Advice needed from experienced managers - what to do about a disruptive team member?

[MizZan]

Thanks in advance for any ideas or suggestions...

I was promoted just about a year ago to run a team of about 12 people in my company. Many of the people in the team have been around much longer than I have and there are one or two people who clearly believe they should have had the job rather than me, which has been a challenge.

Most of the issues have settled down by now, but one senior guy in the team has continued to create a lot of problems and is by nature just someone who does create problems, frankly - has a number of well-documented people/relationship issues in the workplace and many instances of unprofessional behaviour. He is good at his job so it's been worth my while to try to keep him reined in and productive, but I can't count the number of times I've had to bite my tongue.

Unfortunately following our latest round of appraisals, he's apparently decided (again - this has happened before) that he's so unhappy about not being promoted (he is being promoted, but not as much as he thinks he should be!) and not having a large pay rise and the chance to take on lots of additional responsibility, that he is going to leave. Not that he has another job, mind you. But he is now starting to go around telling people in the team that he is actively looking, and that he is leaving because of the work environment/lack of support from senior management.

If he weren't a senior guy himself, I wouldn't pay much attention to this, but he is looked up to by a number of people and is very vocal, and I think it's going to create a bad atmosphere in the team. My concern is that rather than just leaving (which I could live with and indeed would welcome in some ways), he's going to hang around and complain and cause problems and stir up trouble.

Suggestions? Have thought about just confronting him directly and saying "If you want to leave because you're unhappy about things, ok, but please be professional enough not to share this with everyone else in the team" - but I am not sure that this approach is going to do anything other than antagonise him and cause him to create even more problems. One of the other senior colleagues who he told suggested to me we should consider just paying him to go, but (a) I am not sure we could really do that, since unless he has another job, I don't think he actually would go, and (b) it certainly goes against the grain to give him a payoff for bad behaviour!

Let him leave.

Every time he behaves badly pull him up on it and make a note of it (do this for all your team). Every time you bite your tongue you are not managing him, you are endorsing his behaviour.

In the first instance I would speak to him about how unprofessional he is being and that he does realise that you will be writing his reference. I would email your boss a summary of the conversation for evidence in case he starts being difficult.

I would not pay him a penny. I would performance manage him either so he improves or he leaves. The choice would be his, the support would be the same.

Do you have a capability or behavioural performance framework you could use to performance manage him in the same way you would for productivity but for his behaviours?

If he doesn't sort himself out after 4 weeks informal capability management then I would make it formal. He has another 4 weeks and if no improvement he would be called to a disciplinary hearing.

Incidentally, whatever minimum standard you are demanding of him must be the same as for the rest of the team.

Perhaps speak to him directly along the lines of, "I understand you're leaving soon and will be needing a reference, which I'll be happy to do for you. Btw, do you think you could keep it professional till you go, you're disrupting the rest of the team?"

Or would that just give him more grist for his, "I'm not being supported" mill?

I?d ask him in for a quiet word and say you?ve been led to believe he?s actively searching for work elsewhere. Be incredibly nice and say if that?s the case, you?ll happily provide a reference but could he let you know you know as soon as he has other plans lined up so you?re not left one person short.

Don?t bite if he starts bitching about not being promoted / not getting the pay rise he hoped for or if he pulls a strop because you?re not making much effort to keep him. Just calmly let him know that you see no point in trying to talk him into staying if he?s already made up his mind.

He?ll probably leave in a hissy fit and if he does, you?ll have him off your hands in no time.

This guy is NOT good at his job - if he has relationship problems and exhibits constant unprofessional behaviour, then he is underperforming. So I wouldn't bite your tongue at all.

katiemiddleton has it right - document, document, document. Keep him to the same standard as the rest of the team. Every time you see unprofessional behaviour call him on it - properly, in private, as professional feedback.

Manager Tools is a brilliant website - check out the forums, and the free podcasts - there's one about managing a poor performer.

Remember, if your other team members see you managing him properly, they will feel supported (I'm sure they are pissed off having to deal with his carping constantly), they will also then know that you will not put up with crap like this from anyone else.

You really don't need to try and keep someone like him happy. Think of your best performer. Imagine that you got to recruit someone else like that instead of this guy. Imagine how much easier that would make work life for everyone in your area.

I see you're only managing the team for the last year, so you probably haven't had many changes. Sometimes it's difficult to imagine changes to the status quo, but this is a situation that you shouldn't try to keep going. He's actually doing you a favour by mucking up - think of it that way.

If it escalates, or if you want to be really evil call him in and say "I hear that you are leaving, several people have mentioned that you discussed it with them. I take it that your resignation is ready, can you give it to me by end of business today so that I can start the process for you." I'll bet he draws his neck in sharpish if you do that!!!

I bet he also resigns and claims constructive dismissal if you do that, pretending you were being sarcastic won't get you out of the fact you strongly suggested he hand in his resignation - honestly don't any of you have anything apart from snide comments to use?

You shouldn't 'confront' him. Confront being the word that you used. You need to have a chat with him about the qualities of leadership. Stroke his ego. Tell him that the fact that he is influential in the team is important. Tell him that you need him to exert his influence for the good (and not to create disharmony). Tell him how much positive leadership is valued. Slip in to the conversation that good leaders don't jump ship. Mention that you think that actively looking elsewhere is not a problem per se, because why would it be a problem, everyone needs to keep an eye on the marketplace. But letting it be known is a problem because it sows the seeds of disharmony and dissatisfaction. Let him know that if he is a positive influence, he will be rewarded.

Good luck

Dude how many signals do you need!?

