Clearly, managers should make dealing with bad apples a top priority.Its been our experience that bad apples usually comprise only a small percentage of an organization, says Sujansky. Remember, culture is everything . He (or she, as the case may be) is your companys bad apple.Solution: Legal retribution shouldnt be a worry for you if you follow sound human resources practices required of a leader, says Sujansky. Problem batten company2: Managers expect team members to deal with the bad apple, but they cantor wont., offers solutions for managers who dont know what to do with these problematic employees. And be open and responsive to employee feedback.Problem injection screws6: Some managers are afraid to fire bad apples for fear of legal retribution. By the time they get to you, theyve been with the company for so long that it seems impossible to fire them. Solution: Even in a VEO there may come a time when an employee just isnt working out, says Sujansky. If your culture allows bad apples to be passed around from department to department without any consequence for their behavior, well, thats exactly what will happen. Great leaders should coach, provide balanced feedback, help the employee develop a plan for correction, develop the plan for correction, discuss what you document, and document what you discuss. But because they require more effort to handle than other employees, its not uncommon for managers to spend a great deal of their time dealing with or listening to the bad apples various concerns or complaints or the complaints they receive from other employees about the bad apple. Simply say, Thats not what were here to discuss, and bring her back to the subject of her destructive attitude. Ultimately, you must decide whether or not the bad apples negative behaviors outweigh his one big sale or his singular skill. Rather than try to bring their bad apples behavior to an end, many managers choose to simply move the employee on to another department. Theres just something in human nature that allows the bad to outweigh the good. Bad apples, by definition, are troublemakers. Sujansky, Ph. If your bad apples problem is simply a negative attitude or a tendency to bully other employees, his bad apple-nessif you willmay not prevent leaders from viewing him as an asset. Clearly, managers need to think about the illogic of such an efforts-to-results ratio! If managers dont deal with their bad appleseither (metaphorically) cutting out the rotten behaviors or tossing the entire apple out of the barreltheir spoiling effects will only multiply. Hire for talent and values and character, not just for skill sets. If you dont give employees a lot of positive to focus on, their attention will naturally gravitate to the negative. A VEO has the kind corporate culture in which that elusive sense of ownership can flourish. Solution: While you shouldnt ignore the negative behavior in the office, you should deliberately place much more emphasis on showcasing the positive. For instance, weve developed a teambuilding activity called KEYGroup Quest that helps our clients dramatically improve their team's communication, ingenuity, and problem-solving skills. When you confront them, bad apples arent afraid to pull out all of the stops to redirect your attention from poor behavior to their more positive traits, or as is often the case, to some other employee.Solution: Quite simply, you must create a culture that doesnt allow people to pawn problems off on others, says Sujansky.com), warns that if you want to keep him (or her) from spoiling the whole barrel, well, youve got your work cut out for you. Reward employees who go out of their way to help their teammates on projects. And it stands to reason that people who cause problems working inside a company are likely to also cause problems on their way out the door. They will help you plan and conduct the exit meeting with the bad apple. Problem #3: Bad apples can be master manipulators. Problem #5: Rather than model and recognize the behavior they want, expect, and demand, managers focus too much attention on poor behavior. Its like this: when managers feel that they own their work and their company, they wont allow a bad apple to spoil either one. Acknowledge the positive contributions your bad apple is making, but dont be afraid to confront the behaviors that negatively affect others. . . Make sure you discuss your situation and intended actions with your human resource professional or legal counsel. Youre tempted to follow the lead of your predecessors and simply shuffle your bad apples along to the next teambut all that does is move the misery around. And Joanne G. Solution: The study shows that confrontation by team members can occasionally be successful, says Sujansky. After all, managers are only humanand bad apples have a tendency to be just as draining for them as they are for everyone else in the company. Besides, after the confrontation the bad apple may realize that his annoying behaviors will limit his progress and promotability in the organization. The problem comes when team members dont feel like they have enough power in the situation. I wholeheartedly agree, and in fact, this is a topic KEYGroup constantly addresses with our clients. First, the sense of ownership instilled in employees who work in VEOs makes them want to find a solution to the problem themselves. Or at the very least, he may realize that his behavior will prevent him from getting support from others when his success is on the line. or maybe she will point out that one of her fellow employees was late to work for the third time that month. Unfortunately, firing people is such an unpleasant experience that most managers will put it off for as long as possible. so make sure you build the kind you want, one employee at a time. And be sure to create fact-based objective documentation that includes all levels # of performance and behavior, both positive and