What to Do With a Worker Who Has A+ Skills but a Failing Attitude

Use this plan to turn an employee around

Here’s a situation I hear about from some consulting clients that you might be familiar with.

You have an employee who is a high performer. They get a lot of work done. They are highly skilled in often more than one craft.

Their only drawback is their attitude. Their manager cannot manage the employee. No other employees want to work with the employee.

Why? Because of the employee’s poor attitude.

The perfect employee has a good attitude and good craft skills. Most people get along with such an employee and some look forward to working with them. Their craft knowledge and ability to get things done helps make the job get done quickly.

What do you do if a highly skilled employee has a bad attitude?

Pros and ConsThe owner and the employee’s manager should write down the pros and the cons of the employee. Then the two of them should compare their lists.

If there are more cons than pros, it is best to let the employee go. As soon as that happens, at least one of your other employees will say “Why did it take you so long?”

If there are more pros than cons, it might be worth doing a reset with the employee.

The ResetThe owner and the manager need to agree on a short list of behaviors the employee needs to change. It is important to be specific and mention actual events/dates, noting how the current behavior is inconsistent with the company’s mission and core values.

Once that is done, they should meet with the employee to review the list.

If the employee gets angry and defensive, blaming others and taking no responsibility for their own behavior, then it is best to let the employee go immediately. At least you tried.

If the employee “gets it,” then expectations for what their behavior going forward is supposed to be are clearly agreed upon.

The manager and the employee should arrange to meet once a week to review progress. The manager should note specific instances of the employee either changing in a positive way or continuing to be dysfunctional. The employee should be asked to keep notes on their behavior, too.
These notes are reviewed in the weekly meetings. If progress is being made, it gets acknowledged and praised. If no progress or not enough progress is being made, then the employee should be let go.

How Long?Is this a never-ending series of meetings? No.
Four to six weeks will tell the tale. Acting faster than that fails to give enough time for the employee to change substantially. Taking longer than that is a waste of time; the outcome is already known by then, even if it sometimes is ignored.

Lessons LearnedIf the employee changes their behavior for the better, acknowledge that having happened in a company meeting. The employee’s manager and co-workers should share some of their experiences working with the employee and how they are different from the way they used to be. This will reinforce what is acceptable and desired at the company and help the employee understand the impact their behavior has on the other employees.

The manager and employee should look back at what was missed when the employee was hired, whether the employee stays or is let go, to figure out how to avoid the same stressful situations occurring again with a new employee.

The best employees have a combination of a good attitude and are highly skilled. It is bad for your employees, your clients and the future of your company to allow someone with a bad attitude to continue to represent the company.

Yes, it will take effort, time and money to replace them. Consider the alternative, which might be other employees quitting and clients not wanting to hire the company.

Which costs less in the long run?