4 simple steps to deal with talented people with bad attitude in Singapore

Mark is one of the company's top contributors as far as work performance is concerned. He contributed a substantial amount of sales results, and is knowledgeable about the technical details of the products he sell.

Unfortunately, he has a bad attitude and does not get along well with with his colleagues. He often arrives late and leaves early in meetings, and often made insulting remarks to his colleagues, including his manager.

He is often unreachable during office hours, and seldom return calls or reply his e-mails. On the other hand, he demands that colleagues from his own department as well as from other departments to provide full, attentive support.

Mark's manager, Jason, tolerated Mark's attitude and behaviour as much as possible. In fact, Jason has been reminded by senior managers that Mark is an asset to the company, and Jason should do whatever it takes to retain Mark in the company.

However, there has been increasing complaints about Mark from within Jason's department and from others as well, with a few other team members threatening to leave. Jason also feels that his authority being compromised as Mark seems not to respect him as a manager at all.

Why Attitude Matters

While individual performance and contributions is important, most managers tend to view bad attitude as a trade-off for great talent, and is something that can be tolerated. However, recent studies show that:

• 87% of employees say that working with somebody with a bad attitude has actually made them want to change jobs;
• 93% of people say that working with people with bad attitude actually decreased their productivity; and
• As much as 52% of new hires in Singapore fail within 18 months, and they actually failed because of attitudinal issues, not skills.

As you can see from the above results, sometimes it is the ordinary employees that need motivation in addition to the one with bad attitude.

If attitude is so important then, so why are so few managers willing to tackle the issue head on? Well, it seems like many managers face the following dilemma:

• People with bad attitude could have good output and contribution (sales, productivity, etc.)
• While output and contribution is highly visible to management, attitude and other "interpersonal" issues are not;
• As a result, talented people with bad attitude might actually be "protected" by management and their bad attitude becomes persistent or even worsen

Dealing with Bad Attitude Effectively

Due to the good outputs and contributions of the bad attitude employee, some managers may actually turn a blind eye to the bad attitude and behaviour. Some may even try to appease them so as to avoid provoking them.

The thing is, if small transgressions of bad attitude and behaviours are not addressed immediately, it will be harder to address those issues when they become bigger and get out of hand.

Hence, managers should be vigilant and nip the attitude problem in the bud when it will be easier to addressed and changed.

Here's a framework of how you can deal with bad attitude effectively in 4 simple steps:

1. Establish a Candid Context
2. Describe the Timely, Objective & Specific issue
3. Candidly eliminate the status quo
4. Calmly Offer a Choice

Here's how it works in a real example:

1. Establish a Candid Context
   • I’ve called you in because there’s a problem with your recent performance
2. Describe the Timely, Objective & Specific issue
   • Last week in Tuesday’s meeting you made three rude and personal insults during our brainstorming session
3. Candidly eliminate the status quo
   • That is not acceptable behavior in that setting, and it will not be allowed to continue
4. Calmly Offer a Choice
   • Now I can’t force you to change. But what I will say is that you have a choice. You can choose to change or not to change your behaviour.
   • If you change, you will be much more effective and I think you’ll see your colleagues respond more positively. If you decide to change I can work with you to outline a very specific action plan that will lead to .
   • If you choose not to change, then we’ll activate the formal disciplinary process which, if there are no significant changes in your behaviour, could ultimately result in termination. (Insert your own HR policies here)
   • I believe you are capable of changing this behaviour. But only you can choose the path that’s right for you. Just be clear that there are only two options here. Because maintaining your present course is not an option.
   • You can give me your decision right now or you can take 24 hours to make a decision.

While most talented people with bad attitudes will realise you are serious, and also that they might have gotten too far, and will be co-operative. They are, after all, very smart people.

However, a small minority might have different reactions such as making excuses, becoming really angry or even resort to dramatic reaction such as crying. Whatever is the negative reaction, all you to do is to repeat the above 4 steps over and over again.

Are You Being Too Tough or Tough Enough

Not all bad attitudes and behaviours will warrant a disciplinary action. Some bad attitudes are less severe and have less negative impact on others, such as surfing the Internet for entertainment news during office hours, or making nagging complaints about very small matters etc.

If you deem the bad attitude and behaviour as less severe and does not warrant disciplinary action, you still may want to provide a firm but gentle reminders of their bad attitude by just going through Steps 1 to 3 above. A general way to distinguish between good and bad behaviour is to think for yourself if the person is a:

• Problem-solver; or a
• Problem-bringer

Problem-solvers are NOT people with all the solutions and could solve all problems. Rather, they have the positive attitude to at least try to solve the problems they face, or make suggestions on how those problems could be solved.

Problem-bringers, on the other had, are those who are more negative and passive where they just complain about problems without suggesting ways how they could be solved.

Hence, effective managers and leaders will always be on the look-out to change negative attitudes and behaviours into positive ones, so as to gradually buildwinning corporate cultures over time.