negative. At KEYGroup we call this kind of company a Vibrant Entrepreneurial Organization. The first step, # though, is understanding just what makes these employees so incredibly difficult to handle. Let him know his being fired is the consequence for the lack of turn-around in his performance,Another important point the study makes is that companies can avoid the bad apple disease all together, says Sujansky.Solution: Its important that you provide balanced feedback to all of your direct reports, including your bad apples, says Sujansky. After all, theyve stayed around this long for a reason. If you have a VEO in which every employee innovates constantly, executes relentlessly, and works with a sense of passion, bad apples simply wont be able to survive. But as Sujansky points out, doing so is no easy (or welcome) task. After each meeting with her, cite the problem, the action taken to correct or eliminate it, the dates, the result that occurred, and any comments that will help you to recall the sessions. . Keeping these positives a part of the organization may not be as critical as increasing the productivity of the whole team.Every organization has at least one: that employee, who for whatever reason, behaves as though coming to work is a fate worse than death. If bad apples refuse to change their behavior the time will come when you must let them go. The authors point out that its likely that your bad apples are harming your other employees morale, which can lead to an overall team breakdown. Create a peer review system. Maybe hes a big producer, or maybe hes talented in some hard-to-find skill. By the way, healthy peer communication doesnt just happen, she adds. According to the Felps and Mitchell study, one reason this happens is because the positive behavior that does occur in the office cant cancel out the negative. This article may be reprinted for your use in an organizational newsletter and or e-zine provided that you contact Kelly Hanna, Director of Sales and Marketing at 724-942-7900 to gain permission.Problem #7: Firing employees, no matter how bad their behavior or poor their performance, is never easy. In these kinds of workplaces, clear and open communication is key. Some can be great producers for the company.A new study shows that your companys bad apples have a tendency to spoil your entire corporate culture. Basically, team members spend a day completing and video taping assigned tasks around their city. If you create employees who value teamwork and understand how their behavior affects their coworkers, you may actually modify the bad apples destructive tendencies. Success lies in failsafe-ing your hiring practices. Heres another instance when developing a vibrant entrepreneurial organization will solve the problem. Here are the important points that should be made in the exit meeting: a reminder of previous discussions and warnings that have been previously communicated to the bad apple, a brief explanation of why the separation is taking place, and the follow-up activities necessary to complete the exit strategy. Smart leaders know they have to foster it, and there are plenty of ways to do so. You can teach people the skills they need, but you cant always teach work ethic or integrity or respect. Rest assured that if you ignore it, youll have that same employee in your office the next month and the month after that as you attempt to solve the same problem again and again. Theyll almost always push the problem back to managers rather than confront the employee directly. D.Problem #1: Some company cultures tolerate managers passing bad apples from department to department. And many have never been trained in how to appropriately fire employees. . D. It should be the implementation of the next step that has been communicated in a previous meeting. Maybe yours will mention an account she just brought in . Sujansky, Ph. Solution: Regardless of what your bad apple is telling you in order to distract you, stay focused on addressing the issues at hand, says Sujansky. This final meeting shouldnt be a surprise to the bad apple. Problem #4: Bad apples arent always poor performers. . You know, the guy who drags down coworker morale with his horrific attitude, or the gal whose absence transforms an office of formerly solitary cubicle hermits into a place where people productively work together to get extraordinary results. If youre like many managers you may fear that if you fire your bad appleor even confront or discipline hershell threaten to file suit for discrimination or harassment or any other reason she thinks will work., founder and president of KEYGroup (www. She cites a recent studyconducted by William Felps, a doctoral student at the University of Washington Business School and Terrence Mitchell, a professor of management and organization at the UW Business School and a UW psychology professor, and published in Research in Organizational Behaviorthat explores just how much damage one bad apple can wreak. KEYGroups Joanne G. These are the raw materials that make up a VEO."This study takes an interesting look at a problem that is all too prevalent in corporate America, says Sujansky.keygroupconsulting. Its important that managers know exactly how to approach these situations. It works very, very well, and its fun, too. Sujansky spells out the reasons managers are so flummoxed by bad apples, along with some practical techniques for dealing with them once and for all. His good qualities may make you reluctant to confront him, much less get rid of him altogether. People have a great difficulty giving feedback to their peers. When bad apples are present, people arent as willing to handle problems that arise, dont foster open communication with one another, and generally stop functioning as a teamnot a great recipe for high performance and productivity. In fact, many managers dont even know how to even begin dealing with these problematic employees
