“You can choose your friends but not your family,” Harper Lee wrote. The same is also true of our work colleagues.
On average, we spend a third of our time at work, which means that good working relationships with colleagues and employees are vital not only for our careers, but for our overall wellbeing too.
However, there may be times when we come across people in our professional lives who we can’t seem to rub along with. And if they are good at their job, it shouldn’t matter. But difficult employees may cause tension and division amongst your team, which can hamper productivity and increase staff turnover.
In this article, we’ll look at some of the ways you can deal with difficult employees in your workplace and explain how professional outsourced HR services might be able to help you.
What Do We Mean By Difficult Employees?
Let’s start by getting to the nub of the issue; what do we mean by difficult? Naturally, this is possibly the most nebulous part of the entire subject. Because everyone’s idea of ‘normal’ is different, naturally, everyone’s definition of what constitutes difficult behaviour will vary too. After all, the person you consider difficult will likely believe they’re behaving perfectly normally! And they are – for them.
However, there are certain behaviours that we would all consider ‘odd’ in the workplace, whether it’s flossing your teeth at your desk, bursting into song at random, or wearing inappropriate clothing to the office, there are some things that the majority of employees understand just isn’t the done thing….and yet some, invariably, do it anyway!
Odd behaviour from employees can range from the unusual but harmless – such as humming under their breath when they’re working – through to antisocial behaviours – such as turning up to work smelling of body odour or alcohol. Moreover, some instances of difficult behaviour may even be considered downright toxic, as would be the case for an employee that is constantly complaining, spreading rumours or making inappropriate comments to their colleagues.
Some examples of difficult workplace behaviours include:
- Poor hygiene.
- Singing, humming, tapping or clicking fingers.
- Wearing inappropriate clothing.
- Being over-familiar with colleagues, for example, hugging, touching or asking personal questions.
- Oversharing their own personal information with colleagues, clients or customers.
- Inappropriate humour.
- Bad language.
- Using other people’s personal items, for example, coffee cups or stealing colleagues’ lunches.
- Not following office norms for communication, for example, emailing the entire company rather than replying to one person individually, or turning up at someone’s desk to discuss an issue rather than waiting for the team meeting.
- Poor performance, such as shirking responsibilities, taking credit for other people’s work or blaming colleagues when things go wrong.
Naturally, the severity of the behaviour and the impact it’s having on the workplace and your other employees will dictate how you handle your employee’s difficult behaviour and will help to determine what solutions you may be able to find to resolve the issue.
How Do You Establish If An Employee’s Behaviour in the Workplace Is Strange?
The first step to dealing with an employee’s tricky behaviour is to try to identify what the behaviour is and what the motivation of your employee might be in employing it. As already mentioned, what you see as difficult might simply be normal to the employee, and they might be acting in that way because they don’t know any better.
For example, is the employee new to this work environment and unclear on what’s expected of them in terms of the company’s dress code and social norms? If so, simply providing clear guidance about the uniform policy and expectations might remedy the issue.
Alternatively, if an employee suddenly displays behaviours that are out of character, you may need to ask if they are experiencing health issues or difficulties at home,
Be mindful that what you consider a difficult behaviour may be a functional behaviour for the employee in question. An example of this might be when an employee’s frequent fidgeting or muttering is disturbing other colleagues, but that ‘stimming’ behaviour helps the individual to concentrate. This is particularly pertinent if dealing with employees who are neurodivergent and may have additional sensory needs that need accommodating.
Other possible reasons for weird behaviour in the workplace may be that the employee is trying to show their individualism and get attention from senior leadership, but going about it in the wrong way. Or it may be an act of deliberate rebellion against enforced rules or norms that they personally disagree with.
Understanding what lies beneath a person’s strange behaviour will help you figure out the best way to deal with it moving forward.
When Do You Need To Deal With Odd Behaviour In The Workplace?
Determining when to address odd behaviour and when to leave the situation alone to avoid making it worse can be one of the trickiest decisions in situations like this.
To begin with, prevention is always better than cure. Clear guidelines and setting expectations at induction can go a long way to ensuring that employees are all aware of what is and isn’t acceptable and can cover everything from your workplace’s dress code to what materials employees can and can’t display in their workspace.
If a weird behaviour is minor and isn’t yet affecting anyone else, and if you’re otherwise happy with your employee’s performance, then you may decide to ignore or overlook their quirks. However, if it begins to impact their colleagues or their ability to do their job, then the matter needs to be handled swiftly and sensitively so that it doesn’t influence the overall atmosphere at work.
If more serious difficult behaviours go unchallenged, they can lead to more severe issues. For example, your other employees may feel uncomfortable around their difficult colleague, which might negatively impact their ability to do their job and lead to them feeling unhappy at work. In the worst-case scenario, this may result in other valued employees taking time off or even looking for another job.
Odd behaviours may also become a distraction in the workplace and lead to a reduced quality or quantity of work being done during an average day.
Over time, ignoring outlandish or unacceptable behaviours in the workplace can result in an erosion of the positive work culture of your business, and can contribute to a toxic work environment where employees don’t feel valued. This can eventually affect every aspect of your company, from recruitment and staff turnover to high levels of staff sickness and complaints.
How Can Outsourced HR Services Help With Your Tricky Employees?
When it comes to dealing with difficult employees, outsourced HR services can be incredibly helpful, as an external agent is always going to be more impartial than you, as the employer, will ever be able to be. Particularly if the odd behaviour is of a sensitive nature, you may simply feel more comfortable outsourcing the solution to someone who is better equipped to deal with it efficiently and effectively.
Outsourcing this element of HR enables the issue to be clearly identified and dealt with, both quickly and professionally, without personal factors or emotions getting in the way.
Especially when it comes to particularly sensitive issues, such as dealing with an employee with poor hygiene or someone who appears to be drinking heavily every night and coming to work smelling of alcohol, then using outsourced HR services can prevent a lot of embarrassment on both the part of the employee and you, the employer, whilst still ensuring that the employee understands the issue and the changes that need to be made.
What’s more, using an outsourced HR supplier will allow a resolution to the situation whilst still maintaining your personal relationship with your employee; something that might be particularly pertinent when the issue being dealt with is of a sensitive or embarrassing nature.
Outsourced HR services can also provide a clear progression plan and a framework for monitoring progress, so that you, your employee and the rest of your workforce can all see those positive changes happening within the desired time period.
Contact Metis HR For Help Dealing With Difficult Employees
For advice you can count on, Metis HR are specialists in providing HR support that is uniquely tailored to the specific needs of you and your business. We’ve been helping Lancashire businesses with all their HR needs for over 10 years now and we’re confident we’ve seen everything there is to see.
We’ll work closely with you to understand your requirements and find an outcome that’s the most beneficial for your business. If you’re dealing with an employee who is displaying difficult workplace behaviours and are unsure about your next steps, if you would like help to manage the situation with a difficult employee, or if you simply want to find out more about the services we offer, get in touch with the experts at Metis HR.
You can message us via info@metishr.co.uk to discuss the next move for your business or, if you would prefer to speak directly to an experienced HR Consultant, please call us on 01706 565 332. We look forward to hearing from you.
