t know what to do about it.

4. Plan a course of action. The objective here is to develop a mutually agreed upon plan of action to follow to resolve the problem. The employee should then be given time to improve her performance (except where flagrant violations of policy dictate termination).

5. Document the incident. This is probably the most important part of the whole process. No matter how well you think your meeting with the employee went, make a complete, detailed record of what was discussed with the employee.

6. Follow up. Continue to monitor the situation and follow up. If the employee makes positive changes, it is important to give the employee positive feedback. If there is no change in behavior, you must take appropriate action. While this will be unpleasant, it is extremely important.

Failure to take such action will send the message to all employees that problem employees are not punished — which could lead to further disruptive behavior.

Plans Gone Awry

So you have worked with the employee as described above to plan a course of action. What happens if your well-laid plan fizzles? There are still some tools at your disposal. One option is to think about moving the employee — maybe to a job that suits him better, or away from employees he clashes with, or perhaps to a situation where he has little interaction with others if there is significant personality conflict — and you decide the employee is worth keeping. Another option, which was touched on previously is to retrain the employee if he needs improvement or a change in his skill set.

How then do you deal with the employee you have decided isn’t worth keeping? While some people try to avoid the real issue by moving the employee to another department — perhaps an undesirable workplace — and hope that the employee gets frustrated and quits, this is really just “avoidance behavior” and most often not effective. Often it is necessary to terminate the person. Although this is not the easiest thing to do, it may be the “cleanest,” especially in the long run. Legal issues abound here; thus be sure you have access to legal counsel if necessary as well as document, document and document again all observations, discussions and actions regarding the employee.