I think most people would agree it’s easier to avoid issues than confront them, but often that serves to prolong the inevitable – the tough conversation has to happen eventually. And the longer an issue goes on, the harder it is to address.
A toxic employee has to be called out, regardless of whether or not they’re talented. In fact, some would argue that more talented the employee, the more they should be held to account in exhibiting the right behaviours because they could be looked up to by others in the organisation who then copy what they see.
Regardless of how tricky the conversation may be, it has to happen.
Here’s some advice on how to get underway:
It can feel harsh receiving an employee’s resignation, even when you know the employee is leaving to pursue an exciting new opportunity. But as the employer, how do you manage this resignation process while meeting good faith obligations?
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Effective leaders have to be brave enough to have tough conversations so they can deliver feedback effectively. As Brene Brown says, you have to get comfortable with discomfort!
Here’s some tips to help you:
Read More »We’re into Alert Level 3, and for many businesses that is the first step on the pathway to getting their businesses fully functioning again. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel!
But as we move to a new normal, I think it’s important to reflect on an important lesson we’ve learnt from COVID-19.
As I wrote in an earlier blog post, this pandemic has made us question how and why we do things as a business, and its opened the door to innovation and creativity that we may not have otherwise explored.
But more important than that, I think its humanised us.
Read More »It’d be great if we could all get along with everybody, but sadly, we can’t.
You can pick your friends, but you can’t always pick your colleagues, and for that reason, personality clashes in the workplace are inevitable. It’s not uncommon to have one or two people who just don’t seem to get on with the others.
We’ve been brought in to mediate our fair share of employee conflicts in the past couple of months, and while the meetings are slightly uncomfortable for everyone in attendance, they are essential to finding a resolution – you have to be prepared to have the tough conversations.
You can not ignore it.
Here are our pointers to managing conflict between two employees (or even between yourself and an employee):
I’ve recently been engaged to resolve an employment issue arising from a personality clash – essentially there are two people who have to work in close proximity with frequent interaction, and they just don’t get on.
There was no catalyst to the breakdown in communication – after all, no single raindrop is responsible for a flood. But rather it was a sequence of events that resulted in a strained working relationship with communication at the heart of the issue. This was not a situation where one person was clearly at fault, and both parties felt the blame lay with the other person. Read More »