Published by Human Resource Director
Written by Emily Douglas
Dec 10, 2018
The workplace is a rainforest – a delicate ecosystem that needs to maintain a balance in order to flourish. If one element is out of sync with the rest, the whole environment suffers and may collapse.
Difficult employees are the bane of any civilized office. The snarky remarks, the lack of discipline and the general unease which difficult employees create can make even the most professional of managers snap.
HRD spoke to Elinor Whitmore, Vice President of Stitt Feld Handy Group, who detailed some warning signs of a potentially problematic employee.
“First, it’s essential to distinguish between a difficult employee and an employee who may be currently struggling with a personal issue or other challenge” prefaced Elinor.
“HR leaders should watch out for employees who’re unwilling to accept or act upon feedback or are continually blaming others for their short comings. If you find that their colleagues are complaining or gossiping about them, this could also signify that trouble is brewing. Employers should also monitor workers who show uncivil behaviour towards their colleagues. These are all signs that you may have a difficult employee on your hands.”
There are also more subtle signs that are often attributed to more passive-aggressive behaviours. For example, Elinor mentioned the following examples: “Raising their eyebrows when a colleague is speaking, appearing to go along with a request but then not following through and generally making up excuses,” she told HRD. Elinor recommends being alert to passive-aggressive behaviour or any other behaviour that requires an HR leader to spend a disproportionate amount of time managing an employee or the fallout of that employee’s behaviour.
However – a word of caution. Just because employers have spotted and diagnosed these signs of a difficult employee doesn’t mean they should rush in all guns blazing and tear up their contracts. The legal ramifications of firing a worker for just being annoying or troublesome could culminate in a costly lawsuit.
“Mishandling a difficult worker could end in being sued,” added Elinor. “Or the employee in question could file a formal grievance, take you before a labour board or even before a Human RightsTribunal. Getting the disciplinary action wrong is risky even with a well-mannered worker – the situation is exacerbated when it comes to a difficult one.”
But it’s not all about the legalities. Elinor was quick to point out that even if the employee isn’t successful in their lawsuit or other claim, the damage has already been done.
“The amount of time and money spent defending a formal complaint is monumental,” she explained. “However, the damage to an organization’s brand is equally, if not more, costly.”
Conflicts are part of almost every interaction, be it between individuals or businesses. The differences in habits, attitudes, convictions and individual preferences ensure that no two entities
operate in the same way.
The usual outcomes of conflict
Depending on the importance of the relationship between the parties, the possible outcomes of conflicts include:
• Avoidance: Pretending that an issue does not exist. This common mistake negates the opportunity for conflict resolution. The conflict may fester and spread to other areas.
• Competition: In workplaces, instead of facing the issue and resolving the conflict, people may suppress it. Unnecessary competition and mistrust resulting from this can lead to loss of communication, team dynamics and even jobs.
• Compromise: If a business relationship is important to one of the partners, conflicts may be resolved by giving in to the demands of the other party. These compromises are often grudgingly made, and the underlying dissatisfaction may lead to the breaking up of the association later.
• Accommodation: Both the parties may give in to each other’s demands when the association is equally important to their businesses. While it may seem like a fair deal, constant disagreements and blame-games may decrease productivity.
Why collaboration is a better alternative
The usual outcomes of conflicts have negative connotations. No constructive growth can result from negativism. It’s a temporary truce at best. The usual outcomes may be sufficient to meet short-term goals, but not to achieve lasting peace and progress. On the other hand, collaboration is a long-term solution. It brings in the synergies of common goals and creative inputs from everyone.
How to turn conflict into collaboration
The first step in turning conflict into collaboration is education, through conflict management training or a conflict management workshop. Some major points are outlined below.
• Change the attitude: Conflict is normally seen as a minor war in which both the parties try to hold on to their weapons and one-upmanship. It should be ideally viewed, however, as an opportunity for greater growth. This change of attitude is the first step to collaboration.
• Listen to all: When people sit across a table to discuss issues, often everyone is too busy expressing their own views and opinions to listen to what others have to say. An attempt at collaboration should ensure that all the issues, facts and viewpoints are brought to the table, and all are heard.
• Remove the emotions: Conflicts are more often than not emotionally charged. People feel threatened when their ideas are rejected and their suggestions are opposed. They react with anger, resentment and frustration. Objectivity is lost when emotions are present. Separate the issues from the emotions and give full attention to the facts.
• Search for common ground: When free exchange of aspirations and ideas takes place, you may come across some common ground that can be the basis for the journey forward. Identify common goals and areas that can benefit from cooperative effort. Make a note of resources that can be shared and people who can work together.
• Reach an agreement: All the discussions during the search for common ground are geared towards reaching an agreement that is in the best interests of all the parties involved. Marsha Shenk, a pioneer in Business Anthropology, calls it the “agreement for results”.
• Set goals: To bring a collaborative effort to fruition, words should be translated into actions. Setting short-term and long-term goals within a framework of time and achieving milestones is very important.
Collaboration is an ongoing process. For it to be successful, the exercise of finding common ground, making agreements, and setting goals should be repeated over and over again until it becomes a habit. It takes mindfulness about the common goals and strong commitment to follow through. These tips can help, along with courses in conflict management training or at the least, a conflict management workshop.
To learn conflict resolution skills that you can use at work and in your personal life, please visit our Alternative Dispute Resolution Workshop page to learn more about upcoming in-person and instructor-led online sessions.
To improve your negotiation skills and get the results you want while negotiating, please visit our Become a Powerful Negotiator Workshop page to learn more about upcoming in-person and instructor-led online sessions.
To gain skills to handle difficult conversations and difficult people with confidence, please visit our Dealing With Difficult People Workshop page to learn more about upcoming in-person and instructor-led online sessions.
To make better decisions, we need to understand how our mind takes shortcuts and how those shortcuts trick us into making bad decisions. If you understand how your mind works and when it fails you, you will make better decisions. To improve your decision-making skills, please visit our Effective Decision Making Workshop page to learn more about upcoming in-person and instructor-led online sessions.
We are a Canadian company that offers professional development programs around the world. The Stitt Feld Handy Group is a division of ADR Chambers, one of the largest providers of dispute resolution services in the world.
