Managing disruptive behaviors

The impact of disruptive behaviors on an organization are far ranging: Decreases in productivity, performance, employee commitment and company reputation will all affect the bottom line, as will increases in turnover costs, use of sick leave, disability claims and legal expenses.

Moreover, toxic behaviors spread like viruses. The problem may start with one person behaving badly, but over time, the people who work around disruptive individuals may begin to behave differently and to believe the organization has a high tolerance for such misbehavior.

An employee may be considered disruptive in any number of ways, such as:

• Constant negativity, gossiping, and spreading complaints and frustration to others. While employee complaints should, of course, be addressed, a disruptive employee will go beyond simply voicing concerns—he or she will become a source of negativity that spreads to others.
• Acting disrespectfully or inappropriately toward others in any way. This includes (but is not limited to) harassment, bullying, being physical with others, threatening others, touching other employees in a nonprofessional manner, acting aggressively or menacingly, etc.
• Roughhousing or playing around in a way that is offensive or unsafe.
• Any other behavior that causes undue frustration, disruption, and problems.

When employees are disruptive, here are some of the problems:

• Employee morale may be impacted. When employees are being disruptive and are not disciplined for their actions, other employees get frustrated. It may seem to be pointless to try to speak out to change things when HR and other managers won’t take action.
• Turnover could increase. When employees get frustrated with their working environment, they may be prompted to start looking for a new job. Especially in this environment of low unemployment levels, employees may feel confident they can find a better work atmosphere elsewhere.
• Bad attitudes can be contagious. When an employee is being disruptive and negative, it may lead some other employees to latch on to some of that employee’s sentiments—spreading the negativity and problems.
• Productivity could be affected. Even if affected employees don’t leave, they may be less productive because they have to deal with the disruptive employee frequently. They’re more likely to be stressed out or have to take days off of work.
• Accidents and mistakes may occur. Distracted employees (who are dealing with these issues from the problem employee) may be more likely to make mistakes.

HR professionals can play an integral role in providing guidance and training to managers with difficult employees. HR should adopt the role of business partner and help managers look at the presenting issue and uncover the underlying issue. A critical step is getting the manager to recognize that a problem exists. Managers often avoid dealing with interpersonal issues because these problems can be very difficult to resolve. HR professionals can assist managers in identifying problems and strategizing possible solutions. Employers should ensure that conflicts are resolved early on as part of an overall organizational strategy to prevent workplace violence from occurring.

Dealing with Disruptive Behaviors

Many employees are promoted into people manager roles without any training whatsoever, leaving them unprepared to navigate a path to reduce or eliminate disruptive behaviors when they appear. The difficult employees themselves may have never acquired the appropriate social skills to interact at a professional level and to work as a productive member of a team.

Train – Preventive, ongoing training can lay the groundwork for employees to understand their behavioral expectations and for managers to be prepared to act when employees fall short of those expectations. Basic training in people management and conflict resolution is a good starting place.

Take notice and listen – One of the main reasons employees engage in disruptive behaviors is because they don’t feel they are being heard. Make note of specific behaviors to address, including when they were observed and who was present. Take time to collect information and understand the issue as fully as possible. Be sure to solicit the problematic employee’s point of view; by doing so, managers often learn of something that is blocking the employee’s progress and causing them stress, which can be addressed and resolved. Just being heard can also be a factor in de-escalating negative behaviors before they get out of control.

Provide honest feedback – The key to managing difficult or disruptive employees is to distinguish the person from his or her behaviors. Talk to the employee about the behaviors being unacceptable, but take care not to make any personal attacks on who the employee is as a person. Saying things like, “You’re a troublemaker” or “You’ve got anger issues” are personal judgments that will put the employee on the defensive and hinder any productive exchange. Instead, focus on the behaviors by saying, “Your behaviors are effective here; they are not effective here.” Discuss appropriate behaviors with the employee, and ensure that he or she understands what is expected in the future.

Document and follow disciplinary policies – Employers tend to forget that job performance expectations include behavioral expectations. In doing so, managers may talk to employees about their disruptive behaviors, even several times, but never document the interactions. Then, if they reach a point where they want the employee fired, there’s no record of what discussions took place and what clear expectations were set. Even if all other job goals are being met, a disruptive employee displaying toxic behaviors is engaging in an actionable offense.

Follow up with the employee – Usually managers have the appropriate conversation with an employee, consider the matter closed and put away the file. The greatest factor in sustaining improvements in performance is follow-up. Improvements should be recognized, and employees should be held accountable for failures in not correcting the behavior. Working with an employee, though, and giving him or her a chance to improve can also be an effective morale booster.

Communication – Many corporate codes of conduct and labor agreements contain requirements that employees and managers treat each other with dignity and respect and conduct themselves in a professional manner. In addition, most organizations have policies that prohibit harassment and discrimination, including actions that may lead to an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment.