“If the difficult situation is not dealt with, more difficult problems with that employee and others will arise down the road”
- Unfortunately, there are times when an employee may purposefully try to make a manager look ineffective or foolish. The employee may not cooperate with the manager’s requests or else repeatedly challenge the authority of the manager. He or she might also complain constantly about the manager’s competence, try to get under the manager’s skin or try to “win” in some fashion.
The correct way for a manager to respond to inappropriate comments or actions is to:
- Use a firm tone of voice.
- Avoid anger. Keep your “cool.”
- Allow no argument. Keep focused on the issue.
- If necessary, articulate the consequences of this negative behaviour.
Usually, confronting the issue directly and in a timely fashion either stops the behaviour or else drives it underground. If the negative behaviour goes underground, the manager needs to stay aware and begin formal disciplinary action when the opportunity presents itself.
An important key for the manager to remember is not to fight, argue or play the employee’s “game.” In addition, he or she needs to deal with the situation, not simply hope it will go away on its own. Other employees will be watching closely to see how the supervisor deals with these difficult situations and people. If the difficult situation is not dealt with, more difficult problems with that employee and others will arise down the road, and the supervisor will have even less legitimate authority to deal with those problems. Supervisors may be tempted to simply transfer the difficult employee to some other department.
While tempting, this is never a good solution since the manager will have effectively been held “ransom” by the bad behaviour and will have even provided a reward for bad behaviour. A downward spiral begins whereby others will see the manager as weak, and he or she will begin to cultivate a poor reputation at the company. High performers become demotivated and the performance culture suffers.