Rehabilitate or Replace: What to do with the productive yet problem employee

It seems that every business has one; the employee that is productive but doesn’t play well with others. This person can be one of the most destructive forces in a company. Their path of destruction includes staff conflicts, ineffective teams, erosion of trust and usually unexplained employee turnover. The actual costs of these employees are often difficult to measure because the company leadership does not always know how much damage is being done to the other employees and in turn to the corporate culture by toxic behavior.

Toxic behavior if addressed early can be treated. If this behavior is rewarded, it will grow exponentially until every aspect of the business is affected. The most common reward for toxic behavior in the workplace is simply a lack of correction. Bad behavior that is not identified and addressed as such is assumed to be acceptable. Pavlovian in nature, the toxic individual will react to this in a very predictable way. They will become increasingly more toxic and that toxicity will spread throughout the company.

Rehabilitating these individuals takes considerable time, energy and consistency from leadership. Replacing this individual requires the same. An assessment must be done to quantify which function is best for the company overall. An important consideration is the success rate for rehabilitation of these individuals. Typically, the longer the behavior has been allowed, the lower the chance will be of a successful rehabilitation. This inverse relationship must be carefully considered.

The processes involved in rehabilitation begin with a critical review of the leadership of that individual. Some employees who are not toxic by nature, can become toxic if they are not receiving the proper leadership from their superiors or if the systems in place in the company are not conducive to healthy professional interaction. Often a small change by management can have a profound impact on the rehabilitation process.

The processes also involve considerable and consistent interaction between the individual and their manager. This is a mentoring, parenting and coaching exchange that is openly addressed as such with the employee. The employee must know that they are under a behavior microscope and the Manager must be diligent in this role to ensure the employee is receiving consistent guidance.

This rehabilitation cannot exist in a vacuum. A bright light must be shone on the toxic behavior. It must also be addressed with everyone with whom this individual works closely. They must be empowered and instructed how to address the person when their words or actions are inappropriate. The key here lies in the instruction. Empowerment alone will not yield positive results. Leadership must facilitate emotionally intelligent interaction among peers.

When rehabilitation fails or it is clear that the toxic employee must be replaced, the attention turns to the age old question, “How can we know what a person is like before we hire them?” The answer to this question is the BeBetterAtWork™ Solution. The most common mistake companies make in hiring is focusing only on the objective aspects of the candidates. Dates of employment, titles, job responsibilities, and professional references are the most easily measured and confirmed facts. The emotional intelligence and relational history of candidates are rarely considered in hiring, yet these subjective aspects are critical for performance, retention, job satisfaction and corporate culture. The BeBetterAtWork™ Solution effectively addresses these subjective aspects in the recruitment process and minimizes the risk of hiring the skilled individual who is going to be a problem for your firm.