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© 2010 Profiles International, Inc. All rights reserved. Executive Briefing Managing Difficult Employees: Problems and Solu:ons

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  • www.profilesinternational.com! 2010 Profiles International, Inc. All rights reserved.!

    Executive Briefing

    Managing Dicult Employees: Problems and Solu:ons

  • Managing Difficult Employees: Problems and Solutions. Copyright 2010 by Profiles International. All rights reserved. No part of the report may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems without written permission from the publisher.!!Printed and bound in the United States of America.!!Publisher!Profiles Research Institute!Dario Priolo, Managing Director!5205 Lake Shore Drive!Waco, Texas 76710-1732!!Profiles International !(800) 960-9612!www.profilesinternational.com!!!!!!!!!!Acknowledgements!President, Co-founder, Profiles International: Bud Haney!Editor-in-Chief: Dario Priolo!Managing Editor: Carrie D. Martinez!Assistant Editor: Jeff Meyers, Jacob Ford!Creative Director: Kelley Taylor!Graphics Assistant: Colton Canava, Ruben Vera!

    Managing Difficult Employees: Problems and Solutions | 2!

  • Dicult employees suck the lifeand 5meout of managers Every workplace has them. They never come to work on :me, they invade your personal space, and they eat their favorite hot lunches at their desks. They never rell the coee pot, they shout on the phone during personal calls, and they complain about every liEle organiza:onal change. Dicult employees provide an addi:onal set of problems for any manager. Eec:ve managers are able to nd ways to mo:vate and work with challenging employees. In most cases though, a few problem employees can require the majority of a managers :me. It has been es:mated that dicult employees make up only 10% of a department or team, but they occupy 90% of the managers :me. In this report, we iden5fy four main problems managers experience with dicult employees: 1. Managing Dicult Personali:es 2. Managing Employees with Bad ARtudes 3. Managing Poor Performers 4. Managing Communica:on Problems It is important to remember that managers must understand their own management styles before they address issues with problem employees. Management is a two-way street, and some:mes the problems in the workplace are nothing more than the result of a mismatched employee and manager. If you feel like more than 10% of your employees are dicult employees, then you and your management style may be the problem. Psychographic assessments and 360-degree feedback can help iden:fy any mismatched employees and the eects they are having on their coworkers. There are no simple solu:ons when managing dicult employees. But its important to iden:fy problems quickly so that you can spend your :me managing the en:re sta, not just the high-maintenance employees.

    Effective managers are able to 2ind ways to motivate and work with challenging employees.

    Managing Difficult Employees: Problems and Solutions | 3!

  • Dicult personali5es nega5vely impact coworkers and damage the culture of an organiza5on Whether its the constant complaints or inappropriate jokes, some employees have personali:es that make managing them and working with them strenuous. Most employees avoid these people while managers con:nue to struggle to create a unied team. Theres nothing wrong with people with unique personali:es, but in the workplace there are certain behaviors and personality traits that are unacceptable and require a measure of tact if they are to be dealt with appropriately. Common dicult personali5es: The BullyDominates conversa:ons and manipulates people to get what he wants The Prima DonnaOnly looks out for numero uno, and does so in drama:c fashion The Control FreakConstantly noses into your business and trusts no one The Know-It-AllConverses with coworkers in a condescending manner The GossipOnly talks to others to get informa:on about oce happenings The ComplainerUses every interac:on to whine about the smallest of changes The DirtbagMakes inappropriate and sugges:ve comments to coworkers At some point in your management career you have run into an employee who is dicult to manage. Iden:fying these employees is only half the baEle; managing dicult personali:es and helping them to be produc:ve is the dicult part.

    1. Problem: Difficult personalities!

    Managing Difficult Employees: Problems and Solutions

    Managing Difficult Employees: Problems and Solutions | 4!

