Problem Employees
Angela D
5 Posts
There are two employees in my company that work in the same department (department only has 6 EEs) and just can not get along. Both have been heard rasing their voice at eachother. On 2 occasions, EE1 came to me to discuss matters 'off the record'. I approached the supervisor who assured me that he has spoken to both employees. Yesterday, EE2 came to me to discuss 'off the record'. Neither one would like to make a formal complaint. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to handle this situation?
Comments
Disturbing the workplace with arguements that impact others is a performance matter and both are subject to discipline for disrupting the workplacee.
When someone comes into your office and asks to speak with you "off the record" do you just say I don't do off the record?
Anyway, think I would meet and have an "expecatations" session.
Here are my expectations
You don't have to like each other.
Our work area will be professional
Conduct yourselves accordingly
Failure to do so will result in disciplianary action
Consider yourselves warned.
I will usually talk to both parties separately in an attempt to find out what the issue is and if I can determine who is at fault. Of course, they tell their story to their own advantage.
I then bring both of them into the room and let them express themselves in a rational manner. I ask if they think the issue can be resolved. Most of the time they say "yes". I just advise the expectation is that we get along well enough to work together in a professional manner and if this continues, one or both of them will have to leave the organization as we cannot tolerate a disruptive workplace.
Sometimes it works, and sometimes one or both do have to be terminated.
One interesting incident I had was between two employees who had been friends outside of work and their relationship went sour. Both of them were talked to, but I could suspect from my conversation with both of them where the issue was. One employee kept acting act, i.e., "forgetting" how to do things she had done for four years. When the other employee asked her to do something, she shot her "the bird" under the guise of scratching her nose. It became obvious that this person could not stay in our employment. She was terminated and of course, was very "shocked". It'a amazing what so called adults are capable of.
I had one supervisor recently come to me with similar complaints about a couple of her employees. At the end of our discussion, she said "I just wish I had adult employees!" If she was supervising a bunch of kids just out of high school or something it would have ben one thing, but the employees she was having problems with were both in their 40's or 50's and still couldn't get past behaving like they were in junior high.
I agree that if it goes past a certain point then something's got to give, and if talking with or otherwise disciplining the employees doesn't work, termination may end up being the only answer.
Never work harder to fix a problem than those who are actually involved.
In answer to your question Rita. . I just try to gently interupt at the beginning and say, something like I want you to know going into this, I can not guarentee this conversation will be off the record or confidential, but I will do what I can. .
Subsequently her boss came to have a philosophical (according to him) conversation about why I would ever need to give her name to anyone and why it couldn't just be kept confidential.
Though I did answer, I was wondering does anyone have words of wisdom they typically use?
Thanks