Five Tips to Manage Unmanageable Employees

There are many types of employees in the workforce:

1. The Rude-Nik: They happily supply their co-workers with hissy fits and bad moods at will.
2. The Egomaniac: Let’s just say these employees aren’t exactly “team players.”
3. The AWOL: They are the ones who at this very moment may be missing from the office despite a team project being due.

These are just a few of many personality types that Jezra Kaye and I help managers address with our book, Managing the Unmanageable: How to Motivate Even the Most Unruly Employee.

Today, I’d like to introduce someone equally difficult to manage—The Grumbler. Possibly you’ve even had to dodge a little grumbling today?

It’s hard to cope with The Grumbler in an office environment—or anywhere, really. They complain, complain, and complain until the entire team’s enthusiasm is as good as gone. It’s not just enthusiasm they squash. Good ideas don’t have much of a chance of survival with their constant negative feedback.

What can a manager do with this person? Jezra and I created a tool kit, which we call the “5C’s.” They are easy to remember and just might help when handling The Grumbler.

1. COMMIT OR QUIT: First, you need to commit or quit. Retention is a serious consideration when looking at the cost of rehire. It can cost two to three times The Grumbler’s salary to search for and hire a replacement. If you want to keep this employee, commit to taking the time to coach and salvage your Unmanageable Employee (UE). You may not like their behavior, but with the following steps, you could greatly improve your working relationship.
2. COMMUNICATE: To get started on the salvage, you must communicate with The Grumbler. This conversation should not involve grumbling! Having a straightforward conversation with your UE may not sound fun, but it is a valuable management tool. Employees and managers alike have assumptions about each other. Starting to tackle those assumptions with an honest conversation can go a long way towards building a more consistent team.
3. CLARIFY GOALS AND ROLES: Take the opportunity while talking to The Grumbler to clarify goals and roles. Does your employee know what is expected of him or her at work? They may think they do, and they may be totally wrong. Clarify those expectations and set goals for future expectations. Communicating the goals and roles of your employees gives them a tool for success.
4. COACH: Honest and productive conversations give your UE the chance to self-correct. However, an employee’s attitude greatly influences their performance, their impact on the team, and their responsiveness to being managed. Here’s a solution for attitude adjustment: Coaching. Coaching is an effective way to shift a UE’s inner attitude. The coaching for manager will play an effective role in this. Beyond benefiting your relationship with this employee, and the UE’s relationship with the team, it can greatly improve your UE’s career. We all want to have a positive impact on our employees, don’t we? Even The Grumbler has a career path that can be developed.
5. CREATE ACCOUNTABILITY: The truth is, even with communication, clear goals and coaching, bad habits are hard to break. Don’t give up. Instead, create accountability with your UE by developing a clear action plan. In this case, work with The Grumbler to create milestones and action items. An added benefit to this process is the opportunity to improve your management skills. You are more aware of what may, and may not, be happening, and can continue to communicate and coach your UE throughout the ongoing, clearly defined, process.

Managers, I want to hear from you! Tell me about your experience with those irritating grumblers. What has worked and not worked for you in managing them? How have they affected your team? Is grumbling contagious? Leave a comment below, send me a message, or tweet me.

Let’s share experiences. Leave a comment below, send me an email, or find me on Twitter.

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