  • A good manager must address employees with dicult personali5es and deal with them appropriately What is a manager supposed to do with dicult personali:es? Asking an employee to change job assignments is a lot easier than asking him to stop bossing people around. Managing dicult personali:es can be challenging, but there are some simple steps managers can take to help address these distrac:ng employees. First, a manager must make sure the employee is aware of the problems he is causing in the workplace. It is easy for an employee to be completely blind to his or her distrac:ng behavior. Management should arrange to meet with the employee to explain how the behavior is aec:ng his coworkers and the oce environment. Awareness is the rst and most important step in dealing with an employee who has a dicult personality. Secondly, the employee needs to show a willingness to change his demeanor and personality. If an employee complains all the :me, he must admit to excessive complaining and make an eort to complain less in the future. The manager will need to provide addi:onal support in order to mo:vate the employee to change. Although this will take more :me and focus special aEen:on on one employee, the other employees will be more produc:ve aber the distrac:ng behavior has been eliminated. Finally, managers can enlist trustworthy employees to provide feedback on the progress of the dicult employee. If the employee s:ll chooses to engage in nega:ve behavior and shows no willingness to change, then management may need to look at more dras:c steps for dealing with him. Managing challenging employees is made easier through the assistance of coworkers and employees.

    1. Solution: Manage difficult personalities!

    Asking an employee to change job assignments is a lot easier

    than asking him to stop bossing people around.

    Managing Difficult Employees: Problems and Solutions

    Managing Difficult Employees: Problems and Solutions | 5!

  • Nega5ve aItudes about othersor the organiza5ondampen the work environment and ul5mately decrease produc5vity! The work environment and oce atmosphere have a signicant impact on produc:vity. Companies spend :me and money researching the best oce layout, wall color, and break room design, but an employee with a bad aRtude is one of the fastest ways to ruin the atmosphere of an oce. Iden:fying nega:ve aRtudes is the rst step in reclaiming employee produc:vity. Some common nega5ve aItudes: Nega5ve emo5ons toward the organiza5on. There are always those employees who are quick

    to make nega:ve comments about upper management or coworkers. These nega:ve feelings contradict the overall mission of the organiza:on and may cause other employees to have nega:ve feelings as well.

    Insubordinate challenges to authority. There are many :mes when employees refuse to do

    what they are asked in order to prove a point or make a statement. These employees have no respect for you and will likely lose the trust of their peers.

    Lazy, unmo5vated. These employees spend most of their day goong o and distrac:ng other

    employees. Overly argumenta5ve. Employees who are looking to pick a ght put coworkers on edge and

    create a high level of discomfort in the workplace.

    The more nega:ve your employees are at work, the less likely they are to complete their work and add value to the organiza:on. Bad aRtudes must be dealt with quickly and maturely.

    2. Problem: Employees with bad attitudes!

    Negative feelings toward the organization contradict the

    overall mission of the organization and may cause

    other employees to have negative feelings as well.

    Managing Difficult Employees: Problems and Solutions

    Managing Difficult Employees: Problems and Solutions | 6!

  • 2. Solution: Find the source of the bad attitude!

    Improve the atmosphere of the oce by dealing with bad aItudes Managing employees bad aRtudes in the workplace is a tricky endeavor. Employees have bad aRtudes for a variety of personal reasons, and addressing them as a manager can force you to cross lines that distance you from your employees. But allowing bad aRtudes to fester causes serious problems for the overall atmosphere of the oce and the produc:vity of every employee. As a manager, there are some important things to remember when addressing bad aItudes in the workplace: Bad aItudes are a serious problem. Do not take bad aRtudes lightly. They are dierent from

    other problems and must be addressed as such. An employee who has a bad aRtude causes more problems than an employee who is trying hard but simply doesnt have the ability to do his or her job.

    Understand why the employee has a bad aItude. A bad aRtude can be blamed on an

    employees melancholy personality or nega:ve disposi:on. But there is probably something else going on beneath the surface. Has anything happened in her life that has resulted in an adverse aRtudinal change? A personality assessment helps managers know how an employee responds to adversity and how to best manage her through the challenging :me.

