Keeping Your Cool: Dealing with Difficult People

People today have a short fuse—everyone is stressed. And when people are stressed, they can become difficult to be around. Chances are, you’ve worked with at least one difficult person in your organization. You recognize the behaviors of a difficult person, such as: a bad attitude, apathy, difficulty handling change, and terrible customer service. Difficult people give you the silent treatment or worse—they can be verbally aggressive.

Unfortunately, if you don’t address this kind of behavior, one of two things will happen:

Employees will become resentful and think less of you as a leader. 

Employees will start modeling the behavior of the person who is not being corrected.

It’s important to understand, there’s only one reason anyone behaves in an unacceptable manner: Because they get away with it! So, who’s responsible for difficult people? The answer is anyone who tolerates them. Every time you give in to a difficult person, every time you choose not to confront him or her, you allow a difficult person to continue this rude behavior.

What does a difficult person in your facility look like? Often, he is the one who gets the better schedule. He may come in a late or depart the office early, leaving his work for others to finish. He might take a longer lunch, talk on his cell phone or pay his personal bills during work hours. No one asks him to work on an office project because people don’t like working with him. 

So, how can you change this situation? Confrontation is one answer. Unfortunately, it can be hard for anyone to address this issue. However, it’s important to understand that dealing with the issue will facilitate a more harmonious atmosphere in the office, leading to increased productivity, improved morale and a healthier bottom line.

You’ll need to set boundaries, expectations and guidelines, and then hold the person accountable for his or her behaviors. Here are some tips, whether you are an employee dealing with a difficult supervisor, a worker dealing with a co-worker, or a manager dealing with a challenging employee:

Owner or Manager to Employee: Have you ever had an employee who was demanding, condescending, abrupt, tearful, insecure, and high maintenance—and yet she did an excellent job? Were you worried about losing her because she produced great work? Just because someone does great work doesn’t make her a good employee. If you have a person whose behavior is affecting the morale and productivity in the office, and you’ve already coached the employee on the issue, this person needs a formal corrective review.

The employee should be given a copy of the corrective review; a signed copy is placed in his employee file. Let the employee know the specific behavior you need to have changed, your clearly defined expectations, and a time frame he has to work within. Have a follow up meeting within a designated time period to give the employee the feedback he needs. Be sure to provide clear oversight.