Have you had to deal with an employee who is overly negative, sarcastic and cynical? A negative employee can drag down the performance of the people around them. The Leadership Wizard shares leadership tips for dealing with this situation.

Joe and Negative Ned

Joe had a problem. One of his employees, Ned, was being a real negative influence on his five co-workers. As the manager, Joe had tried tackling the problem before and yet he was seeing the same pattern of behavior emerge again.

Ned’s work was acceptable, not stellar. Ned mostly kept to himself. When he walked in to the office, he wouldn’t say hello or good morning. He wouldn’t be seen smiling and frequently scowled. A chill would go through the workgroup. Conversations would stop for fear that Ned would make a cynical or sarcastic comment. Ned didn’t prioritize his work which often meant that he would have to work overtime to get everything done. When Ned did interact with his coworkers, his tone was mostly negative. Because nobody wanted to deal with Ned, the communication broke down and things were missed, affective customers and production.

Joe had met with Ned three times before, attempting to coach him. As Ned made efforts to improve, Joe would give him positive reinforcement. Now Joe had to take further action and he called on the Leadership Wizard.

Insights from the Leadership Wizard

Many managers are reluctant to confront an employee whose work is acceptable, but creates a negative work environment for others. A negative influence on others is the same severity as not producing results. This is because the overall productivity and quality of the work is impacted, perhaps in subtle but significant ways.

Joe had taken the positive step of talking with Ned and reinforcing Ned’s change in behavior. Now, the need to confront and correct was becoming more acute.

Communication tips

Focus on the behavior, not the person. Calling them ‘a negative person’ is not as effective as saying, "When you complain about X and Y or talk sarcastically, it brings the mood of others down which affects morale and the quality of our service."

"When you do/say __________, it causes __________ which hurts the team and our service."

For Ned, Joseph might say, “What I need you to do is eliminate the negativity from your tone when you communicate with others and practice noticing the good things that are happening and talk about them."

"We have discussed this in the past and you have shown the ability to change, however, you slip back into the same pattern again and we have to have conversations like this. In fact we have talked about this three times during the past year. This cannot continue.”

“Do you have any insight into why this is happening?” If Ned blames others for his problem then he does not own up to it, and Joe should persist by moving to the next step. If Ned reveals a personal problem, then Joe can refer him to the Employee Assistance Program.

“You will have to commit to me that you can stop this behavior and communicate more positively with your coworkers, and organize your work so it can be completed during your shift. If the behaviour continues, it could result in the termination of your employment. If there is any way that I can support you, please tell me. Can I count on you to fix this?" Then Joe should document the discussion in a memo and give a copy to Ned.

And if Ned’s behavior does not improve, then Joe will need to move forward with the process progressively up to and including termination. It is a good idea to keep the boss and possibly Human Resources in the loop. A serious discussion should be done with a witness present.

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