Managing the Dysfunctional Employee

I was recently asked to make a presentation at an annual conference for public sector human resource management professionals. Specifically, I was asked to speak on the topic of Managing the Dysfunctional Employee. I thought it might be useful to those of you who receive this e-zine for me to repeat some of the key points made in that presentation. Obviously, the first place to start is with the point that dysfunction is a broad, difficult and ambiguous topic. That being said, I offer the following points.

1. As an arbitrator, I have always made a distinction between a discipline and/or a discharge case involving a matter of misconduct as opposed to unacceptable performance. One of the practical distinctions between the two is the extent to which the employer expects an immediate behavior change versus a situation where the employee is expected to grow into the ability to perform. For example, if you have an employee that you can prove is stealing from you or sleeping on the job, it is not likely that you will tell the employee that he or she has sixty days to stop stealing or stop sleeping on the job. To put the matter differently, with misconduct the employer has the right to insist on an immediate change in behavior and, if such a change is not forthcoming, to move to discipline including discharge. On the other hand, if the quality or timeliness of an employee’s work is substandard, it is reasonable to expect that the employer will provide a period of time and some assistance to help the employee develop the ability to meet performance requirements. Growing new skills or attitudes clearly takes time.
   
   
2. Most often, the “dysfunctional employee” is a performance problem, not a matter of misconduct. If the employee’s inappropriate behavior was a matter of misconduct, the situation would be clearer and more easily dealt with. A path could be started that would quickly lead to discharge if the employee failed to stop the undesired behavior. Because it is a performance problem, however, what most employers find themselves doing is attempting to coach the employee to bring about a change in performance, usually with little success (otherwise we probably would not use the word “dysfunctional”)
   
   
3. How then do you work with the employee to make a change? I always recommend starting with a positive approach and then moving to formal discipline, if that is necessary. One such approach, that I believe is often overlooked, is to focus on the culture of the employee’s work team. Is it a strong, positive culture that may be able, with the right processes, to reach out and draw the employee into compliance? This idea is the main focus of a new workbook that Martie Geltz and I have recently released called Supervisor’s Guide to Cultivating a Positive Culture (available at 800-807-6544).
   
   
4. Unfortunately, what marks or distinguishes a dysfunctional employee is that he or she is often resistant to positive performance change processes. Moreover, there is a negotiating principle that I find important when addressing the issue of a dysfunctional employee: offers of reasonableness, kindness and cooperation are often viewed as a weakness to be exploited or viewed as a subterfuge for an underlying hostile intent. Thus offers of collaboration are met with increased demands or hostility. As a result, any attempt to be conciliatory is useless unless it is framed within a context of what the employer will not do or accept – you must be able to say “no” with authority.
   
   
5. Since employee dysfunction is often exhibited through a game that is played with the employer, I believe that it is absolutely essential for each employer’s handbook to clearly enunciate positive expectations. For example, employees should be expected to interact positively with other employees, to be productive, to work in a manner that encourages productiveness on the part of other employees and to demonstrate concern about the safety and well-being of individuals that are being provided services. Check your employee handbook, your employee orientation program and your training programs to make sure that the emphasis on affirmative responsibilities is in balance with the emphasis on specific behaviors that are prohibited. Yes, you can terminate the employment of a highly productive employee who makes life miserable for other employees. You need to make sure, however, that employees cannot hide behind the phrase, “I do my job.”
   
   
6. One last thought, as depressing as it sometimes is and as much as you might want to reach out and provide assistance to an employee in distress, years of arbitrating cases and listening to expert testimony leads me to the conclusion that for some the only real change occurs when they hit rock bottom. The termination of employment is often one necessary step towards hitting rock bottom. Moreover, the failure to timely implement the termination often simply prolongs the issue and makes life miserable for management and fellow employees.