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Managing problem employees: Ask how, not why
Business Horizons (2010) 53, 539—541
www.elsevier.com/locate/bushor
GUEST EDITORS’ PERSPECTIVE
Managing problem employees: Ask how, not why David J. Ketchen Jr.a,*, M. Ronald Buckley b a b
College of Business, Auburn University, Lowder Business Building, Suite 401, Auburn, AL 36849, U.S.A. Price College of Business, University of Oklahoma, 307 West Brooks, Norman, OK 73072, U.S.A.
There seems to be some perverse human characteristic that likes to make easy things difficult. Warren Buffett
People: The ultimate wild card In a perfect world, doing one’s job would be pretty simple. You would arrive at your place of employment, pursue your assigned tasks and responsibilities for the duration of the work day, and then go home. But, alas, the working world is not perfect and events often go wrong. One persistent problem within organizations–—as well as on school playgrounds–—is that some people behave badly. When encountering problem employees, it is tempting for managers to wonder why some people are difficult. Our position is that this is the wrong issue to ponder, and might lead us astray. As our opening epigram from legendary investor Warren Buffett suggests, the presence of difficult people within an organization is inevitable. It appears to be equally inevitable that problem employees will undermine organizational productivity if they are left unchecked. Thus, the key issue for managers is figuring out how to remedy the counterproductive behavior of problem employees. Recently, we offered some thoughts on how to better manage time bandits: employees who receive full time wages but provide less than full time work in * Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (D.J. Ketchen Jr.), [email protected] (M.R. Buckley).
return (Ketchen, Craighead, & Buckley, 2008). Our suggestion that many people engage in time banditry seems to have struck a nerve. We received the same general response from contacts who work in a wide ‘‘ cross section of industries: These people are found throughout my organization, and the bosses do nothing about them.’’ But time bandits are just one variety of problem employees. Our purpose in developing this special ‘‘ issue on Managing Problem Employees was to offer a rogues’ gallery’’ of different types of difficult employees and–—more importantly–—to provide insights on how each type can be better managed, and their deleterious influences on organizations minimized.
A rogues’ gallery The Cyberloafer The term cyberloafer appears to be complex, but it simply refers to an employee who spends work time on the Internet pursuing personal interests. In ‘‘ Loafing in the 21st century: Enhanced opportunities– —and remedies–—for withholding job effort in the new workplace,’’ Roland Kidwell describes a number of ways in which employees cyberloaf, such as updating social media, shopping, and web surfing in general. The workplace of the 21st century has changed dramatically. In particular, the increased availability of information and the number of options when dealing with information have geometrically increased the number of ways in which individuals can engage in cyberloafing. Paradoxically, those factors that
0007-6813/$ — see front matter # 2010 Kelley School of Business, Indiana University. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.bushor.2010.05.008
540
GUEST EDITORS’ PERSPECTIVE
facilitate cyberloafing can be harnessed to ensure that this behavior is minimized. Computer monitoring, along with more effective supervision and the development of individual accountability, can create an environment in which cyberloafing gives way to more of an emphasis on job performance.
touch with employees to deter violent episodes. By creating an atmosphere within which managers take an interest in and are sensitive to the needs of employees, larger organizations can duplicate small business practices that seem to be successful in minimizing violence.
The Bully
The Problem Executive
Workplace bullies advance their own interests ‘‘ through intimidating those around them. In Eating their cake and everyone else’s cake, too: Resources as the main ingredient to workplace bullying,’’ Anthony Wheeler, Jonathon Halbesleben, and Kristen Shanine discuss how bullies undermine productivity by reducing the status of co-workers and creating a hostile work environment. Surprisingly, personality factors are not strongly tied to bullying. Instead, situational factors in the workplace explain when a workplace bully will emerge. Researchers have struggled to devise proactive solutions to bullying because most data on bullying comes from victims. Bullies are difficult to involve in research. By emphasizing the role of resources in bullying, the authors generate a number of proactive suggestions that promise to reduce bullying at work.
