Employee's Disruptive Behavior & How Tackle This

Employee morale, productivity and customer service levels are at their highest when employees work effectively as a team and practice basic tenets of civility and respect for each other. This, unfortunately, is not always the case when employees display inappropriate and disruptive behaviors. Behavior that is not consistent with basic collegial and professional expectations can result in significant negative consequences to the organization and its people and can increase an organization's potential legal liability.

Types of Problem Employee Behaviors- There is a wide range of behaviors exhibited by employees that can create risks for other individuals and the organization. Some general categories and examples include:-

• Gossiping While it tends to have both harmless and vicious connotations, gossiping generally refers to the actions of an individual who habitually reveals personal or sensational information about others, whether factual or not. Examples include speculating on the cause of a co-worker's divorce, repeating and embellishing overheard conversations meant to be private, and creating or repeating rumors about individuals or the company meant to be stirring or shocking.
• Displaying general incivility/insolence- This includes engaging in rude, disrespectful speech or behaviors and physical intimidation, such as making insulting and demeaning statements; using angry, hostile tones; berating staff and colleagues in front of others; and shouting, throwing things or slamming doors when displeased. These behaviors are often directed at anyone the employee disagrees with or is agitated by.
• Bullying- While bullying certainly can include uncivil behaviors, bullies often use less visible means of harming other employees, such as social isolation, condescending or contemptuous communications, and manipulation. Bullying is often directed at specific individuals, characterized by persistent abusive and intimidating behavior or unfair actions (assigning too much work, constantly changing deadlines, poor performance ratings, etc.), causing the recipient to feel threatened, abused, humiliated or vulnerable. Bullying is about having power over someone else—often a direct report, but also anyone who may seem weaker to the bully.
• Exhibiting insubordination- Insubordination refers to an employee's intentional refusal to obey an employer's lawful and reasonable orders. This can manifest as a single event worthy of discipline or termination or as a series of lesser events that work to undermine a supervisor's authority over time. Examples of the latter include repeated warnings to reduce hostile remarks in meetings or to reduce harmful gossiping about other employees that go unheeded.

Business Case- The impact of disruptive behaviors on an organization are far ranging: Decreases in productivity, performance, employee commitment and company reputation will all affect the bottom line, as will increases in turnover costs, use of sick leave, disability claims and legal expenses. Moreover, toxic behaviors spread like viruses. The problem may start with one person behaving badly, but over time, the people who work around disruptive individuals may begin to behave differently and to believe the organization has a high tolerance for such misbehavior.

• Employee use of social media adds another layer of concern for employers, as employees may bully or be uncivil to one another on social networking sites. In addition, postings that portray the employer in a negative light may go viral, damaging an employer's reputation and brand. Employers may not always know about such postings, but when they become aware, they need to act.

What HR can do about Cyber Bullying in the Workplace?

HR professionals can play an integral role in providing guidance and training to managers with difficult employees. HR should adopt the role of business partner and help managers look at the presenting issue and uncover the underlying issue. A critical step is getting the manager to recognize that a problem exists. Managers often avoid dealing with interpersonal issues because these problems can be very difficult to resolve. HR professionals can assist managers in identifying problems and strategizing possible solutions. Employers should ensure that conflicts are resolved early on as part of an overall organizational strategy to prevent workplace violence from occurring.

• Determine the Impact of the Negativity- Before you take actions to remedy the situation, you need to establish that a problem exists. Putting it bluntly, the person’s attitude may annoy you, but might be harmless, and possibly justified if conditions at your company aren’t up to par. If employees are quitting because of the employee, avoiding working with them or their actions are holding up productivity, you have a real problem on your hands and need to work out the negative impact in terms of lost productivity. Essentially, you need to the person’s bad attitude into hard numbers.
• Determine Where the Behavior Is Coming From- Once you have established that an employee’s behavior is having a real impact, you need to figure out the driving force behind it. Don’t automatically think their conduct is a deliberate attempt to be disruptive. Often they are often unaware of the effect they have on others and the company. In some instances, these people might claim their behavior is just the result of them trying to do a good job.You should also consider the possibility that this good/bad employee is a highly independent person. While this character trait might serve them well in some situations, it can make dealing with authority difficult, resulting in a disruptive attitude.
• Address the Issue- Once you can show how this employee’s attitude is having a negative impact and you have a sense of their motivations, it’s time to confront the star employee in one-on-one conversation. The discussion should be focused on getting the employee to recognize the impact their attitude is having and coaching them toward playing a more effective role in your organization. During the conversation, it’s important to listen to the employee’s concerns and consider the validity of their complaints. Try to identify areas where they can maintain their behavior and where they need to compromise by having a more agreeable attitude. While facts should be used to make your case, it’s also important to appeal to the employee’s emotions. For instance, you could appeal to their sense of pride by letting them know others are being upset or distracted by their behavior.

Document Everything- When taking on a star employee, there are undoubtedly going to be people in their corner – who don’t see a need for the person to change. Therefore, you should document everything, from the impact of the bad behavior to your one-on-one coaching session. This documentation could support a case for disciplinary action against the employee later on, or to defend your position should you get push back from someone else.