Calling someone a difficult employee can become a shortcut that hides several different problems. An employee may lack training, resist an assignment, react poorly to feedback, or repeatedly ignore an expectation. Those problems need different responses.
Name the behavior you need to address
Describe what happened in terms another person could understand. Instead of saying an employee has a bad attitude, identify the conduct: a specific remark, an unfinished task, a repeated failure to communicate, or an argument after clear direction.
Check the examples before the conversation. Know which parts you observed, which were reported to you, and which questions remain open. A strong starting point leaves room for an explanation without making the expectation vague.
Find the gap between the expectation and the performance
Ask the employee to explain what happened. Check whether the expectation was clear and whether the employee had the instruction and resources needed to meet it. Listen for information that changes your understanding of the issue.
A training gap calls for instruction and a check of understanding. Repeated conduct after clear instruction calls for a firmer response through the agency's process. Keep the next step tied to the issue you can support.
State the correction in usable terms
An employee needs more than an instruction to improve. Explain what acceptable performance looks like and when you expect it. If a handoff is incomplete, identify the information that needs to be passed and how completion will be checked.
Ask the employee to explain the expectation back in their own words. That gives you a chance to find a misunderstanding before the next shift repeats the same problem.
Manage the conversation without arguing every point
An employee may disagree with the concern, bring up another person's behavior, or defend a previous decision. Hear the information that bears on the issue. Then return to the conduct, the standard, and the required action.
For example, if a deputy repeatedly fails to complete an assigned handoff, the conversation should establish what was missing, why it happened, and what must be completed next time. A discussion of every frustration on the shift can obscure that work.
Check the response and recognize improvement
The first conversation does not finish the process. Review the work at the agreed point, record the result, and tell the employee what you observed. When the change holds, acknowledge it. When the issue continues, address that pattern using the appropriate next step.
Use Before You Counsel an Employee to organize the facts and the Difficult Conversation Planner to prepare the discussion. The Difficult Officer explores coaching and accountability in more depth.
Handle difficult officers with a clearer plan
The Difficult Officer takes a closer look at coaching, correcting behavior, documenting concerns, and following through.
Explore The Difficult OfficerPrepare your next counseling conversation