• Return to our Main Site

    • Action plan

    Managing a challenging member of staff

    Medium effort

    Medium impact

    Left unaddressed, challenging or disruptive members of staff can start to have a big impact on business culture, atmosphere and performance. Getting to the heart of the underlying emotion is of upmost importance and, more often than not, can lead to quick and impactful improvement.

    • We’ve designed our action plans to be completed in the order of steps laid out and explained why each step is important
    • Customising your action plan lets you set your own completion dates, assign tasks to others and get notifications
    • Helpful tools are provided for certain steps while a tracking metric at the end will help you determine the long-term success of your effort
    • A downloadable PDF version of each action plan is available if you’d like to compete it offline
    What's involved? Ways to use this action plan Measuring impact
    1

    Spend some time learning about how other businesses have gone about managing challenging members of staff

    Impact: low

    Why will this help?

    Learning from the experiences and lessons of fellow business leaders is the best way to direct your own improvement efforts.

    Radical candour stops challenging situations becoming bigger issues

    Managing challenging employees is one of the most daunting parts of being a leader. Employee engagement is easier when things are going swimmingly, but what do you do when there’s an issue?
    2

    Set up a one-to-one conversation with the member of staff in question to find out what is behind their challenging behaviour

    Impact: high

    Why will this help?

    Talking to a difficult or frustrated employee will reveal potential causes and help you both plan for a better future. Quite often their underlying problem will stem from not feeling listened to, so this is a great place to start.

    Discussing difficult behaviour with an employee

    It's important to tackle challenging employees as soon as possible to prevent detrimental effects on your company.
    3

    Set up conversations with other involved parties (line mangers, etc) to get a balanced set of evidence

    Impact: medium

    Why will this help?

    Getting feedback from both sides will make sure your response is balanced and fully representative of what has happened so far. It will also help ensure a line manager feels like they have a bit of ownership over what will come next.

    4

    Identify the root cause behind the challenging behaviour and establish a step-by-step process for improving the situation

    Impact: high

    Why will this help?

    Dealing with difficult employees is an unfortunate part of business, so it's best to be prepared. Having a plan laid out will ensure everyone knows what has been agreed, what will come next and what a good resolution looks like.

    How to deal with difficult employees

    Difficult employees drain time and emotional energy. We’ve outlined eight ways you can manage the situation.
    5

    Establish a monthly review process to track the effectiveness of the improvement process

    Impact: medium

    Why will this help?

    Once a plan is in place it's important to review progress to ensure what was agreed at the start still makes sense and that all those involved are still engaged with bringing about a positive resolution.

    What can I do with this Action Plan?

    Start this Action Plan

    Add some extra information to this plan and we’ll help you get it done.

    • We’ve designed our action plans to be completed in the order of steps laid out and explained why each step is important
    • Customising your action plan lets you set your own completion dates, assign tasks to others and get notifications
    • Helpful tools are provided for certain steps while a tracking metric at the end will help you determine the long-term success of your effort
    • A downloadable PDF version of each action plan is available if you’d like to compete it offline

    Download and print

    Get a printable template for this Action Plan, fill it in with some target dates, and share it with your team. Pin it on the wall where everyone can see it.

    Get the printable Action Plan

    Learning Groups

    We also run Learning Groups on these topics where you can join other leaders tackling the same challenges.

    Find a Learning Group

    How will I know if my action plan is working?

    Staff satisfaction survey results

    Staff satisfaction surveys help gauge sentiment at regular intervals

    Why this metric?

    Whether gathered anonymously or not, staff satisfaction surveys help gauge the sentiment of your people as changes are made and impacts felt.

    How do I start tracking?

    Use an online survey to get feedback from members of staff three and six months after making changes to see what impact it has had.