Difficult behaviour can take the form of backbiting, refusing to follow instructions, being rude, shouting or even harassing or bullying fellow team members.

It can also take more moderate forms. A usually competent person may start to perform well below their usual standard and stop functioning as a good team member.

Difficult behaviour can be extremely disruptive to a workplace and can seriously affect team productivity. It can present a serious challenge to you as a manager. You need to tackle the challenge in a cool and strategic way.

When dealing with difficult behaviour, it is useful to go through the following steps:

1. assess yourself and your management style
2. consider workplace stressors
3. identify any personal problems affecting the team member
4. offer assistance where you can
5. counsel the team member and give them the opportunity to change
6. fire them only as a last resort

If you have a difficult team member, ask yourself, “Am I contributing to their unacceptable behaviour?” Be honest and try not to be defensive in assessing yourself. If you find that you are responsible in some way, this is not necessarily a bad outcome. It can be much easier to change your own behaviour than to get someone else to change. And it’s likely to be cheaper than consulting a lawyer and putting together a severance package.

Also ask yourself, “Is this team member really difficult, or do I just dislike them? Is their behaviour actually a minor issue?”

If you find that a team member’s behaviour is not damaging your business or impairing the performance of other team members, then you should just leave them alone.

However, some behaviour is inexcusable. For example, you need to be decisive when dealing with team members who bully or harass others.

But other behaviour problems may be less overt. For example, a team member might seem to be slow to follow instructions.

It’s worth assessing your management style to see if you are unintentionally demotivating people. Are you getting the best out of your team?

Ask yourself questions such as:

• Do I create a positive atmosphere, and encourage everyone to offer ideas?
• Do I give everyone a chance to make a contribution?
• Do I stay above office politics?
• Do I communicate in a positive and clear manner?
• Do I set challenging and ambitious goals?
• Do I show flexibility?
• Did I recruit well and are team members suited to their job roles?
• Am I approachable and do I offer support?
• Am I direct and honest, keeping team members informed of issues that affect their lives and careers?
• Do I handle team disputes in a cool and even-handed manner?
• Do I reward and recognise achievement?
• Do I offer clear and impersonal guidelines on behaviour and performance?

People tend to work best when their job is challenging enough to provide interest. They thrive on a moderate amount of stress.

But heaping too many demands on team members will cause excessive stress and lead to a long-term decline in their performance.

Stress has physiological effects such as increasing blood pressure, releasing hormones, tightening muscles, increasing heart rate or triggering perspiration. Chronic stress leads to a variety of physical symptoms and perhaps to erratic or difficult behaviour. It may eventually cause ‘burnout’, where productivity drops dramatically.

Ask yourself if your workplace is causing unnecessary stress. If it is, make any appropriate changes. Simply removing a stressor will not necessarily solve behaviour problems, which tend to develop a life of their own. But lower stress levels will make it easier for a team member to modify their behaviour.

We are currently living in difficult economic times, with the result that many people are feeling vulnerable.

So keep your team members informed about industry conditions and other issues they might be worried about. For example, give fair notice of any layoffs, so that team members have time to adjust their plans or seek other work. The better informed your team members are, the less they will feel like corks in a stream. Good information increases the sense of power they have over their life and reduces the stress that flows from anxiety and fear of the unknown.

Emphasise the positive. Even if your business is not doing as well as last year, don’t cut back on recognition for outstanding efforts and contributions by team members.

Serious personal problems are likely to affect the behaviour and performance of your team members. If a team member’s performance deteriorates or they exhibit uncharacteristic or extreme behaviour, take them aside and see if you can find out why.

They may have family problems, for example. Perhaps their children are going through a very difficult phase or they could be grieving because of the illness or death of a loved one.

Team members who have emotional or mental health problems may show signs of depression, anxiety, erratic behaviour, and develop poor relationships with colleagues.

Marriage difficulties such as separation, divorce, ongoing conflict or domestic violence could also be at the root of workplace behaviour problems.

Legal or financial problems are another source of stress. For example, the team member could have mortgage repayment problems or have made losses through poor financial planning or stock market speculation.

Team members will not necessarily volunteer such information, but they may exhibit warning signs such as the ones in the tables on this page and page 5.

If you suspect a team member has an underlying personal problem, set up a meeting. Broach the subject in a casual, relaxed setting. Empathise with any problems that emerge.

It’s important not to take a simply punitive attitude. If a team member sees you as their adversary they are unlikely to be forthcoming with the information you need to resolve issues.

