I once had a boss who, when hiring a Manager would half jokingly tell the Staffing Manager, If they say they like working with people, dont hire them!  She knew that working with people is arguably the most difficult aspect of a Managers job. Training prepares Managers to delegate, motivate, influence, coach, communicate, recognize and strategize. Often it does not prepare a Manager for the difficult employee who is resistant to most motivating, influencing, coaching, and recognition techniques.  

The key to managing the difficult employee is to decisively deal with their performance, behavior or attitude very early on. Unfortunately some organizations develop a tolerance for negative behavior and unwittingly reinforce it by ignoring it, managing around it and hoping the problem employee soon quits or retires.

Most employees will not cause a Managers hair to turn gray.  But then, it only takes a few dillies to transform the darkest brunette to snow white.  What makes an employee difficult?  Usually, it is a problem in performance, behavior or attitude.  No surprise there, right?  But what about the employee whose performance persistently hugs the line? And, what about poor attitude in an employee?  The courts only care if an employee is performing his or her job and not about the attitude of an employee.  So, whats a manager to do?

First lets look at our line hugger.  You know.the type that works hard at hardly working.  The barely marginal employee not only hugs the line most of the year but confounds the Manager by raising the level of his or her performance sometime within the last quarter of the performance review cycle.  As the Manager struggles to write the line huggers review, you can almost see the natural hair color begin to fade.  

As with all poor performers, a Manager must determine if the employee lacks the information, skill, or motivation to do the job.  A performance improvement plan (PIP) combined with regularly scheduled coaching sessions will provide the answer. Generally speaking, a well written 60 day PIP that includes specific tasks, objectives and deadlines accompanied by weekly coaching sessions with the Manager will do the trick. (Of course, Human Resources should be actively involved in this process.)

If the employee rises to the occasion it is a win for the Manager in two ways.  The employee has now demonstrated he or she can do the job effectively. And, the Manager has the documentation to prove it.  At the end of the PIP period, a memo written to document the now effective performance needs to include language that states the effective level must be sustained. If the employee reverts to hugging the line, the Manager can now safely consider termination.  During the PIP period, the weekly coaching sessions will help the Manager determine if the employee needs additional training in order to be more effective.  The PIP period can always be extended to allow time for further development. 

Employees that really hasten the graying process are those who have a bad attitude but acceptable performance. Is it possible to have a bad attitude and good performance?  It is not only possible, but there are people whose entire being seems wrapped up in maintaining these seemingly opposite values. This type person will have a Manager reaching for antacids on a regular basis. Can the hair dye be far behind? 

But maintaining good performance with a poor attitude is tricky. Even those who are good at it will slip every now and then.  Here are a few examples of how to handle some difficult types:

The Passive Aggressive/Passive Resistant Employee

The passive-aggressive is the intentional bully and the passive resistant is the sneaky bully. Both these types are people who do not or cannot deal with the feeling of anger. But make no mistake. They are angry and will look for opportunities to stick it to the Manager or anyone else who has the nerve to tick them off.