A Good Employee With A Bad Attitude
Ok, if you had an underperforming worker who has a very bad attitude that is affecting the rest of your staff you would find a replacement and then let them go, right? Pretty straightforward.
But if the worker with the bad attitude is one of your best workers then looking for their replacement may not be the best approach.
On many occasions this worker’s bad attitude will get overlooked by managers because of harming productivity and results due to their performance, this can be seen as unfair to the rest of the workers and affect the company in the future.
The Myth
Does a good employee have a bad attitude? Let’s make this clear that good workers don’t have bad attitudes. You could argue that they excel at a number of things but need to make improvements in other areas before they become good employees.
My view on this is that good employees are well-rounded. Their work is great and they have other qualities that make them the rounded worker.
A lot of the time these other characteristics are not visible to all workers, so let’s have a look at some of those characteristics:
- Positive presence in the workplace: To be a rounded worker having a positive presence in the workplace is a great characteristic, workers spend a lot of time together and should be kind to each other.
- Team Player: A good employee is happy to help their co-workers and not play that joke card (it’s not my job role).
- Accountable: To be a rounded worker you need to own up to your mistakes and learn from the experience. Don’t blame others or look for a way out.
- Initiative: A good employee takes initiative and looks for work that doesn’t necessarily fall under their job role but needs to be done, they also identify opportunities and run with them.
These characteristics outlined above help create a truly rounded worker. Processes, procedures, and job responsibilities can all be learned and accomplished over time.
But workers who have and maintain a positive attitude and overcome the day-to-day challenges of today’s world are hard to come by.
The Attitude Workers Martix
- Good Worker with a Bad Attitude: So, if their attitude improves they can become a rounded worker or (great worker), but if it doesn’t they need to be replaced and let go before they poison everyone around them.
- Negative Nina: This worker makes everyone wonder why they are still working at your company, I would replace them and let go immediately.
- Team Player: These workers might be better placed in a new role or may require more one-to-one mentoring or training to improve their performance.
- The Star (Great worker): Workers with a great attitude and drive make all those around them feel better. The company is driven to enable a successful company.
The greatest discovery of all time is that a person can change his future by merely changing his attitude.
Oprah Winfrey
Attitude Adjustment
How can I help a worker with a negative attitude? A lot of employers look straight away at the review process around performance.
The best review to focus on would be your company’s values in its workers, this would include the attitude they bring to the work environment.
Below you will find a few of the tips that I use when conducting an effective performance review for a high-performing worker that needs some improvements.
- Feedback: Don’t just jump in and tell the worker their conduct needs to improve, as this will have a negative effect and won’t help the review. Point out their strengths and then give the exact habits they have and the impact that it has on co-workers.
- Give examples of bad conduct: Give an example of the most recent worker’s poor attitude.
- Show examples of good conduct: Once you have given the bad examples of the worker’s poor attitude, show examples of good attitudes so they know what is expected from them going forward.
- Recognise their strengths: Because the worker is performing well in some areas be sure to give them some positive feedback in these areas. You wouldn’t want the worker feeling it was all one sided and you see no good in them.
- Regular communication: Communication is key now you have had the review, make sure you stay on top of this matter, look out for improvements in attitude and arrange follow-ups to track their progress.
Communication Is Key When Dealing With Strong Workers
So, we are not robots and communication is key to making sure every worker is on the same page at the same time and happy and pulling in the same direction.
Dealing with good workers with a bad attitude can be a challenge when you’re in the thick of it and can sometimes be blinded by results. Communication is key to a successful business and dealing with a good worker with a bad attitude is just one example where communication and process are key.
The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.
George Bernard Shaw
Most business owners may have too many workers or not enough time in the day to address these issues when they arise and put them off till a later date. You may find you’re not the best communicator, which is fine and understandable.
This would be a great reason to outsource your HR to an external HR provider. You have enough responsibilities in growing or taking care of everything else in your business.
Let Wurkplace take care of your workers communications and relations. Our team is people-focused, ensuring your staff feel valued and safe at work, this is important to us!
This is why we always provide solutions with a personal touch, our consultants will always be there for you making sure our services are right for you. We keep in regular contact with all our clients, this allows us to change our solutions as your business changes and grows.
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As a leader, he is able to steer a company to the most profitable direction while also implementing its vision, mission and long term goals. Additionally, he has strong crisis management skills to “save” companies in times of need.