Attitude Problem/Disclipline Verbage

Wildsporty

I have a supervisor with an employee that is very good at her job, goes the extra mile, make very few mistake, however, she has a huge attitude problem.

Now he has already written up one warning on this employee on a verbal warning he gave to her. The attitude problem still exists.

He wants to give her a formal written warning. Does anyone have any good verbage to use when the employee is being written up strickly on attitude? Usually there is more when we do a reprimend. We do not want to lose this employee, we simply want her attitude to change.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks
Shirley

lhill

Is she being rude, not a team player, moody, grouchy, sarcastic, egotistic, or something worse? It's difficult to address attitude without a specific something. I was at a workshop once and the facilitator stated that it didn't matter about personalities if the person was doing the job. He/she doesn't have to like co-workers or speak to them as long as job performance was good. I don't know that I agree with that. If you have someone with a rotten attitude it affects communication, inter-department work flow, and general morale of the company. Also could cause a hostile work environment if it's bad enough, and a co-worker could file a complaint.

Linda

pork1

Linda: You are right "attitude" must be more specific to be identified. "You must improve your attitude, or be fired", just will not cut it for we adults and most children. In your warning one must write about something that a supervisor/manager/leader can see and/or hear to identify what behaviors need to be changed for success. That being pointed out to the ee with a understanding of the standard and condition will get Human Specific Behavioral change out of adults and children who are mentally and physically able to do so.

Obviously, we are not dealing with core subject matter because she knows and demonstrates in her work the physical and mental ability to do the job! If she works well by her self put her in a cubicle and have everyone leave her alone.

PORK

Whirlwind

Oh boy, Shirley, you've just the auto-play button on one of my pet topics. I held forth on this on another thread not too long ago but I don't know which one, so my apologies to those who've already read my diatribe on this.

She is a good, accurate worker who goes the extra mile. So what are the behavioral indicators of the bad attitude? A bad attitude is a state of mind that we infer from observing behaviors, speech, body language, etc. Does she speak sharply to people? Does she fail to greet coworkers or customers appropriately? Does she bad mouth the company? Does she create conflict in her department? Does she slam her desk drawers? These are just examples of behaviors from which you might infer a bad attitude. Whatever the behaviors are in her case, these are what need to be written up in any disciplinary actions. Believe it or not, some people need this kind of basic of behavioral coaching to understand what we mean when we tell them their "attitude" stinks.

LarryC

After you have identified what behaviors constitute her bad attitude you can say, "This behavior is disrupting the cooperative, harmonious teamwork environment that this company is striving to promote and we consider it to be misconduct."

There is no room for a bad attitude, even if it is justified.

Paul in Cannon Beach

Shirley,

Is her "bad attitude" a permanent condition or did something cause it? I think its important that you spend some time identifying any possible causes for her bad attitude (doesn't like her computer, wishes she had a different schedule, etc.) There may not be a reason. Some people are simply unhappy.

I believe attitudes are habits. You develop good or bad attitudes by daily choices that overtime become habitual. Changing habits takes time, discipline, and motivation.

In general, discipline should be specific and avoid subjective terms like "bad attitude" and the expectations placed on the ee should be clear and measurable.

Its also important that you recognize that she does great work and that an improved attitude will increase her value to the organization and increase her chances for future opportunities.

I think you will have more success giving an ee positive reasons to change attitude than through discipline.

Wildsporty

Unfortunately, we had to dismiss our VP and she reported to him. Since his dismissal her attitude is really bad. She sits in meetings and rolls her eyes when she doesn't agree with someone, she very loudly puts down anyone new's ideas and opinions, she makes hand and body gestures that say to us "you can tell me to do it and I will but it is stupid.". She acts very bored at all the meeting and uses body language to express it such as putting her chin between her hands and rolling her eyes. She is adding nothing constructive to the weekly team meetings in the department. Our new VP is having a really hard time. The other members of the department are moving on and working with the new VP as a team.

Shirley

FunHRBanker

Cite the specifics and continue your disciplinary action. Tell her that her behavior is unacceptable and won't be tolerated, as per the other meetings that you've had with her. It can't come as a surprise.

ray a

Be prepared to cut your loses and move on. You may *want* to keep her, but by replacing her, you may find someone as competent, or even more competent, and with an acceptable attitude.

