When a team member won’t play ball
Astrong team culture is something any business values.
The workplace is simply better if everyone enjoys what they do and the people they work with.
All of the hard work undertaken to create a cohesive and vibrant workplace can be undermined by a team member not w on the same page. Here are a few ways to try to ensure there is some level of workplace harmony:
Prevention better than cure
Once an employee is hired they have a range of statutory protections designed to address the imbalance of power in the relationship. That means the best time to identify a potential ill-fitting employee at the interview.
Taking your time is important. While the usual scripted questions can be useful, we recommend setting aside some time over a number of interviews or chatting over coffee.
We also recommend speaking with references before any offer is made but ensure you have the applicant’s written permission to do so.
Once an employer decides to make an offer, there are a couple of further protections they can put in place. If the employer is a small business (less than 20 staff) the 90-day trial period is still available. These clauses can be a bit tricky, so we recommend seeking advice first.
The other option is a probationary period, which can be used to address performance in the first stages of employment. However, this article doesn’t just look at pure performance concerns. Increasingly we see cases
where the person can do the job but are driving everybody up the wall.
Once part of the team
If an employee has hired a person and later discovers they are not the great fit they seemed at interview, there are a number of options. The first step is most difficult: really figuring out what the employee is actually doing/not doing that is causing the problem. That will determine the next move.
Performance
If the issue relates to how they perform the job tasks, then that may well be a performance issue. Addressing that can be as easy as informal
coaching, a clear direction to do a task in a certain way, or a formal performance improvement plan, which can end in dismissal.
Misconduct
If the behaviour breaks a house rule or policy, or goes against a social or moral behavioural norm, then it might fall be considered misconduct.
Employers can deal with low-level issues with informal coaching/reminders. Serious or repeated behaviours could mean formal investigation and discipline
Personality/ compatibility
The most difficult types of behaviour
are ones which are not strictly performance but fall short of misconduct. Examples of this are endless, but can include general negativity, disinterest, inflexibility and avoiding interaction with co-workers, or simply not being on board with the type of culture the team has developed.
Culture differs between workplaces. Some highly value a serious and formal workplace in which a loud and “out there” staff member could ruffle feathers. Other workplaces are more dynamic, and a stuffy/formal staff member could bring that energy down.
The first question to ask is: “Is this really a problem?” Thankfully, people are all different and nobody is obliged to love everyone they work with.
There are also certain things that are risky for an employer to touch e.g. behaviours which relate to religious, cultural or medical requirements. Forcing social interaction on breaks/outside of work can be also be counter-productive to the end goal.
Where the behaviours are genuinely a problem, but don’t fit neatly into a performance or misconduct box, an employer needs to get creative. Informal conversations can work, but care must be taken to focus on factual behaviours rather than personal traits.
For example, it would be legitimate to talk to customer-facing staff about the importance of presenting a positive smiling face but it may be risky to talk to them about “being negative/ down/miserable”.
In the most serious circumstances, and having followed a fair process, the law does allow for an employee to be dismissed where they are fundamentally incompatible with the workplace. It should be noted that these cases are rare and involve a lot of groundwork to try to get the employee to address the problems.
How can we help?
The way an employee’s quirks and issues interact with a workplace requires a tailored approach. When the concern is about personal fit, the risk to an employer is higher as the criticisms are, by their nature, personal. They must be navigated with care and with the assistance of proper legal advice.