Once you get people to open up, of course, it is essential not to betray their trust by using information against them in a hostile way. But always remain clear that your business has certain needs and demands a certain quality of performance, just as team members have personal needs.

If you find a team member has a personal problem you may want to give them time and leeway to sort it out. You might let them adjust their working hours for a time. If they are going through a messy divorce, for example, you might give them a lower workload. If they have an alcohol abuse problem, you might require them to attend some sort of program and set benchmarks for improvement.

Some companies run employee assistance programs. Trained professionals such as HR specialists or industrial psychologists can help employees work through personal and performance issues. Clearly, larger companies are more likely to be able to afford such programs.

Employees generally attend these programs on a voluntary basis. This ensures that the responsibility for resolving the problem remains with them.

Possible signs of substance abuse

Substance odour on breath or clothes

Episodes of clumsiness

Slurred speech

Illogical thought processes

Excessive drowsiness

Excessive emotional or physical agitation

Difficulty following instructions

Unexplained absences

Frequent injuries

Possible signs of emotional problems

Uncontrolled verbal outbursts

Withdrawal from social interaction

Less interest in life or work

Unrelieved periods of sadness

General decline in efficiency

Big increase or decrease in verbal expressiveness

Possible signs of physical illness

Frequent complaints of pain or discomfort

Appetite changes

Increased fluid intake

Weight fluctuations

Unusually pale or flushed face

Change in gait

Frequent use of analgesics

Increase in time taken for tasks

Increased absences

Being sensitive does not mean being indecisive. Show empathy with the underlying causes of behaviour problems, but institute ongoing behaviour management to deal with the behaviour itself. Arrange meetings to monitor the team member’s progress and give them feedback.

You need to ensure that the team member:

• has a clear understanding of what the problem is
• have a clear idea of how to fix it
• has a reasonable amount of time to do so
• clearly understands what will happen if they don’t solve the problem

Remain aware of the effect bad behaviour has on other team members. You may expend a lot of energy ‘saving’ a difficult team member. But if the difficult behaviour is severe and unchecked, you might find that a couple of other team members resign while you are resolving the issue.

Not all performance problems can be traced to external circumstances. Sometimes you will be dealing with an individual who is simply difficult and unreasonable.

Some people are difficult because they have unresolved emotional needs and they have developed disruptive behaviour as a way to satisfy those needs. They may have been rewarded for this behaviour in the past. Perhaps their parents placated them and showered them with attention when they threw tantrums, for example. Or their previous bosses may have allowed themselves to be intimidated by emotional outbursts.

It’s important not to continue rewarding difficult behaviour. Don’t be tempted to overlook it. Nip it in the bud, if possible. A low-key, but clear, statement to a team member will help remind them where boundaries are and stop bad habits from developing.

Try to stay cool when dealing with difficult behaviour. Don’t be provoked or make decisions in the heat of the moment. Don’t let the behaviour affect you in a personal way.

Don’t get dragged into or escalate conflict. Focus on the behaviour itself and how it affects other people in the workplace.

For example, if a team member has problems with lateness, don’t say: “You’re lazy!”

A better approach would be to say: “Being late even fifteen minutes puts pressure on other team members to cover for you. This means they are less effective in doing their own work.” Focusing on the behaviour - not the person - will make people less defensive and more likely to cooperate.

Try to remain positive and make compliments about good work that the team member is doing.

Praise people in public but make criticisms in private. Public criticism will undermine a team member in the eyes of their colleagues and make it more difficult for them to work effectively.

But don’t sugar-coat problems. While you want to avoid provoking the team member, you also owe it to them to provide a clear and definite picture of how serious the problem is. If a team member is intractable or their behaviour is particularly severe you may need to proceed to a dismissal.

It’s useful to issue at least one written warning before you fire someone. The team member should sign it, to show they have read and understood it. This will lessen the chance of legal action.

Document performance and behaviour issues and keep records of the steps you take to deal with them. This will help you defend any future legal action.

Consult a lawyer if you are seriously thinking of firing someone. The legalities of firing a team member vary according to national and state law.

Be sure to read each article with the mindset “How could this apply to our business.” Thinking of it that way will guarantee that you get value. Better yet, take notes as you read and commit to having the ideas implemented by the time the next edition arrives. Also, make copies for each team member. To really make sure something positive happens, work with a business development specialist at GNS GROUP to talk your team through the ideas and how to set a schedule for getting them implemented. We’re here to help you get started.

“Be not angry that you cannot make others as you wish them to be, since you cannot make yourself as you wish to be."

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