This column answers your questions on leadership, talent management, performance improvement and the employee behavioural issues that can cause even the best leadership techniques to go awry. This time a disruptive team member is causing a management headache for a team leader.

The dilemma

A team leader in a government organisation has inherited a new team within the last three months. Within the team are a number of difficult characters, with whom she is coping and managing towards shared goals and objectives. However, one member of the team is extremely disruptive. She repeatedly and agressively challenges the manager in front of the rest of the team.

The team member’s sickness record isn’t great, but some of it is DDA qualifying. The manager is therefore very careful with any feedback, so that it doesn’t set the employee back on the sick. That aside, the team member is actually not very good at the job. Her quality is poor and therefore the manager has to explain repeatedly how to do tasks according to policy & procedure.

This is done in a calm and patient manner and not at all agressively. However, each time the manager has to raise an issue with this team member, the team member gets agitated and phones the union to discuss, threatens to bring a grievance against the manager etc etc.

Whilst more senior managers are aware of the situation, very little support is being provided to the team leader, other than reassurance that she is doing the right thing.

However, the employees behaviour is such that the team leader is now herself becoming ill. She wants to raise a grievance against the employee but is being advised against this.

What advice do you have for the team leader on how to proceed?
 

Advice

Based solely on the information that you have provided, there are many things to consider before you decide what your best options are to resolve the situation that you are in.

On examination it seems that the following points are relevant:
1.    The team leader is already managing a difficult team well
2.    One team member is aggressive and challenging the team leader
3.    Poor sickness record of team leader – some of it DDA qualifying
4.    The team member is a poor performer, with poor quality work
5.    The team member is intimidating and threatening her team leader
6.    Senior managers are aware of the situation and are not providing adequate support
7.    The team leader is becoming ill
8.    The team leader wants to put in a grievance against the employee

This is an interesting problem and it is possible that this company has confused two important and separate but related issues. These issues are performance and DDA qualifying sickness.

The real issue with the employee is her performance, and her conduct, not her disability. The company should consider starting there when looking to resolve the problem. The first point above suggests that there is no real issue with the team leader’s management skills as they are already managing a difficult team well.

This is important when you consider that it appears from points 6 and 7 that it is the behaviour of the employee and the lack of senior management support that is causing the team leader to become ill.

The personal credibility of the team leader becomes affected as well and the company faces consistency and loss of employee engagement issues.

If the company does not address this adequately, they will undoubtedly be at risk of a claim from the team leader as well; this may prove to be prohibitive. Coupled with the decreasing performance of a good employee (the team leader), the resulting loss of morale, the soon to be decreasing performance of the whole department, the poor performance of the one employee could have a devastating effect on the whole company.

Points 2, 4 and 5 tell us that the team member is disrespectful and not performing to the company’s satisfaction. Her behaviour is unacceptable to the company, although it’s been allowed to continue for some time.

The company should consider setting up a performance improvement plan that is designed to get her performance up to standard. Her disability should be considered in conjunction with the plan. If necessary a report should be sought from an Occupational Doctor to see whether there needs to be any adjustments made to the plan.

It is important that the company works from a basis of fact rather than assumption. All too often companies assume that if an employee has a disability it means that they are able to perform or otherwise as they like. This is not true; the DDA is designed to offer protection to the employee against unlawful discrimination – not a ‘get out of jail card’ to all performance, conduct or capability issues that they may have.

The company should also consider whether disciplinary action surrounding the conduct issues should be sought. It may decide that the last action of intimidation and threatening behaviour is too long ago to be brought up as a disciplinary action. In which case, the employee may be spoken to, ensuring that they are made aware that this behaviour is a gross misconduct one and could lead to a dismissal in the future.

Whether this talk is conducted formally or informally will depend on the circumstances; however, the company should consider whether a file note should be made and the employee offered representation.

In regards to her sickness record (point 3), the company could consider whether there is a capability issue. Is the employee actually able to do the role? The fact that some of the sickness is DDA qualifying should cause some pause. The company should look at the absence record holistically, seeking appropriate medical advice from an Occupational Doctor.

Factors to consider could include: what reasonable adjustments can be made and whether the absence history is acceptable to the company. For example, not all the absence is DDA qualifying, is this a high or low percentage of the overall absence? What actions should the company therefore take?

Finally, point 8 suggests that the team leader wishes to put a grievance in against the employee. This isn’t possible as grievances are made against managers from employees and not visa versa. The team leader is however able to discipline the employee for their poor performance and conduct. They also have the option to take out a grievance against their own manager for not addressing the problem adequately.

Judith Germain is the Founder & Principal Consultant of Dynamic Transitions Ltd, a company which enables organisations to significantly improve the leadership performance of the key individuals in the organisation, whether they are managers or individual team members. A particular specialism is working with mavericks or Troublesome Talent®. Judith is a recognised speaker, trainer and writer on leadership and talent management issues.

She can be contacted at jude@dynamic-transitions.co.uk. For further information please contact Dynamic Transitions Ltd