Just like rank and file workers, some managers’ behavior runs counter to their organizations’ best interests. Two of the special issue articles present ways to minimize bad behavior by executives. In ‘‘ Dysfunctional executive behavior: What can organizations do?,’’ James Summers, Timothy Munyon, Alexa Perryman, and Gerald Ferris suggest that the design of executives’ positions influences their tendency for self-serving and unethical behavior. Executive work should be designed around accountability, the effective use of discretionary resources, and developing functional strategic relationships. These factors will facilitate the appropriate checks and balances, and thus reduce unwanted behavior. Government committees are currently studying Wall Street executives to discover how their unethical behaviors may have ‘‘facilitated recent jolts to the financial system. In When managers pressure employees to behave badly: Toward a comprehensive response,’’ Ben Tepper suggests that there is one causal factor that has received scant attention: the pressure from higher organizational authorities to behave unethically. Organizations can reduce the likelihood of managers behaving badly by training them to embrace core values of honesty and integrity, and by giving them the tools to recognize and resist pressure from above to behave unethically.
The Impaired ‘‘ In Impaired employees: Lessons learned from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,’’ Michael Harvey, Miriam Moeller, Hugh Sloan, and Alex Williams examine employees’ psychological, cognitive, and behavioral disorders and how these disorders may be destructive to an organization. Using characters from the classic story of Dorothy’s journey to Oz and back home again, maladies are defined and their manifestations in organizations are discussed. Importantly, suggestions are made concerning who should intervene, how they should intervene, and how ‘‘ managers can create an environment where all characters’’ can flourish.
The Violent Stories of workplace‘‘‘ violence appear in the media on a regular basis. In Where everybody knows your name’: Lessons from small business about preventing workplace violence,’’ Anthony Klotz and Mike Buckley suggest that workplace violence in large organizations might be reduced if managers draw insights from small, friendly organizations such as the fictional bar depicted in the situation comedy, Cheers. Large organizations possess the resources to create formal mechanisms such as security forces to prevent workplace violence. The same cannot be said for smaller organizations; they must rely on a more personal
The Diva Divas are not only found on stage and screen; they also inhabit organizations. A workplace diva craves a metaphorical spotlight at work. This leads divas to behave in ways that create attention for themselves, ‘‘ but that also undermine productivity. In Divas at work: Dealing with drama kings and queens in organizations,’’ Dave Ketchen and Mike Buckley identify seven characteristics of workplace divas that can help others identify divas, and that can help each reader discover if s/he has diva tendencies. Unfortunately, many of the common tactics for dealing with diva behavior (such as appeasement) not only fail to reverse diva behavior, but actually encourage more diva behavior. In response to this dilemma, a series of suggestions are offered to help managers either shape divas into productive employees or facilitate divas’ departure from the workplace.
GUEST EDITORS’ PERSPECTIVE The final article in this special issue ties all of the other articles together in that it offers suggestions for dealing with‘‘ problem employees from a legal perspective. In Dealing with problem employees: A legal guide for employers,’’ Carolyn Plump draws on her extensive experience as an attorney to provide a primer on employment law for managers. She explains what managerial actions are–—and are not–—legally sound, taking into account the volume of relevant legislation and case law. By following these guidelines, managers should be better prepared to confront the unenviable but inevitable task of managing problem employees and the complex challenges that such employees create.
Who do you recognize? One of our aims in compiling this special issue was that every reader of Business Horizons would find
541 some value within the collection of articles. We believe this aim has been realized. Virtually any organization contains one or more members of our rogues’ gallery of problem employees: the Cyberloafer, the Bully, the Impaired, the Violent, the Problem Executive, and the Diva. As a result, we are optimistic that each reader will discover at least one useful suggestion in the articles that follow. In closing, we want to express our gratitude to Catherine Dalton, the editor of Business Horizons, for providing us with the opportunity to edit this special issue. We hope that we were not problem employees!
