One of my clients asked for my support today with the following:
I have an employee with a negative, “can’t do” attitude. I need to tackle this but I am confused as to whether this is a performance/misconduct issue?
Managing difficult employees is a challenge that most SME’s will face from time to time. Some employees are inherently incapable of behaving in a constructive/professional manner.
For others, a continually negative attitude is due to a lack of desire to improve behaviour.
Firstly determine the root cause of the poor attitude – an inability to improve attitude will normally be a capability issue, a deliberate refusal to improve behaviour would be misconduct.
However, this will not always be easy to ascertain. In practical terms, the choice of procedure typically only becomes an issue if the employee is dismissed and claims unfair dismissal.
If it can be shown the most appropriate procedure was followed, the Company would be in a good position to argue that the process applied was fair.
The other element to consider is, atypical behaviours and reactions can arise as a result of certain medical conditions, so be aware of this when assessing your approach.