    Set boundaries and expecta5ons for the employee. Let the employee know that her behavior

    is nega:vely impac:ng the team. Oer your support, but be rm. Let the employee know that her job is in jeopardy if there is not a posi:ve change in aRtude and behavior.

    Allowing bad attitudes to fester causes serious

    problems for the overall atmosphere of the office and

    productivity of each employee.

    Managing Difficult Employees: Problems and Solutions

    Managing Difficult Employees: Problems and Solutions | 7!

  • 3. Problem: Poor performance!

    Poor-performing employees create new problems for managers Dicult employees can also cause problems by underperforming. You spend countless hours trying to hire quality, competent employees, but you s:ll have employees who dont complete their assigned tasks or understand (or appreciate) the organiza:onal goals of the company. In a team environment, a manager needs to be able to iden:fy poor performance and know how to address it. Common reasons that an employee may have diculty doing the job: Doesnt follow direc5ons. An employee who doesnt follow direc:ons well is always

    someone who is dicult to manage. He makes his own rules and cant be trusted to complete important tasks.

    Incompetence. An incompetent employee makes mistakes, is disorganized, and has a hard

    :me learning new concepts. He may be overwhelmed by a new job assignment or by having to adapt to something new.

    Takes too long. Timeliness wouldnt be a major problem to manage if it only involved one

    employee, but you may have ve other employees who cant do their jobs un:l the slow-moving employee does his.

    Nervous worker. A nervous employee has a dicult :me dealing with the stress and pressure of his job. If you manage in a highly compe::ve industry, nervous workers who are concerned about issues such as job security and mee:ng sales quotas could drag down performance.

    Managing Difficult Employees: Problems and Solutions

    Managing Difficult Employees: Problems and Solutions | 8!

  • 3. Solution: Support and train poor performers!

    Managerial support is essen5al for transforming poor performers into quality employees Insucient produc:on from a normally produc:ve employee is a concern for every manager. Do not write o employees who are struggling to produce. As a manager, it is your responsibility to iden:fy poor performance and mo:vate the employee to achieve the desired goal. Keeping in mind the reasons for poor performance that we iden5ed previously, here are some proposed solu5ons to those problems: Communicate direc5ons clearly. For the employee who struggles to follow direc:ons, try

    communica:ng those direc:ons in a more detailed or concrete way. Explain the expecta5ons beWer. An incompetent employee needs to learn more about what

    is expected of him. Take a step back and explain the expecta:ons of the job and his role in the team and the organiza:on.

    Provide addi5onal training. If an employee has a dicult :me organizing his work, provide a

    specic training day to help him learn how to organize beEer. Use other team members. If an employee con:nues to work at a slow pace, assign a more

    experienced team member to work with him. Providing extra help and support will help speed up his processes.

    If addi:onal support and training do not help the employee achieve more success at work, there is probably a poor t between the employee and the job. Assessments can help managers iden:fy job t and provide suggested jobs for each employee.

    Managing Difficult Employees: Problems and Solutions

    Managing Difficult Employees: Problems and Solutions | 9!

  • 4. Problem: Communication !

    Communica5on between employees and management must be clear and coherent Communica:on is constant and ows through many dierent media. Email, instant messaging, tex:ng, and face-to-face communica:on help to transfer ideas, informa:on, and instruc:ons. Methods of communica:on con:nue to increase, but miscommunica:on is s:ll a daily occurrence in the workplace. Managers must learn how to best communicate with each employee to ensure that the message sent is the same as the message received. Here are some common communica5on problems between a manager and an employee: The employee appears to understand but actually doesnt. This communica:on error oben

    results in numerous mistakes in the workplace. The :me and energy spent on unnecessary work costs the organiza:on money. Miscommunica:ons impact the boEom line quickly.

    The manager doesnt understand the technical language of the employee. In this

    communica:on error, the employee may be referring to a technical term that the manager has never heard before. The manager may assume that the employee knows what he is talking about even if she doesnt understand the message at all.

    Although there are a myriad of dierent management communica:on problems in the workplace, these are just a few that aect every manager and employee. Managers must seek clarity in their communica:on with each employee.

