When an employee causes problems in your workplace, your first instinct might be to terminate him or her as quickly as possible. But hiring and training a replacement takes time and effort that you could invest in more worthwhile tasks. Try salvaging the situation first with this advice:
- Check your attitude. Have you accidentally slipped into an adversarial “me vs. you” role? If you’re insisting that you’re right and the employee is wrong, you could be overlooking potential solutions.
- Look for a mismatch. Does the employee feel unsuited to his or her job, or wrong for your organization? If you don’t ask, you’ll waste time trying to solve the wrong problem. Find out if the employee might feel more comfortable and perform better in a different position—or if he or she is completely unhappy working for your organization.
- Dig at the roots. Don’t focus strictly on the here and now. Look at past behaviors and the history of the problem over time. Has a similar situation arisen before? What did people do about it? Does the employee have a history of being difficult, or is this a recent change in behavior?
- Consider the domino effect. Think about how other employees will view your actions. People will be watching how you handle the situation. If they think you’re not being fair, they’ll remember it.
- Look at the employee’s resources. Does the employee have all the tools and training needed to do the job? If not, frustration can turn a formerly enthusiastic worker into a difficult one. Talk to the employee, and to others who work in similar jobs. The employee may not be aware of all the resources available.