Stopping unacceptable attitude in an office?

Question

I supervise a young man who is having issues accepting & changing his inappropriate behaviour while working at our front desk. I have explained that there have been many complaints & his first request is to find out the incident or the complainer. As all the complaints are regarding "attitude" I explained that we need to focus on correcting the behaviour & not dwell on specifics.

After my chat with him on Tue., in which I said he was not to worry about the who's & when's, I found out he went to another co-worker & tried to drag names &incidents out of them. They came to me in confidence, as they fear his attitude &/or retaliation, so I didn't feel it appropriate to confront him with that knowledge.

We did have a pre-scheduled meeting with our HR on Wed. where they also expressed a need for him to work on the behaviour & leave the details alone.

Has anyone had a similar problem & how did you fix it? We've had too many complaints from staff but mngt WILL NOT let us fire him!

The company is a 40+/- person team, his behaviour is limited to contact with other staff and we have no internal HR person or team. I have read MANY good ideas and documentation is somthing I have been doing. Our once-a-week external HR person also sees that my hands are tied as she has stepped up to the COO and he doesn't want turn-over in that position. Since letting him go isn't an option...finding ways to change his behaviour is where I need assistance. Pet obedience classes anyone?? :-)

Answer 1

Do not enable this person's bad behavior. Do not accept his comments as a "bad attitude". Do not empower him to continue his bad mood and negative productivity.

Advise all your staff to confront him every time. No backing down, no walking away. Treat him like an adult, not a teenager you don't want to deal with.

Every time, without exception, he does something that is inappropriate, call him out on it. "Excuse me, what did you say?" "Why did you just do that?" "That is disrespectful and I will wait while you regroup" "I have this task for you and I will return in 10 minutes to pick it up."

Obedience training is repetitive and productive. Talking about him at HR mtgs isn't the solution, going up the chain is unproductive. Continue with the documentation. Another option is reduce his contribution - make the CEO justify this guy's presence. Take this employee out of the chain of command, out of the loop and keep him in a back office. Definitely get him from the front desk - this is the first thing clients see of your company !!!!

Answer 2

In situations where I've wanted to avoid the questions about who said what, I try to make it seem as if I've noticed the problem...if its something that I can make believable. That way, its never a he-said/she-said thing...it is something that is coming directly from me. Othewise, all you can do is continue to talk to him about the problem and suggest ways to resolve it. I can't understand why mgmt won't let you fire him...it sure sounds like he's giving off a terrible impression of the company there at the front desk, which is the WORST place to have a bad attitude. Does your company have a policy for writing up someone? If not (even though they should) I would keep my own detailed notes of the complaints and your talks with him.

Good luck and keep working with mgmt to resolve this.

Answer 3

You may have a case here, if you were completely truthful and did leave anything out (like actually having an attitude with the boss). The panic button is really for when you are being held up and are unable to use the phone, ideally you would want to use the phone because picking up the phone and dialing 911 would probably have broken up the fight before the police even got there, by pressing the silent panic button you gave the couple another few minutes to escalate the fight before the police arrived. That being said, it sounds like you weren't given proper instruction on when exactly to use the panic button. Its a complicated case, and unfortunately its your word against the company's and they are the ones that have physical contracts which outline their rights. I would definitely get a consultation and in the future if you get let off with a warning just apologize (politely) and leave it alone.

Answer 4

You need to talk with your HR department about adopted a "No Jerk Policy" which addresses attitudes in your employee handbook and lists them as a reason for dismissal. No - I am not kidding. There are many large companies that employ this. Also, how many complaints need to be registered with HR before he gets his warning? After complaint number two, HR should have been informed that there was a problem and that he needed a discussion about appropriate work behavior. All compliants should be registered with your HR department. They need to have this documented. Management is not providing the proper workspace allowing an employee to be abusive to others. In certain States a workplace suit can be brought against them. So they need to wise up and you need to speak up as a supervisor so that this problem works itself out and you do not have opportunities for repeat problem workers.

Answer 5

I had a similar problem where asking my supervisor for specifics they would not state. I refused to listen. Sometimes, the employee is in the right to know.

However, in your case, where the employee's general attitude is in question, and he's not asking about specific incidents, but specifically who reported him - well that's a different story.

Explain to management they are liable for damages and money when this guy goes psycho on another employee, and they will change their tune quickly. Then fire him. Hopefully, for no reason other than it's been less than 30 days and "things aren't working out right".

Or you could go the "customer service" route. Cust service includes your co-workers as customers. If he can't do Customer Service right, he can't work there.

How to make him see the light of day and train him? Have him join the Army.

Answer 6

I've been in that situation a few times. One thing that worked really well the last time was having a "pretend this is day one" meeting at which I presented, in written form, the expected behaviors and actions for his position. Each of the behaviors had a valid reason attached to it: customer service, process flow, efficiency, morale, etc. We went down the list and discussed the potential negative effects on the company if he failed to perform at that level, and the choices the company had if that occurred, including finding someone who could and would perform the job correctly. With each item, I asked for his input on anything that would prevent him from doing this job and offered suggestions for coping techniques or alternate strategies he might use. At the end of the discussion, I reminded him that this was "day one"--the previous comments and complaints were history--and suggested we meet on "day ten" to discuss the list again. I asked him to call or email me immediately if he felt something or someone was interfering with his progress. I received one email with a legitimate complaint and one that was semi-whiny, but he did *try* to change his behaviors. Our "day ten" meeting went well and he continued to try. I wish I could say he did a complete turnaround and is now a VP, but the truth is that he left the company six months later. But during that time, his behavior was acceptable.

Answer 7

Documentation, Documentation, Documentation....Times have changed so in the supervision of staff members. I have found that if I have documentation of specific incidents to show management then it becomes something that they can not ignore..That way, you have done your job with your counseling of the individual and it sounds like to no avail, when you produce the specific documentation for each incident then it is up to management to take care of this issue if they will not allow you to do so. When an employees behavior disrupts the work environment it makes it difficult for everyone to be productive and happy in their work.

Answer 8

You need to have the management present at the HR meeting. Management needs to understand that this is not something you want at the front desk. Perhaps, if you can't fire him, maybe move him to another location within the office. And start looking for a new front person.

Good luck!

Answer 9

Catch him in the act. That is, watch when customers come in, or monitor his telephone activity. When he does the inappropriate behavior, confront him immediately with what he wants -- who, what, when, where and how.

You may want to do the same to others so it does not appear you are singling him out.

Seems like a pretty clear trend, so it shouldn't take long for him to give you some examples to go by....

Answer 10

Sounds like a bad posion for you to be in.
It sounds like he knows (or b###s) the right people.
I'd lay back for a bit, and find out just who is his"buddy." Meanwhile, be careful, or you'll be on the outside looking in. Office politics. Arrrrghh!!!