Either she has a false sense of security or just doesn't care. If she doesn't care, then the reprimand process is just providing the documentation you need to make the hard decision.

Paul in Cannon Beach

That is a BAD attitude. Borderline insubordination. That kind of nonsense is inexcusable and should be addressed immediately. Sounds like you have a good handle on it.

Wildsporty

Thanks to everyone. I will be writing up the written reprimand up this weekend and giving it to the VP on Monday to review. I have done the research with the other employees so it is not just coming from him, I have also been in a few meetings with her and had first hand observations. I am giving her 30 days to change her attitude and an eap brochure.

Shirley

Rockie

Hey Wild&Sporty!

It's very apparent that she doesn't want to be there any longer since her boss is gone. This is not an "untypical" situation. Unfortunately, I've found that no matter how good a person may be at their job, if their behavior and attitude towards others is less than positive, then they really are poison in the workplace.

My standard approach is "You have always been a good employee up to a few months ago. I understand you may not agree or be supportive of the recent changes in administration. I appreciate your feelings,but I cannot allow your negativity to affect the workplace. I must see an immediate and permanent change in your attitude at work within the next 30 days in order for you to continue your employment with us."

This may jolt her out of her attitude or cause her to look for another position, both of which would be a positive outcome for your organization.

It's never pleasant having to work with or deal with a person like this.

Good luck.

WT

Had an employee who would work but thought she was the only one who knew anything. She did not want to listen to anyone else and always was keeping the dynamics of the office stirred up. We also had her supervisor leave and a new supervisor on the job. Tried everything with her but ended up letting her go.

Afterwards, the office is so much different it is hard to believe. My point is that though you know your problems with the attitude issues, you do not know how much poison has been spread or how far it has gone. I knew my issues with this person but apparently everyone else had issues.

Do not hesitate to pull the trigger. You will be amazed at the "addition by subtraction" benefits to the company.

mbeam

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 03-13-06 AT 12:11PM (CST)[/font][br][br]Definitely agree - sometimes people seem to have the attitude that the company needs them more than they need the company. It's a rude awakening when they find out that very seldom is that true.

A friend of mine mentioned some changes going on in her office this weekend with someone acting very childish and making others not only on her team feel like they were all demoted but had others going out of their way to avoid her.

What people don't realize is not only are they limiting themselves to any opportunities within their own group but are underestimating the rumor mill and that the tag of "difficult to work with" will likely follow them. Most managers don't want to take on the extra work that comes with managing a "diva" no matter how good they may be at their own jobs.

There are only two options - behavior improves and we move on or it doesn't and this individual moves on. Sad thing is they often feel they're the "victims" and carryover the same bad behavior into their next employer.

Our managers used to struggle with how to define this when coaching team members who had a "bad attitude". We included this with our company handbook to help guide them - it has definitely helped along with concrete examples such as "in our meeting on Tuesday, March 7th, when Joe made this comment, it was observed that you were rolling your eyes". We also have become more direct and will say "it doesn't appear based on your body language, behaviors and comments that you are happy working here." We then wait for them to respond....

Here's an excerpt from our coaching and disciplinary policy.

*Failure to get along and cooperate with coworkers, supervisors, management, vendors and customers is not acceptable. The ability to communicate effectively, tactfully, and courteously is a vital part of any job.

*Refusing to follow instructions/directions, misconduct or disrespectful conduct toward a customer, co-worker, vendor, supervisor, or other management staff.

Resser

We had this exact situation and allowed it to go on for five years. You are all so right that employees like this probably will never change and I pity her next employer. Our current office staff is very pleasant and you don't realize what you putting up with until the "bad attitude" is gone. When we quit putting up with the situation, things finally came to a head. Employee left work "upset" never to return. She filed an unemployment claim and we replied by stating employee had a personality conflict with others, voluntarily quit, and abandoned her job. She even had the nerve to say that she would have returned to work if we would have called her back. The unemployment office rejected her claim. Don't put up with this and get it resolved quickly, because it only gets worse. Employees like this will take you as far as you let them. When we finally put our foot down employee took it to the limit and walked out thinking we would call her back. These employees are "poison" to your operations and no matter how productive they are, it doesn't compensate for the "bad attitude".