    Managing Difficult Employees: Problems and Solutions

    Managing Difficult Employees: Problems and Solutions | 10!

    Methods of communication continue to increase, but

    miscommunication is still a daily occurrence in the

    workplace.

  • 4. Solution: Create quality dialogue with each employee!

    Solve communica5on issues through clear and honest conversa5ons At the end of the day, communica:on between a manager and his employees needs to be clear. Establishing eec:ve communica:on prac:ces in your department will not only increase eciency, but also improve trust, honesty, and openness. Here are some general :ps for avoiding management communica:on problems in the workplace. If an employee seems to understand, but doesnt: Make sure your employees feel comfortable enough to tell you that they dont know or

    dont understand. Have the employee repeat back the instruc:ons or message you just gave her un:l she

    says exactly what you said. Try hands-on demonstra:ons to make sure the employee knows exactly what to do. If the manager doesnt understand the technical language of the employee: Spend :me learning more about the details of your employees job. Find an employee who can serve as a translator to explain the technical jargon so that you

    know exactly what your employee is trying to communicate. Ask the employee to draw pictures or diagrams. Find another way for the employee to

    express herself. Communica:on oben requires simple strategies such as the ones listed above. If you and an employee consistently nd yourselves making mistakes due to communica:on errors, the professional rela:onship may be a bad t.

    Managing Difficult Employees: Problems and Solutions

    Managing Difficult Employees: Problems and Solutions | 11!

    Establishing effective communication practices in

    your department will not only increase efficiency, but also improve trust, honesty,

    and openness.

  • What can you do to manage a difficult employee?!

    Whatever the problem may be, these ac5ons will lead to the solu5on Managing dicult employees tests the limits of a managers :me and energy, but the results can oben be rewarding. Below is a list of managerial ac:ons that you can use to address any problem with a dicult employee. 1. Have a one-on-one conversa:on. 2. Schedule a formal employee review mee:ng, even if its not :me for a scheduled review. 3. Meet with the employees involved to discuss the problem. 4. Consult with other managers and your boss. 5. Put the employee on proba:on for a specied amount of :me. 6. Assign another, more experienced employee to work with and mentor the problem

    employee. 7. Write clearer guidelines for the employee. 8. Make yourself available for addi:onal training with employee. 9. Provide the employee with outside training. 10.Provide the employee with hands-on experience while you observe. 11.Ask the employee to submit reports to you about how he or she is seeking to change. 12.Give the employee a specic :me limit for showing improvement (with dened goals). 13.Terminate the employee as gently as you can and provide the employee with an

    explana:on, pay for hours already worked and severance pay. 14.For a more serious problem, terminate the employee immediately, explain the cause,

    and provide pay for any hours already worked. 15.Report any criminal ac:ons to the appropriate authori:es.

    It is important to remember that each situa:on is dierent and may require only a few of these sugges:ons.

    Managing Difficult Employees: Problems and Solutions

    Managing Difficult Employees: Problems and Solutions | 12!

  • Summary!

    Dealing with dicult employees is inevitable. As a manager, there will always be employees or clients who are annoying, lazy, or just downright rude. You have a choice to either work with them or let them go. Termina:ng the employment of dicult employees may help you in the short term, but it also increases hiring costs. And what if the employee is a high performer? In this document, we looked at four dierent employee problems that require specialized management skills: 1. Managing Dicult Personali5es 2. Managing Bad AItudes 3. Managing Poor Performers 4. Managing Communica5on Problems

    Although managing dicult employees takes :me, it is s:ll worth the eort in order to avoid addi:onal hiring costs. Assessments also help managers deal with dicult employees. Knowing how your employees respond in stressful situa:ons or how they t with a certain management style arms you with valuable informa:on that can help you manage problem employees. Assessments provide a vast amount of informa:on that you can use to make decisions concerning your employees. Dicult employees are always going to be in the workplace. The way in which you manage these employees will not only eect your reputa:on as a manager, but also the organiza:ons boEom line.

