Coaching the Employee Who Isn't A Team Player [Case 1]

Dear Leader’s Digest,

When I recently became the new head of a department in my company, I "inherited" a veteran employee who is pretty productive with tasks but has a history of poor employee relations such as being negative, discourteous, sarcastic, "stirring things up," and not working with coworkers as a team player. 

How do I influence this person to change their way when the company has played into his behavior for some time?

Dear Inherited,

Leading employees with a history of poor behavior is a concern for any leader. We strongly recommend your first conversation with this employee not be a "shake-down" or a "you'd better be careful cuz I'm watching you!" speech. Rather, you ought to extend a sincere handshake followed by a friendly get-to-know-them chat.

The next step is orienting all your employees to your leadership style and expectations. Even before exploring specific duties or concerns, explain the operating values of your team and your expectations of employees. It's best if this is a two-way conversation involving the entire team, but at a minimum, everyone needs to be clear about the department’s values.Explain that employees are not only responsible to produce results but are also responsible to produce results in a way that strengthens the team in the process. Give specific examples of what is acceptable behavior and what is out of bounds. This kind of orientation with your team sets clear expectations and gives everyone a chance for a fresh start—independent from past patterns and personality conflicts.

Your next leader-role with the employee is mentor and coach. This requires gathering data through contact and observation, especially with the employee you have concerns about. Over the next few days, catch the employee, in the moment, doing things right. Acknowledge when his or her behavior approximates an important company value and thank him or her. 

For example, you might say: "Hey, Brent, I noticed in the team meeting this morning when Alice asked for ideas about her project, you gave several helpful suggestions. That is a great example of our department values of cooperation and mutual respect. Your input helped Alice and helped to build a stronger team. Thank you."

Similarly, when you see behavior that violates your team values, confront it as soon as is reasonably possible. Do this by first describing the gap by factually detailing what happened compared with what is expected. Next, ask why it happened this way. 

You could say:"Brent, I noticed that when Alice presented her ideas for her project, you sarcastically said her plan wasn’t thought through and asked her if she ever heard of ‘project management’ before. One our most important team values is the golden rule--to treat others as we would want to be treated. That is to say, to be treated with respect. Your comment was clearly disrespectful. I'm curious, why did you say that (And why did you say it in that sarcastic way)?"

If he responds that he didn't realize his comment was disrespectful, take the opportunity to define more precisely what is meant by teamwork. If he replies that it's no big deal, then you have the opportunity to teach consequences and make the invisible visible. It could be that one reason for his past friction with employees is that no one helped him understand the negative, natural consequences his behavior had on others. If he replies that he knows he shouldn't do that, but can't help himself, it becomes an opportunity to teach him the skills of proper communication.

After each conversation, move to action. Get a clear and specific commitment from him about who will do what by when, and then follow-up on that commitment.Clear expectations, as well as frequent coaching, follow up, praise, and constructive feedback, are your best chance to help someone work well with others.

Of course, this approach requires patience and persistence, and you must always give people the opportunity and the help they may need to improve. However, if over time, he does not comply and his poor behavior continues, make sure he understands that following the department’s principles and values is not a suggestion, it's a requirement of his job.

At this point, it's time to move from helping him understand the natural consequences of poor behavior to the consequences you will impose on him if he doesn't comply. Clarify that the consequences of not working within the team standards are the steps of discipline identified by the company, even including termination. Make sure he understands that failure to comply with your requirements around teamwork will result in you applying the steps of progressive discipline. Moving this far is very serious and will most likely damage your working relationship with him, but at some point, his failure to abide by the your standards is a detriment both to the results you're after as a leader and your other employees quality of the workplace. 

Choosing what's best for the team is more important than trying to preserve a troubled relationship.

Our experience has been that this approach helps most —even those with a history of poor behavior—to improve their behavior and relationships with others. It also improves the team's results. Please keep in mind this approach does not guarantee the changes in others you desire; it's not a way of controlling others; it's not a trick for manipulating others. This is a way to respectfully help individuals choose to be successful. Ultimately, it's the individual's choice whether or not to be a part of the team you lead, and that's as it should be.

To your greater success and fulfillment,

Peter Mclees, Leadership Coach, Trainer and Performance Consultant

SMART DEVELOPMENT

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