Disciplinary Action for "Attitude"??

Kymm

We have an employee who is pretty much driving us "nuts"!! He is sooo.. negative and constantly "whining".. feels he is over-worked (which is is NOT) and is just constantly complaining to everyone about pretty much "anything"... We must work as a team here, and he is really causing many employees (and his supervisor) some real aggravation. I know it's extremely hard to discipline someone for "attitude", but there must be a way!! Any suggestions? (He has been verbally talked to, but in no way is improving..)

Rockie

What I would do is bring the individual in and ask them if they are happy working for your company. He will probably looked shocked and say "yes". You then say "In that case, you need to start acting like you are happy. You have already been counseled once about this and I have not noted any improvement and it's starting to affect the entire workplace. I must see an immediate and permanent improvement in how you conduct yourself; otherwise, it may be time for you to move on."

lnelson

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 10-21-04 AT 12:48PM (CST)[/font][br][br]Yes, you can discipline for attitude, failure to work as team member, disturbing co-workers, work ethics, excessive talking, etc.

I agree with Rockie talked to him to see where his head is at as far as his position with the company.

Whirlwind

When a supervisor complains to me that an ee has a bad attitude, I ask, "How do you know?" After they respond with either "Huh?" or a blank stare, I tell them than an attitude is a state of mind that they are inferring based on observable, documentable conduct. Observe it, document it, and act accordingly. In this case, I like the idea (above) of asking him if he likes working for the company, but in terms of following up with, "Then act happy," I would provide specific, behavioral examples of what he has done to indicate otherwise and how that impacts his own and others' productivity. Specify (again, as behaviorally as possible) your expectations for improvement, document the conversation, and follow up when and if he blows it.

pork1

I concurr, what you write about is motivation, if you wish to motivate someone you must first make sure they understand the "specific behaviors" which are controlled by the person doing the wrong and that person alone. It is he/she that can change "their specific behaviors".

I teach our supervisors to speak "specific behavior", which is something that we people either see or hear and can mentally put words on to identify the actions being witnessed. "Be happy at work" is in the eyes and the ears of the be-holder, like "work safely", or "work fast" and many other terms, we all have an idea but what is the standard on which I am being graded and evaluated? If I am to work happily for one supervisor, the boss, to whom I answer, the supervisor must show me (to see or hear)what it is that I am expected to achieve to obtain success!

If I do not understand all treats and discipline will not assist me in representing myself in any different frame of behavior.

Animal trainers are great communicators, don't forget we are animals, and we respond in kind with great satisfying actions for those that communicate with us and not to us.

It is easy to terminate someone with a bad attitude, just send them on their way! It is much easier to communicate with employees and save an otherwise lost but valuable sole.

May we have have another Blessed day!

PORK

LarryC

There is a way and you can call it misconduct that disrupts the cooperative, harmonious teamwork environment your company strives to promote.

awilliams

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 10-21-04 AT 01:24PM (CST)[/font][br][br]I have seen a recurring theme on the Forum lately about employees who aren't really guilty of misconduct, but who are in some way not productive to the work environment. I thought that you might glean a bit of wisdom from an excerpt of an article by Texas Employment Law Letter editor attorney Mike Maslanka. Mike writes:

"Whack them before they whack you. Watch for this scenario: an employee who continually complains about management, who thinks her boss is treating her badly because of a "personality conflict," and who's constantly in the human resources office talking about how unfair things are. She's an unhappy person, and it's your job to see that she'd be happier someplace else. Sooner or later, someone with that mindset will morph from an at-will employee into one protected by the law by claiming that management is treating her differently because she's in a protected category. So whack her before she whacks you.

And our experience tells us that one of the most unethical things a manager can do is keep an employee in a job for which she isn't suited. Every day, every hour, every minute she spends in that job is one less day, one less hour, one less minute she could be at a different company making a true contribution. Even though it's natural not to want to confront a problem (at least for me), it's unethical not to."

This may be a dramatic move, but just because you hired the employee at one time, and they may have made a contribution at one point, does not mean you need to let them hang around, display a bad attitude, and generally muck up the works. You can encourage your supervisors to document problems, but if this is just a general bad fit, consider terminating and replacing the worker with someone more likely to get the work done and improve the atmosphere.

Anne Williams
Attorney Editor
M. Lee Smith Publishers, LLC

SMace

As others have said, define the specific behavior that is unacceptable and get agreement to change.

Don D

I agree with others that we can't discipline simply for what we vaguely call 'bad attitude'. We should always be able to back up a conversation like Rockie's with examples. We must not only anticipate that the ee will ask what we are talking about, but, we must also protect the company against subsequent potential liability ranging from UI charges to a negative EEOC outcome. None of the forums in which we will be asked to explain will accept the notion of 'bad attitude'.

examples. examples. examples. Just the facts. 'She snorted, rolled her eyes and people don't like her and she's not a team player' will lose it every time in every hearing venue.

National Guard

You could show him the Dilbert comic strip from Oct 19. But in all seriousness, the ee may not realize the effect he has on others. (even after having been talked to.) Maybe the approach should be some training with specific examples of how to respond in a positive way to pretty much anything.

dchr9203

You have an employee who is "screaming" at you they've made a career/employment choice they're unhappy (most likely wouldn't be happy anywhere but oh well that's his problem) with but is unwilling to take the initiative to move on. Absolutely you can discipline for "bad attitude" especially when it is negatively impacting business operations. The problem is too many of us put up with it too long. Why?! Why is it so hard to look Negative Ned/Nancy in the eye and say "your behavior blah blah blah and may not continue. We expect blah blah, and from here it is your decision to meet or exceed our expectations. If you decide that these expectations are unacceptable, you may resign. Otherwise, we expect the change to be immediate and ongoing or we will terminate this employment relationship." Then from there its his/her decision!

Don D

But, even in your approach, it must be told to the employee WHAT is unacceptable and WHAT must be changed. You cannot simply say, "You have to change your attitude". So, in the final analysis you are disciplining behavior not an intangible, imaginary thing like attitude. Likewise we would not tell an employee "I expect you to get motivated." That's meaningless. "I expect you to accomplish this goal by this date and you may need some self-motivation to accomplish that." would be the proper approach.

dchr9203

That was the "blah blah" - where you plug in what's appropriate to your company.