Do you have a difficult person that you have to work with? And by difficult, I mean a person that does not do things the same as you would do them and they cause conflict between other staff members or maybe even with you. So you fire them right? After all, who wants a difficult person? NO, you can’t just get rid of someone just because you don’t see eye to eye, however you do need to figure out ways that you can make it work.
Training:
If the person knows you are willing to invest in them to help them do their job better they are much more likely to blend in with your work culture. There is a lot of training out there to help someone become a better team player and that helps a lot. Also, do team building exercises to help build trust among your staff so they can work better together.
Counseling:
If there is a conflict you can have meetings to work with the individuals involved to help them air out their differences and find ways to get along better. Give incentives for completed tasks or goals that move them in the direction of working more as a cohesive unit.
Evaluate:
Maybe the person is difficult because they are not suited for the position they are in and if they are given responsibility in an area they have strengths in then they will thrive. Take a good look at what each of your staff is good at and what areas they need work in. Make sure they are a good fit for what they are doing and receive training for what they lack in.
Leadership:
It takes a good leader to recognize when there are issues among the staff and to take action towards resolution. If the leadership takes an interest then it helps the staff believe that their concerns matter and will be addressed. If you ignore the problem it won’t go away.
If you have taken the time to train someone, counsel them on their behavior or competency, evaluate their performance and provided them with strong leadership and they are still not working out then you might find it is time to go your separate ways. It is extremely important that you have really worked to find a resolution for the employee because you would not want to lose a valuable employee because you made a rash decision to give up on them too soon. In some cases business profitability is at stake and sometimes an independent consultant can find a solution so this employee in a position that is better suited to their skills and productive.