Reference Ketchen, D., Craighead, C., & Buckley, M. (2008). Time bandits: How they are created, why they are tolerated, and what can be done about them. Business Horizons, 51(2), 141—149.
www.elsevier.com/locate/bushor
GUEST EDITORS’ PERSPECTIVE
Managing problem employees: Ask how, not why David J. Ketchen Jr.a,*, M. Ronald Buckley b a b
College of Business, Auburn University, Lowder Business Building, Suite 401, Auburn, AL 36849, U.S.A. Price College of Business, University of Oklahoma, 307 West Brooks, Norman, OK 73072, U.S.A.
There seems to be some perverse human characteristic that likes to make easy things difficult. Warren Buffett
People: The ultimate wild card In a perfect world, doing one’s job would be pretty simple. You would arrive at your place of employment, pursue your assigned tasks and responsibilities for the duration of the work day, and then go home. But, alas, the working world is not perfect and events often go wrong. One persistent problem within organizations–—as well as on school playgrounds–—is that some people behave badly. When encountering problem employees, it is tempting for managers to wonder why some people are difficult. Our position is that this is the wrong issue to ponder, and might lead us astray. As our opening epigram from legendary investor Warren Buffett suggests, the presence of difficult people within an organization is inevitable. It appears to be equally inevitable that problem employees will undermine organizational productivity if they are left unchecked. Thus, the key issue for managers is figuring out how to remedy the counterproductive behavior of problem employees. Recently, we offered some thoughts on how to better manage time bandits: employees who receive full time wages but provide less than full time work in * Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (D.J. Ketchen Jr.), [email protected] (M.R. Buckley).
return (Ketchen, Craighead, & Buckley, 2008). Our suggestion that many people engage in time banditry seems to have struck a nerve. We received the same general response from contacts who work in a wide ‘‘ cross section of industries: These people are found throughout my organization, and the bosses do nothing about them.’’ But time bandits are just one variety of problem employees. Our purpose in developing this special ‘‘ issue on Managing Problem Employees was to offer a rogues’ gallery’’ of different types of difficult employees and–—more importantly–—to provide insights on how each type can be better managed, and their deleterious influences on organizations minimized.
A rogues’ gallery The Cyberloafer The term cyberloafer appears to be complex, but it simply refers to an employee who spends work time on the Internet pursuing personal interests. In ‘‘ Loafing in the 21st century: Enhanced opportunities– —and remedies–—for withholding job effort in the new workplace,’’ Roland Kidwell describes a number of ways in which employees cyberloaf, such as updating social media, shopping, and web surfing in general. The workplace of the 21st century has changed dramatically. In particular, the increased availability of information and the number of options when dealing with information have geometrically increased the number of ways in which individuals can engage in cyberloafing. Paradoxically, those factors that
0007-6813/$ — see front matter # 2010 Kelley School of Business, Indiana University. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.bushor.2010.05.008
540
GUEST EDITORS’ PERSPECTIVE
facilitate cyberloafing can be harnessed to ensure that this behavior is minimized. Computer monitoring, along with more effective supervision and the development of individual accountability, can create an environment in which cyberloafing gives way to more of an emphasis on job performance.
touch with employees to deter violent episodes. By creating an atmosphere within which managers take an interest in and are sensitive to the needs of employees, larger organizations can duplicate small business practices that seem to be successful in minimizing violence.
The Bully
The Problem Executive
Workplace bullies advance their own interests ‘‘ through intimidating those around them. In Eating their cake and everyone else’s cake, too: Resources as the main ingredient to workplace bullying,’’ Anthony Wheeler, Jonathon Halbesleben, and Kristen Shanine discuss how bullies undermine productivity by reducing the status of co-workers and creating a hostile work environment. Surprisingly, personality factors are not strongly tied to bullying. Instead, situational factors in the workplace explain when a workplace bully will emerge. Researchers have struggled to devise proactive solutions to bullying because most data on bullying comes from victims. Bullies are difficult to involve in research. By emphasizing the role of resources in bullying, the authors generate a number of proactive suggestions that promise to reduce bullying at work.
