Leah Business Development Intern
Hi All, I would be interested in hearing your experience on how to deal with employees that do not cooperate well, or disturbs the harmony in an otherwise good company culture. Team members like this could become a huge liability for a firm, especially if they have bad work morale, and if this influences other employees.
Mostafa Business developer & marketing analyst
Roger Co-Founder
I agree that 'bad apples' can have a toxic influence. How leaders deal with them is also symptomatic of the culture they're helping to create. Both doing nothing and doing something has consequences.
In the case of the latter, turning the 'bad apples' behaviour around shows compassion and almost always has a positive affect on or culture or 'the vibe people have about the way we do things around here.'Â
My approach would be to uncover the intentions of the leader first and foremost. If getting rid of the bad apples is the ultimate goal this calls for a HR-led process that ends in dismissal.
If, however, the leader's intention is to turn the bad apples' actions around and is prepared to offer support when needed, then this lends itself to a development-led process involving coaching and mentoring.
Support for the second of these two intentions is what I bring to the table. Before concluding what would most help the bad apples I'd be curious about:
Avron Founder
Bad apples are often rotten to core and we tend to hold onto them in start-ups because of the cost of getting someone new in is high (direct costs and time spent training them). The best way to deal with them is catch them at the door through a robust interview process, but even this is not always full proof and at Accenture we used to refer to them as "PURES" - Previously Unidentified Recruiting Errors.
The key actions I would take would be to:
1. Set clear boundaries backed up by company policies governing expected behaviour and disciplinary procedures.
2. If they break these boundaries immediately raise this with them and take them through a fair process of explanations and warnings (follow your procedures).
3. Set clear deliverables and monitor against these.
4. Engage HR experts (where you can)
The above will either lead to improvement or a mechanism to fire them.
Kevin Managing Director
I use the " Poacher turned gamekeeper" approach and give then a challenge that requires them to take responsibility for identifying problems and potential solutions with costs, resources, materials and a plan to deliver. Once agreed, they then have to sell the idea to the decision makers and if approved deliver the solution. This tends to focus their efforts on something beneficial to the operation and as they have championed it, they want to deliver it rather than lose face. They own the project and at the end of it usually understand that vociferous negativity doesn't help. You very subtly address their behaviour by giving them the opportunity to show what they can do. At the end of it, they will have changed for the better or remain intransigent making them targets for disciplinary action and dismissal on the grounds of poor performance. Obviously the latter must be managed ethically and in a legally compliant manner and the challenge given to them must include appropriate training and support.
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I believe we need to address this challenge from a human resource management perspective. To solve the problem, you must first identify it. Employees under different circumstances in the company, take reciprocal actions to respond to challenges. Employee's mental health is always one of the most critical issues in business that is less considered. Training the workforce, motivating, and paying attention to the business environment is crucial, so involving the workforce in decision-making and creating communication channels with all organizational levels paves the way for troubleshooting and increasing employee and company productivity.