Even though you carefully choose your team members yourself, over time you will find that certain characters appear in all workplaces. These are often negative individuals whose behavior can damage the performance and morale of whole teams. You, as a manager, should be able to identify and lead them in order to prevent possible damage. Some useful tips were published on Entrepreneur.com as a typology of the most common "difficult" employees.
1. The Victim
The Victim is never responsible for anything, everybody conspires against them. The Victim's manager must clearly define accountability. He must explain what and when the employee should do as well as the expected quality of the Victim's work.
2. The Snake
This employee is like a snake who, if in danger, hisses and attacks immediately. The person does not know how to express what is irritating them in any other way. Do not assume that the Snake himself realizes what effect his behavior has on others. The manager should explain it to him as well as the consequences if they don't change.
3. The Negativist
This type of employee does not like anything. At the same time, however, he is not willing to accept changes either, so a vicious circle for him as well as everybody else. A good manager knows that having a Negativist in his team may be beneficial. He only needs to teach the Negativist to use his doubts in order to achieve good results.
4. The Ghost
The Ghost is never there when something important needs to be done. He is either sick or has a lot of other work. A manager should not overlook this. On the contrary, he should talk to the employee about whether he enjoys his work and how he imagines his future.
5. The Narcissist
This person is an individual, mainly concerned about his ego, unable to work in a team. A manager may assign him strictly individual tasks. Alternatively, he may motivate the Narcissist to better teamwork by showing him what success can be achieved.
6. The Einstein
The Einstein is smart and knows it. He let others know it too and is often arrogant. With his intelligence, he can affect the team negatively as well as positively. A manager should let him work independently, but also act as a coach in case major changes occur.
What types of difficult employees have you encountered and how do you manage them?
-kk-