What do you do when you’re faced with an employee who has become difficult to deal with in the office?   You’ve spent time putting together a team that works well together and moves the goals of the company forward.  Now you’re faced with a team member who doesn’t want to work with the team, isn’t completing their job duties or is not following the mission and goals of the company.  You initially try to look back and think why you hired him or her in the first place. What has changed?  Here are a few questions you need to ask in order to assess and ultimately resolve the situation.

1. Is the problem with this employee a symptom of other bigger issues at the company?  You need to look at what is happening in that employee’s department and what tasks and projects the employees in the department are handling.  Assess whether that department is running smoothly.
2. Has there been a recent change in the job description or duties of that employee?
   a. Is the employee being asked to do additional tasks not in his or her job description?
   b. Has the employee recently taken on responsibilities that he or she might not be qualified to do or are too complex for the employee to handle?
   c. Is the work load too heavy for the employee?What is the collective employee attitude in the company?
3. What is the employee satisfaction and stress level “barometer” at the company?
   a. Are employees being pushed beyond the peak work load level they can handle?
   b. Are there personality conflicts within the company that are not being addressed?
   c. Are there other issues that are a concern to employees that are not being addressed?
4. Have there been changes recently in the company?
   a. Has the employee recently had a change in supervisors?
   b. Has there been a recent turnover of team members in the employee’s department?
5. Lastly, yet hardest to assess, are there personal issues outside of work that are creating problems for the employee in the workplace?

After asking the above questions, you need to assess the situation.  Get an understanding of the level of the problem.  Remember, if not resolved, one problem employee can spread his or her problems to other employees, jeapordizing the team you’ve worked so hard to build.  Don’t let the phrase “but he’s our top salesman” or “she’s our go to information person” allow you to put the blinders on.  You originally hired this person to be part of a team.   You need to get the person back in the team fold and refocused on promoting the broader company goals.

This type of situation won’t be the last you’ll encounter so taking the time to understand his or her motivations and concerns is an important learning experience.  Use is it as an opportunity for both you and the employee to gain experience and insight.

Simple communication is most effective.  Sit down and have a one on one discussion.  The discussion about the issue doesn’t need to require a reprimand be placed in the personnel file.  Try to be open and let the employee know your areas of concern.  Give the employee a chance to explain.  Set down a plan of action including a time frame to make appropriate changes.

Dealing with a difficult employee is like dealing with any employee situation:

1. Get the facts;
2. Assess the situation;
3. be communicative;
4. be open;
5. and be proactive.

Next up – Who’s Idea was it anyway – giving employees credit for a job well done.