Turning Employees from Difficult to Valued

​​Article By: Bill Vogel, PHR
Posted: April 10, 2018
From: VirtualHRPros.com

The US is experiencing a labor shortage and it’s going to get worse. According to the US Department of Labor, American businesses added nearly 3,000,000 jobs since 2016 and the unemployment rate is at a 17% year low. The availability of labor will not be able to keep up with the demand for qualified applicants needed to service customers. To reduce the need for new employees, leadership can implement strategies to reduce turnover, such as investing more in at-risk employees and salvaging their employment.
 
At-risk employees are difficult to manage and as a result they are headed for termination. One such at-risk employee in particular are the aggressive types.  These employees challenge authority at every turn and when confronted they respond with aggressive behavior, but these employees can otherwise be productive. This conduct is one of the most perplexing to handle, but with a few simple steps managers and supervisors can salvage at-risk employees. 
 
Aggressive employees typically communicate in one of two ways, passive aggressive or overtly aggressive. Passive aggressive employees avoid work, blame others, and are unreasonable.  Overtly aggressive employees are easy to identify because they yell, intimidate, and can be controlling. Looking at these traits it’s easy to understand why managers and supervisors tend to just want them gone. However, with a little effort and patience most of these employees can go from difficult to valued, by following these simple steps:
 

• Don’t take it personal.
• Ponder the problem not the behavior.
• Agree on a Solution.
• Monitor the employee.

 
Don’t take it personal. The most important step is not to take the employee’s aggressive behavior personal. This leads to bigger problems. For example, no one likes someone raising their voice at them, especially a manager getting yelled at or ignored by an employee. Most often the initial reaction is to yell back or ostracize the employee,  but this can mean a trip to Human Resources resulting in reprimands or termination for both employee and manager. Retaliation can have terrible consequences.   
 
Ponder the problem not the behavior. Why is this guy yelling at me? Why can’t she just come to work on time? Why does he blame others for his missed deadlines? I’m certain these questions sound familiar to most managers and supervisors. These are questions about behavior, which managers need to direct back to the aggressive employee. Pull the employee aside, have a discussion, and ponder the root problem causing the difficult behavior.
 
Agree on a solution.  After listening to the employee vent, the manager summarizes the root problem with the worker. Difficult employees often disagree with the manager’s evaluation. If this happens have the employee write it down or take notes for the employee to review and revise. Once the problem has been identified and agreed to, discuss a solution. Difficult employees often ask for unreasonable accommodations, but it’s worth the effort to forge ahead and find common ground.  
 
Monitor the employee. Aggressive behavior rarely changes indefinitely, it takes work to control, which means aggressive employees usually need reminders. Past performance is a good indicator of future performance. Therefore, managers and supervisors need to monitor aggressive employees for sustained improvement. This simply means observing aggressive employees and questioning coworkers. If the behavior continues, disciplinary action is the next step.
 
Not all aggressive employees are salvageable or deserving of extra efforts to retain their employment. Managers and supervisors need to determine when these efforts have little return on investment and start searching for an applicant to backfill the impending termination. In my experience turning difficult employees to valued employees is quicker, cheaper, and more reliable than going through the recruiting, hiring, onboarding and training process. 
 
As always, get help from a qualified HR Professional if you think your business is at risk, or needs help developing policies, procedures, and training courses to assist with workplace compliance requirements.  
 

---