One Person

Recently, a man came up to me after one of my management workshops. He said that he supervises a collection of small teams and that all but one of the employees are enthusiastic and capable.

The one negative employee, however, pulls down the entire group. The supervisor has tried corrective action but upper management, spooked by fear of litigation, keeps postponing anything decisive.

In the meantime, the workplace continues to suffer.

I cannot tell you how many times I've heard of such situations. Setting aside the possibility that the supervisor could be the problem or that the loner could be the victim of inadequate training, discrimination or harassment - and those are matters that need to be considered - the willingness to permit a dysfunctional employee to harm morale, efficiency, and effectiveness is one of the greatest challenges of management.

Usually, upper management is the culprit. They don't trust the first-line supervisors and suspect they may be exaggerating and/or exacerbating the problem. They are wary of any decision that may require prolonged contact with lawyers. They want to solve the problem, but do not want to take responsibility for solving the problem. Since these managers, unlike the immediate supervisor, don't have to work with the difficult employee or endure the frustration of the person's co-workers, they are under little pressure to make things right. Inaction to them equals no stress. Inaction to the immediate supervisor and the co-workers equals increased stress.

These cases need to be put on a corrective process that will lead, in a reasonably prompt period of time depending upon the nature of the problem, to a definitive resolution. Permitting matters to drag on for years is unacceptable.

That procrastination sends a daily message to the supervisor and the employees who are trying to do the right thing: Upper management does not care.