Ty Howard
Copyright © by MOTIVATION magazine. All rights reserved.
Do you know what it is like to work with a negative employee? Have you received multiple complaints from internal and external customers, including fellow team members, regarding this toxic employee? Would you like to learn a practical and effective process to turn your negative employee around and into a consistent peak performer?
As an executive, manager, or leader inside your organization, ignoring the problem won't make it go away. Nor will pacifying the problem with repeated idle threats to a negative employee. Over time your negative employee will turn motivated employees into frustrated and annoyed employees and annoyed and frustrated employees into ex-employees. Your internal and external customers will complain to you more and more, and the culture of your team, department, and organization will slowly erode from the inside out. The above are not the results or work experience any leader wants to face day after day.
A Harvard Business School study of more than 60,000 employees found that "a superstar performer—one that models desired values and delivers consistent peak performance" brings in more than $5,300 in cost savings to a company. Avoiding a toxic hire, or letting one go quickly, delivers $12,500 in cost savings.
Working in a company and tolerating a negative employee day after day is insidious (dangerous and costly). Even in the happiest organizations, negative/toxic people can gradually destroy morale and recruit others to join them as they wreak havoc. It takes only one bad apple to spoil the (whole) barrel.
So, what can you do as an executive, manager, or leader inside your organization?
Here's my practical 'Negative Employee Turn Around Process' to help any leader turn around a negative employee into a consistent peak performer.
Step 1. Talk to and listen to the negative employee without arguing or judging.
Step 2. Urge this employee to begin changing their mindset and behavior from negative to positive.
Step 3. Raise the bar by collaboratively creating a Personal Performance Improvement Plan.
Step 4. Nudge and inspire them daily to positively contribute more, and to be and do better at work and in life.
Step 5. Arrange one-on-one 'Accountability' learning sessions with you.
Step 6. Revisit once a week, their 'Personal Performance Improvement Plan,' and adjust where needed.
Step 7. Observe, encourage, and reward throughout this process.
Step 8. Unite and introduce the changing and positively growing employee back to their team members.
Step 9. Nurture and support their positive mindset and newly developed success habits.
Step 10. Dare your newly turned around employee to lead by example and to be great.
Yes, the above 10-step 'Negative Employee Turn Around Process' will cost you time as a leader. I believe it will be time well spent—when your current negative employee makes their turn around into a consistent peak performer. I also think that by going through this entire process with your employee, you as a leader will grow your effectiveness and skills. In turn, you are making the experience and process 'win-win' for your employees, organization, you, and the overall companywide culture.
On the other hand, if the employee fails to commit to and make a turnaround in their mindset and behavior after you've introduced them to and taken them through the entire 10-step process, you have to make the best decision for your company. This employee is not a good fit for the vision, purpose, mission, or culture of your organization. The best decision to make at this point is to let this employee go to make room for the hiring of a new employee who is the right fit.
When your company's culture is about taking joint accountability for results, employees will refrain from engaging in negative behaviors or be willing to do whatever it takes to quickly turn a negative behavior around into a positive behavior or support the improvement process of another employee. Instead of sarcastic comments, disgruntled workdays, explosive outbursts, and complaints, employees will ask what more they can do to help their team members and contribute to companywide success. There is no room for negative attitudes or toxic behaviors in this kind of productive, supportive, positively engaging, and high morale-filled workplace culture.
If you need help fostering such a positive culture, consider bringing in a proven organizational and professional development consultant like me for in-house training and leadership coaching and development.
Hello! What challenges are you currently having with a negative employee? What strategy have you attempted to use to turn your negative employee around into a positive and productive team member? Please feel free to share your input by commenting below. Thank you in advance for sharing.
About the Author: Ty Howard,
Founder, CEO and Editor in Chief of MOTIVATION magazine
Ty Howard is an organizational development consultant and executive and manager development coach. He's an internationally recognized authority on personal, professional, relationships and success habits development. He is the creator and lead facilitator of the trademarked Untie the Knots® Process, and the author of the best-selling book Untie the Knots® That Tie Up Your Life: A Practical Guide to Freeing Yourself from Toxic Habits, Choices, People, and Relationships, as well as dozens of published articles on relationships, healthy habits development, empowerment and peak performance worldwide.
For information on the author click on the following link: Ty Howard.
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