Just like rank and file workers, some managers’ behavior runs counter to their organizations’ best interests. Two of the special issue articles present ways to minimize bad behavior by executives. In ‘‘ Dysfunctional executive behavior: What can organizations do?,’’ James Summers, Timothy Munyon, Alexa Perryman, and Gerald Ferris suggest that the design of executives’ positions influences their tendency for self-serving and unethical behavior. Executive work should be designed around accountability, the effective use of discretionary resources, and developing functional strategic relationships. These factors will facilitate the appropriate checks and balances, and thus reduce unwanted behavior. Government committees are currently studying Wall Street executives to discover how their unethical behaviors may have ‘‘facilitated recent jolts to the financial system. In When managers pressure employees to behave badly: Toward a comprehensive response,’’ Ben Tepper suggests that there is one causal factor that has received scant attention: the pressure from higher organizational authorities to behave unethically. Organizations can reduce the likelihood of managers behaving badly by training them to embrace core values of honesty and integrity, and by giving them the tools to recognize and resist pressure from above to behave unethically.
The Impaired ‘‘ In Impaired employees: Lessons learned from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,’’ Michael Harvey, Miriam Moeller, Hugh Sloan, and Alex Williams examine employees’ psychological, cognitive, and behavioral disorders and how these disorders may be destructive to an organization. Using characters from the classic story of Dorothy’s journey to Oz and back home again, maladies are defined and their manifestations in organizations are discussed. Importantly, suggestions are made concerning who should intervene, how they should intervene, and how ‘‘ managers can create an environment where all characters’’ can flourish.
The Violent Stories of workplace‘‘‘ violence appear in the media on a regular basis. In Where everybody knows your name’: Lessons from small business about preventing workplace violence,’’ Anthony Klotz and Mike Buckley suggest that workplace violence in large organizations might be reduced if managers draw insights from small, friendly organizations such as the fictional bar depicted in the situation comedy, Cheers. Large organizations possess the resources to create formal mechanisms such as security forces to prevent workplace violence. The same cannot be said for smaller organizations; they must rely on a more personal
The Diva Divas are not only found on stage and screen; they also inhabit organizations. A workplace diva craves a metaphorical spotlight at work. This leads divas to behave in ways that create attention for themselves, ‘‘ but that also undermine productivity. In Divas at work: Dealing with drama kings and queens in organizations,’’ Dave Ketchen and Mike Buckley identify seven characteristics of workplace divas that can help others identify divas, and that can help each reader discover if s/he has diva tendencies. Unfortunately, many of the common tactics for dealing with diva behavior (such as appeasement) not only fail to reverse diva behavior, but actually encourage more diva behavior. In response to this dilemma, a series of suggestions are offered to help managers either shape divas into productive employees or facilitate divas’ departure from the workplace.
GUEST EDITORS’ PERSPECTIVE The final article in this special issue ties all of the other articles together in that it offers suggestions for dealing with‘‘ problem employees from a legal perspective. In Dealing with problem employees: A legal guide for employers,’’ Carolyn Plump draws on her extensive experience as an attorney to provide a primer on employment law for managers. She explains what managerial actions are–—and are not–—legally sound, taking into account the volume of relevant legislation and case law. By following these guidelines, managers should be better prepared to confront the unenviable but inevitable task of managing problem employees and the complex challenges that such employees create.
Who do you recognize? One of our aims in compiling this special issue was that every reader of Business Horizons would find
541 some value within the collection of articles. We believe this aim has been realized. Virtually any organization contains one or more members of our rogues’ gallery of problem employees: the Cyberloafer, the Bully, the Impaired, the Violent, the Problem Executive, and the Diva. As a result, we are optimistic that each reader will discover at least one useful suggestion in the articles that follow. In closing, we want to express our gratitude to Catherine Dalton, the editor of Business Horizons, for providing us with the opportunity to edit this special issue. We hope that we were not problem employees!
Reference Ketchen, D., Craighead, C., & Buckley, M. (2008). Time bandits: How they are created, why they are tolerated, and what can be done about them. Business Horizons, 51(2), 141—149.