Confronting Your Difficult Employees

When you have a difficult employee , it can be challenging to find the right approach for dealing with him or her. Many employers make the mistake of taking the path of least resistance and ignore the problem and hope things will work themselves out. While confrontation is difficult, failing to deal with the issues can negatively impact the overall success of your team. It can also cause your other employees to view you as a weak leader.

• Sometimes the carrot works better than the stick. In other words, while you may need to give the employee some criticism, do it with kindness and respect. If you take this approach, it can make an uncomfortable situation easier to deal with.
• Allow the employee to take responsibility for their actions. While this can be tricky, you should work to motivate and appeal to his or her sense of pride. Trying to embarrass or challenge the employee in public will only make matters worse.
• While the above tips are essential, being honest is the most important policy to follow when dealing with a difficult employee. Avoid being confrontational, but you must get the employee’s attention.
• Before the conversation is over, try to understand the employee’s perception because it may be very different from yours. Viewing the matter from each other’s perspective can be effective in improving behavior.
• Document your conversation. If the employee’s performance continues to decline and you eventually decide to fire him or her, it can be beneficial to have a file demonstrating that you provided warnings and opportunities for improvement.
• If you are concerned that the employee will file a lawsuit against the company, you should confer with experienced legal counsel.