Have you sometimes wondered why running your business seems so hard and you feel like giving up?

The most common reason I’ve heard is that difficult employees are sucking the life out of the business owner.

Behaviour issues with employees are causing significant stress to the business owner.

So what should you do? How can you go forward in this situation?

Step 1:
Identify who is either difficult or likely to become a difficult employee.

You only need to ask yourself one simple question to find the answer.

“Does this employee add energy or take energy from my business?”

This very simple question has helped many business owners get quickly to the source of current or future difficult employees.

Step 2:
Identify the unique behavioural traits of the employee.

Many individuals are unaware of themselves nor their effect on those around them. In the work place it is critical to be able to co operate with other people in a team so that you all perform at your best.

In smaller business this becomes more critical because many people have multiple tasks and often there are few written procedures. It all comes down to working with each other.

There are many tools around which can help identify these traits. The most common are DISC and Myers Briggs, but my personal favourite is Business DNA which can quickly identify the strengths, struggles and relational keys for an individual.

Step 3:
Ensure that the work requirements match the behavioural traits of the employee.

If an employee is continually struggling in their job then it is only a matter of time before they drop in performance and become discouraged and create a problem.

You can see that if someone is struggling they will obviously take energy out of your business and ‘cause you grief!’

Often people have taken on a job for money rather than enjoyment and in these circumstances it is almost impossible for the person to add energy to your business over the long haul.

Have you had any experiences with difficult employees you’d like to share?

How can you be sure that you’re not taking on difficult employees who will bring ‘heart ache’ into your business?

It all starts with employing people and making sure that you’re getting what you think you’re getting. So as part of the hiring process we suggest you follow these two golden rules.

Golden Rule #1
Develop a process for testing the specific skills required in the job.

Many business owners in their haste to fill a gap do not go through a rigorous process for hiring employees.

Think about the specific requirements and develop a series of tests that will ensure the person can actually DO them rather than talking about it.

A client of ours has developed a maths test which all employees must pass as part of the interview and since implementing this has had relatively no issues with hiring for the competencies of that particular job.

Make sure you get potential employees to perform some actual work not just go through a spoken interview.

Golden Rule #2
Develop a process for testing the behavioural skills for the job.

There is a uniqueness about every employee in your business. The last thing you would intentionally do is hire someone into a position where they would continually struggle!

Although you may think that many people are alike, getting the best out of your employees and matching that uniqueness and skills to the job will ensure you maximise the benefit of employees to your business.

Unfortunately many business owners don’t test for this as part of their interview process and then about three months later are confronted by the “real” employee rather than the “interview” employee.

There are many different tools you can use such as DISC and Myers Briggs but the particular one we use is called Business DNA.

Using tools like these can make sure you have an objective measure of the behavioural strengths and struggles before an employee starts in your business.

What’s your experience in hiring employees?

One of the most frustrating things for a business owner that I have observed is when their best employee becomes difficult.

Now there is a real problem because the person who in the past has helped them the most is becoming difficult and they’re faced with what I call a ‘double whammy.’

The help has gone and in its place you have one of your difficult employees!

So how do you stop this occurring and where is the source of this new behaviour?

The chances of stopping someone becoming difficult are very rare for a business owner because in running your business you won’t even notice until you have a problem.

So most of this post is devoted to discovering where the problem came from so you can honestly face up to it.

When people change their behaviour it is normally a result of something changing in their circumstances (environment).

So the first step in dealing with the situation is to determine what environment has brought about the change in behaviour.

Place 1 – Work environment
Often as business owners we can forget the perspective that employees have of our business. It is a place where they work but they rarely have the same attachment as the business owner.

On the other hand it would be incorrect to assume that work environment was not important to employees.

So when you see a change in the behaviour of your best employee the first place to look is whether there is a change in the work environment.

Has there been a new employee hired who has changed the dynamic in your business?

Has there been an employee who has left and this is making your best employees job all the more difficult?

Has there been a change is a major customer of supplier which is bringing different pressures on this employee?