    Take the 5me to manage the most dicult, distrac5ng employees

    Managing Difficult Employees: Problems and Solutions

    Managing Difficult Employees: Problems and Solutions | 13!

    Knowing how your employees respond in stressful situations or how they fit with a certain management style arms you

    with valuable information that can help you manage problem

    employees.

  • Overview of our assessments and solutions!

    Managing Difficult Employees: Problems and Solutions

    Managing Difficult Employees: Problems and Solutions | 14!

  • ProfileXT (PXT) The PXT assessment measures how well an individual ts specic jobs in your organiza:on. The job matching feature of the PXT is unique, and it enables you to evaluate an individual rela:ve to the quali:es required to successfully perform in a specic job. It is used throughout the employee life cycle for selec:on, on-boarding, managing, and strategic workforce planning. This assessment reveals consistent, in-depth, objec:ve insight into an individual's thinking and reasoning style, relevant behavioral traits, occupa:onal interests, and match to specic jobs in your organiza:on. It helps your managers interview and select people who have the highest probability of being successful in a role, and provides prac:cal recommenda:ons for coaching them to maximum performance. It also gives your organiza:on consistent language and metrics to support strategic workforce and succession planning, talent management and reorganiza:on eorts.

    Step One Survey II (SOSII) The SOSII is a brief pre-hire assessment that measures an individuals basic work-related values. It is used primarily as a screening tool early in the candidate selec:on process. This assessment provides valid insight into an applicants work ethic, reliability, integrity, propensity for substance abuse, and aRtudes toward theb including property, data and :me.

    How We Do It Assessment and solution descriptions!

    Managing Difficult Employees: Problems and Solutions | 15!

  • How We Do It Assessment and solution descriptions!

    Profiles Performance Indicator (PPI) The Proles Performance Indicator is a DISC-type assessment that reveals aspects of an individual's personality that could impact their t with their manager, coworkers and team, and their job performance. It is used primarily for mo:va:ng and coaching employees, and resolving post-hire conict and performance issues. The PPI specically measures an individual's mo:va:onal intensity and behaviors related to produc:vity, quality of work, ini:a:ve, teamwork, problem solving, and adap:ng to change, as well as response to conict, stress, and frustra:on. The output from this assessment serves as an operator's manual for an employee, which helps managers beEer mo:vate, coach, and communicate with the employee. It also helps to predict and minimize conict among co-workers, and it provides crucial informa:on for improving team selec:on and performance. A powerful feature of the PPI is the Team Analysis Report, designed to help managers form new teams, reduce team conict, improve team communica:on, improve their ability to an:cipate problems, and enhance their team leadership skills. It helps evaluate overall team balance, strengths, and weaknesses, as well as team members personality characteris:cs along 12 key factors: control, composure, social inuence, analy:cal, pa:ence, results orienta:on, precision, expressiveness, ambi:on, teamwork, posi:ve expectancy, and quality of work. It also provides team leaders with prac:cal recommenda:ons and ac:on steps to take in order to succeed in their jobs.

    Managing Difficult Employees: Problems and Solutions | 16!

  • How We Do It Assessment and solution descriptions!

    CheckPoint 360 The CheckPoint Management System is a 360-degree assessment. It is used primarily to evaluate the eec:veness of your managers and leaders. This assessment combines feedback from direct reports, peers, supervisors, and even customers, with a personalized program for developing specic leadership skills based on that feedback. This process highlights a managers job performance in 8 universal management competencies: communica:on, leadership, adap:ng to change, rela:onships, task management, produc:on, development of others, and personal development. The CheckPoint 360 helps managers iden:fy and priori:ze their own development opportuni:es. And it helps the organiza:on to beEer focus management training and development investments; proac:vely uncover misaligned priori:es between senior execu:ves and front-line managers; and surface management issues that could lead to low employee produc:vity, morale, job-sa:sfac:on, and increased turnover. !

    Profiles Managerial Fit (PMF) People typically dont quit their companies, they quit their bosses. Proles Managerial Fit (PMF) measures cri:cal aspects of compa:bility between a manager and their employees. This report oers an in-depth look at ones approach to learning, as well as six cri:cal dimensions of compa:bility with their manager: self-assurance, conformity, op:mism, decisiveness, self-reliance, and objec:vity. Managers use this informa:on for adap:ng their styles in order to get the most from each employee; improve communica:on; increase engagement, sa:sfac:on, and produc:vity; and reduce employee turnover.

    Managing Difficult Employees: Problems and Solutions | 17!

  • How We Do It Assessment and solution descriptions!

    Workplace Engagement Survey (WES) Our Workplace Engagement Survey (WES) measures the degree to which your employees connect with their work and feel commiEed to the organiza:on and its goals. This gives you and your management team a detailed view of what inuences engagement across all of your workforce segments and how your employees compare sta:s:cally to the overall working popula:on. In addi:on, the WES measures sa:sfac:on with employer and sa:sfac:on with manager across your en:re organiza:on, and gives recommenda:ons for your organiza:on to improve.

    Profiles Skills Tests (PST) Proles Interna:onal provides comprehensive assessments to measure essen:al knowledge and skills. We use powerful technologies, such as performance-based tes:ng, which simulates popular sobware products like Microsob Oce, to ensure accurate, reliable, assessment of knowledge, skills, and abili:es. Our skills assessments cover Sobware Skills, Clerical Skills, Call Center Skills, Accoun:ng and Finance, Medical, Nursing, Legal, Industrial, Computer Literacy, Retail, Food Services, Informa:on Technology, Stang, and Human Resources.

    Employee Background Checks (EBC) Proles Interna:onal provides comprehensive employee background checks for our clients. These include Consumer Credit Reports, Criminal History Record, Drivers' History Report (DMV), Educa:on Verica:on, Employment History Verica:on, Foreign Na:onals Terrorist Sanc:ons Search (OFAC, CLFST & OSFI), Iden:ty Verica:on Search, Incarcera:on Records Search, Military Service Verica:on, Cursory Na:onwide Criminal Index Database Search (CNID), and many more.

    Managing Difficult Employees: Problems and Solutions | 18!

  • How We Do It Assessment and solution descriptions!

    Profiles Sales Assessment (PSA) The Proles Sales Assessment (PSA) measures how well a person ts specic sales jobs in your organiza:on. It is used primarily for selec:ng, on-boarding and managing sales people and account managers. The job modeling feature of the PSA is unique, and can be customized by company, sales posi:on, department, manager, geography, or any combina:on of these factors. This enables you to evaluate an individual rela:ve to the quali:es required to perform successfully in a specic sales job in your organiza:on. It also predicts on-the-job performance in seven cri:cal sales behaviors: prospec:ng, call reluctance, closing the sale, self-star:ng, teamwork, building and maintaining rela:onships, and compensa:on preference.

    Customer Service Profile (CSP) The Customer Service Prole (CSP) measures how well a person ts specic customer service jobs in your organiza:on. It is used primarily for selec:ng, on-boarding, and managing customer service employees. The CSP also looks at what your current and future employees believe is a high level of customer service, while at the same :me showing where they align (or not) with the companys perspec:ve. We have a general industry version of this assessment as well as ver:cal special:es in hospitality, healthcare, nancial services, and retail.

    Managing Difficult Employees: Problems and Solutions | 19!

  • How We Do It Assessment and solution descriptions!

    Profiles Loyalty Pro (PLP) Proles LoyaltyPro is a web-based customer loyalty surveying tool. Loyalty, as determined through the voice of the customer, is a leading indicator that predicts the staying power of an account. Proles LoyaltyPro oers companies a tool to gather ongoing, cri:cal account intelligence that helps them assess the rela:onship between the buyer and the supplier, ul:mately driving the ac:on plan to improve customer service. Having insight into your customers percep:on of your rela:onship allows you to steer the strategic business eorts and ini:a:ves of the account management teams to con:nually improve customer rela:onships and build a network of loyal customers.

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