1. He is good at his job, so good that you are not prepared to risk losing him even though his dissatisfaction is affecting others.
2. despite being excellent at his job, your view (expressed as being his, but I think you have interpreted) is that he hasn't been promoted as highly as his appraisal might suggest.
3. yet you have done nothing to determine exactly what his real deeper dissatisfaction is (you have assumed promotion, and he may have also assumed promotion but keep reading).
4. Many people look up to him - he has leadership and political qualities.
5. He has 'apparently decided' etc (which I think is your interpretation).
6. But his openly stated reason is work environment/lack of support from management.

Call me bonkers, but he is

1. looking for support from senior managers
2. for a better work environment.

In short why, as his manager, are you not giving him support, or aiming to create a better work environment?

You have to be brutally honest with yourself. Do you resent the fact that he has good ideas and are you struggling to think of them yourself?

Are you blocked from addressing the problem that is in front of you because you feel you will be losing the game to (what you fear is) his better ability?

Do you fear that you will lose authority if you praise him?

Are you seeking approval of his opponents by blocking his ideas?

Are you just directly threatened?

I have to say that if you are honest with yourself, this post is a call to arms to join you in supporting you in viewing him as the enemy - in dispute resolution called 'fanning the flames' (gaining allies).

Most difficulties in management come from managers thinking that being a better manager means being 'clever' and this means that many will try to address a problem near to the problem that they need to solve instead of solving the problem itself. (in order to prove their skill?? Because of fear of confrontation?? because they haven't recognised it as a dispute/difference of perspective?)

Once you have dealt with your personal resentments and with feeling like you are giving something away if you encourage someone, roll up your sleeves and get dirty - address the problem in front of you.

1. He wants to be supported, so support him.
2. He thinks the current work environment could be better. This means

a. he has in his head a vision of how it could be better. b. he may know how to get there so use that.

You are experiencing the conflict between your job (manager - enable others to collectively achieve mutually beneficial goals) and your instincts (play an individual game against someone). This is complicated by the power you now have that you didn't have before, and a need to test it and play with it.

I hope you use it well. most people don't, because they won't honestly examine their own emotions.

What Katie M says. Pull him up and cover your arse all the way.

I don't see him "looking for support from senior managers". I see him as disruptive, trying to make the OP's job as difficult as possible, due to sour grapes over not getting the job.

You could call him in and have a chat about "how can we support you better/improve the work environment for you as this is causing you problems"? I might do this. But equally, I might not waste my breath, as he would probably use the opportunity for a bitching session with the OP as the target.

In the current job market, no-one's indispensable. He probably realises this, which is why he is in no hurry to leave, just prefers to bitch about the office.

I would take him to one side and say "you are obviously unhappy and it's effecting not just you but the whole team, make a note of all your issues and we will have a one on one meeting on x date at x time and see what we can sort out either then or with input from senior management later, because it's not just effecting you, it needs to be sorted doesn't it?"

Have the meeting, listen to him, record it, agree the record, don't make promises you don't know you can fufill, sort what you can sort, have reasonable explanations (even if it's we can't afford it) for what you can't and then say "We've done our best, here is our action plan, any more problems you come to me because grumbling constantantly at the team is demotivating and could become a disciplinary issue."

Any more trouble pull him to one side and say "we talked about how this behaviour is disruptive and unprofessional I need you to keep it out of the office, it will be taken to disciplinary if necessary." Record, record and record some more.

Involve HR at every step from the beginning, have them at the meetings if necessary, in fact I think it's completely appropriate and if you are patient, follow company procedures and stick to your guns you will either see an improvement or more likely will see the back of the bugger.

Oh and look at it this way, if you speak to him and he has a completely unprofessional public tantrum each time that should be one step on the disciplinary ladder and you might be able to move him through the process quicker

Have fun!

1. re read WorriedBettys post.
2. You're the Manager so manage, if you do what most people are suggesting and simply get rid then you're just confirming what he said is correct.

Just a quick thought. Surely your first action should be to speak to your line manager for advice with a full list of your concerns and a clear idea of what you want to achieve.

Always see your boss for advice. If you are somewhere with a boss you can't speak to about things like this then personally I'd be looking to move myself.

Secondly why did they get a promotion if they are a disruptive influence in the work environment? Promotions shouldn't just be based upon performance but how they help other to perform too. As has been mentioned above have you built in performance management targets based upon his behaviour etc?

Thirdly have you spoken to him at all? It is vital that you have fully documented meetings to give him the opportunity to air his concerns directly to you (you may wish to have someone from human resources or a relevant union present too). He may chose not to discuss his concerns directly with you, he may be rude, he may have no valid points but you will have spoken to him; that is ammunition. As it stands you have an unhappy employee who could argue that you are ignoring their needs and that they are unhappy in the workplace. By meeting with witnesses you either have things you can work on, have an on the record way to respond to his concerns, highlight the concerns you have and you have evidence of trying to find a solution before having to move onto more nasty sanctions. But it is vital that if you want him to stop that you say so.

One thing though why is it bad that he says he is looking for work elsewhere because he doesn't like it there? That describes 60% of all teachers at any one time.

Speak to your boss first.

thanks everyone for all the interesting and in most cases helpful input.

back to the original question: yes - I did confront him - politely and constructively. It was the right thing to do and I did it in the spirit of "hey, if you're really feeling moving on is the right thing for you then (a) please let me know about it before you start shouting it around to the rest of the team, so we can keep things professional, and (b) I'm happy to lay out for you how things might progress for you here (though this has been discussed with him numerous times) more specifically, but I can't promise anything because at the end of the day it comes down to performance and to how the business grows."

He was fine and I think appreciated the open discussion, though perversely annoyed that the various people he'd spoken to "confidentially" had come to me about it.

More developments since...but best not to go into detail just in case colleagues are on here! but thank you again, everyone.