Make sure you consider all the interactions that the employee has with all the stake holders in the business.

Place 2 – Home environment
I’ve often heard business owners instruct their employees to leave their home problems at home when they come to work. While this is good sound advice it is sometimes impossible.

Human beings are unable in stressful circumstances to shut off the pressures that come from their home environment.

Home environments are often more emotional places and can be particularly stressful when the people who you love are causing you grief. The problem with trying to leave these problems at home is that you can do it for a while but the pressure just builds up and up.

Your best employee probably has been trying to leave all the problems at home but if they’re your best employee then likely people at home rely on them for being the best mother or father at home as well.

Suppressing the behaviour means that things are building up and when they come out it can look like a tsunami or atomic explosion which most often arrives completely unexpectedly and make quite a big mess.

Place 3 – Extra curricular environment
The best employees often find their ways into leadership positions at schools, clubs or religious organisations.

Often they are following a passion because they have to find the time to be involved with these organisations.

When things blow up there can be more emotion than even a family environment because the person is dealing with their passion.

This can be as simple as a change in the leadership structure of the club so they feel left out or as difficult as them having to deal with the exact situation at the club that you’re dealing with them.

They had someone who they relied on and now that person is giving them grief.

Where are the places you have discovered issues have emerged from in dealing with your best employee?

The greatest resource you can have in your business is employees who bring energy, vitality and strength into your business.

Many small and medium businesses in western economies are service business or they rely heavily on customer service for their success.

In these businesses the quality of employees can be the difference between a highly profitable business and one that just scrapes by!

When dealing with people, often more is thought than said, so situations can go unnoticed for quite some time until everything ‘boils over’ and you have a real problem in your business.

Have you ever been in the situation where your best employee did something that shocked and disappointed you?

The problem is that they are your best employee and without them your business would suffer significantly!

The reality is that difficult employees can affect the whole atmosphere of your business so you need to find a way to address their behaviour before it affects other people.

A difficult employee can often get the job done but leave a trail of disappointed people behind them shaking their heads and wondering when that person will consider their interests at all! Another form of difficult employee is the one who is highly reserved and you can find what they think or feel on anything at all!

So how is the best way to address a difficult employee?

You will find there are many courses and books regarding conflict and the best way to deal with it ‘head on’.

I personally believe that if some time was taken to understand the employee behaviourally then confronting the difficult employee would be much easier because you would have a better context from which to deal with the situation.

The best behavioural tool we have found is called Business DNA and it work with three basic parts of a person.

1. Strengths of the person.
These are the traits which everyone admires about a person.

These are the traits which a person can build their career around and it is highly unlikely that you are having a problem with the difficult employee around their strengths.

These will be the parts you admire and rely on to get your business going well.

2. Struggles of a person
These are the traits where difficulties arise. More often than not this is where relational difficulties are experienced and where problems emerge.

When someone is struggling they never give of their best and if you’re not aware that a person is struggling because they are different to you, then you’ll normally judge the person rather than ‘cutting them some slack’.

The most difficult thing is to realise that a person is struggling because no one wants to own up to their struggles in the work place. No one wants to admit that something is difficult for them because it might affect their future job opportunities. So they struggle in silence hoping that no one is going to notice.

You may have heard people suggest that you can turn your weaknesses into strengths. We have found that this is simply not true because for every strength, there is a corresponding struggle.

They come together as a package like two sides of the same coin. Take away the struggle and the strength goes with it so we are left with working to our strengths and managing our struggles effectively.

3. Unique relationship keys
Finding out how a person struggles is actually the key for relating to that person and without this you can inadvertently press someone’s button without realising it.

Once you do this the difficult employee will likely have a confrontation or quickly disengage from the situation leaving you with a relational mess.

Every person has keys that unlock the best in them and it is important to know this for everyone but most importantly for difficult employees.

If you have never done any behaviour work with yourself or the employees in your business then it might be time to start today. If you would like more information then click on this link