Suppose you have 5 team members under you, one of them doesn't like you and he is actually very difficult personality to deal with?

Dear Seniors,

Recently, I attended an interview in an MNC for a team leader's profile, and I was successful in answering most of the questions. However, one question turned into a lengthy discussion, which could have been a trap. I did my best to answer it effectively based on my experience. Nonetheless, I feel it may not have been satisfactory to them.

I have now started applying for Team Leader positions and would appreciate expert advice from you seniors. Please advise on what an 'ideal answer' to such a situation could have been.

Question: 'Suppose you have 5 team members under you, and one of them doesn't like you. He is a challenging personality to deal with and has not been proactive in meeting targets. Despite achieving 70% of the targets, he refuses to work further, claiming satisfaction with his current performance. He is even okay with being fired but refuses to work. The senior management insists on retaining him due to the current situation where any attrition is undesirable.

Moreover, his negative influence on other team members may lead to their resignation if he leaves. He complains about insufficient leave and overdue appraisals. As the team leader, how would you handle this scenario?'

In my response, I mentioned strategies such as communication, seeking advice from seniors, counseling, evaluating his work history and revenue output, and offering solutions for target achievement. I also suggested organizing a team outing to alleviate tensions. However, it seemed that the manager was not impressed with my answer.

I would appreciate your guidance on how to handle such situations if they arise in the future or during interviews at an MNC.

Thank you in advance.

This is a hypothetical situation. In any organization people are hired to work and they need to work to continue their jobs. In this situation where the person is not willing to work and has influence on the team and also you can’t fire him then this is what I will do:
a) Make him SPOC (Single Point of Contact) for the team for various activities and make him feel more responsible.
b) Highlight his positive behavior in the team.
c) Find out what motivates him.
d) Develop more rapport with the other 4 members so that I have more influence on them.
e) Make him aware of his KRAs and KPIs and hold team meetings to make him understand where he is lacking. And do this tactfully by taking feedback from the members.

While options (a) and (b) are good suggestions, I did insist on (c) and (d) at the time of the interview. (c), according to the manager, was a salary hike and leaves. He did not really say anything about (d) when I suggested it. (e), according to him, was "you have already done that," but he simply is not interested in working on areas where he lacks as he is fully satisfied with his 70% target achievements.

Thank you anyway for your suggestions :)

Hello Atul Sharma,

I don't think this is a hypothetical situation... I have seen similar (though NOT exactly identical) situations earlier.

Hello Anonymous,

First of all, remove from your mind while you are in the Interview room that this is JUST an I/V question. Visualize that you are neck-deep into a REAL situation. Else your whole thought process goes off on a tangent (this applies to just about any such I/V questions).

Coming to the issue, give him a chance to TOTALLY express his anger... one distinct possibility COULD be that others have only been seeing the manifestations of his frustration. Either none have given any thought on the reason(s) OR he wasn't given a chance to express.

Usually once anyone gives vent to & drains out his/her frustrating thoughts, it's only then that any corrective measures can really work (suggestions-a to c what Atul Sharma mentioned). Else, in all probability, you are hitting your head against a wall. It's something like a glass needs to be emptied before you can fill it again with whatever you want.

Incidentally, Atul Sharma's suggestion (d) WILL be counter-productive--don't ever try it when you haven't handled the guy who's the cause. You will be perceived more as a Manipulator than a problem-solver IF you use it too soon.

Next, sit with him & begin to be a part of HIS problem... now this COULD turn out to be tricky. I am sure none are 100% happy in any Organization... everyone usually has something or the other to crib about, including you in your present Company (please note that these are issues that fall into a peculiar category "nothing that you can really highlight as a problem & crib about, but at the same time nothing that you can just forget too"). The work gets done, but the hit is usually on the person's "Happiness/Job-satisfaction". DON'T run down the Company here; only share YOUR experiences of a similar nature.

Hope you get the point.

The general human psychology is to share things/thoughts with those who have undergone the same or similar situations... the belief being that only they can understand me well who have gone through the same cycle (right or wrong is usually never an issue here).

Once you get the inputs on the reason(s)... could be official or personal... then go to the next step.

Take him into confidence & follow up with giving him the responsibility what Atul Sharma mentioned in Point (a).

What reason you give for this step to him depends on this guy's psyche--some like getting an ego kick when THEIR work contributes to others' success (in which case, you can say that 'MY success depends on you'). While some really don't care what happens to you but they wish to prove a point to those who caused him harm or insult or any negative feeling--IF this is this guy's psyche, then just tell him in plain & simple English (NO verbose)... 'I want to prove ALL those guys WRONG & I want YOUR support in this'. From then on, it's no more HIS problem ALONE & he now knows he has support to give it a fair shot.

Take it from me--it works (for me years ago, the II choice worked with an employee--a technically super guy--who just wouldn't listen to anyone except the MD--not even to the GM (who, frankly, was a dunce & only carried his designation weight around) to whom I used to report--but it's ME who had to get work done through him.

Hope this helps you to handle another I/V better.

Regards,

TS

Thank you so much, Tajsateesh sir!

I understand that in this case, the behavioral perspective matters. It is not just the focus on the solution but the method of coming to the solution that is important. Maybe the best strategy for dealing with toxic behavior of employees is prevention!

In short, 'behavioral perspective' matters in just about anything that involves a human being, I guess. How else does one explain the different stands taken by people on the very same issue? Just watch any TV news for an hour. Behavioral perspectives further depend on the individual's past experiences in life, career, or similar situations. If someone gets away with doing something wrong, his/her tendency is to try it out again and again until caught. All the Best.

Rgds, TS

Hi TS,
I said this situation was hypothetical because as per my experience a person’s job performance determines his progress in the organization. If someone is not meeting his KRAs then in most of the cases the supervisor has the option to issue warning letters and CAP (Corrective Action Plan) to that employee.
If a person is a high performer and has some behavioral concerns then I can understand the logic of retaining the employee but if a person is not even meeting his targets and assuming that you have done your bit to influence his behavior and motivate him, I think there is no point retaining that employee. And in my experience, I never encountered a situation where I was told to retain a poor performer after doing the measures to check his performance.
The options you have mentioned are a part of communicating and counseling which Anonymous said that have not worked.

I really wish life was so straight-forward Atul Sharma......seriously :-)

Having worked in different sectors & in different capacities, I have seen guys being promoted even when they are way below the bottom-most guy.......just because of connections or other unprofessional parameters.

I also recollect catching a guy red-handed with documentary proofs in a corruption case but yet he was let go without any issue......his mother was working in the MD's house as a house-keeper [it's another matter that this guy tried to do the same thing in the MD's house itself & both mother & son were thrown out then :-)].

And these were in private sector Companies....not in PSUs.

In a way, at least theoretically "a person’s job performance determines his progress in the organization" is absolutely right. But in reality does a person's performance depend on JUST him/her alone without others' contribution?

When a Manager gives instructions, the rest are supposed to follow them. What IF some guys disobey [for whatever reason(s)].......not outrightly, but by finding ways to circumvent the orders? Such individuals do take the flak, but what about the manager's performance appraisal? He too has to take the flak for the whole teamwork's performance....and in such instances, how much can you say is to be attributed to HIS performance?

There are quite a few nuances in such issues.....many falling in the grey areas than as straight-cut black/white issues.

That's the reason why I usually lay such a stress on 'behavioural perspectives' in HR.......which I would relate to Human Relationships than Human Resources.

Rgds,

TS

The answer is very critical and depends upon the situation and person to person. As the question is half-baked and only a part of it is known. There are no reasons given prior to the incident. There are many cases that this can happen in an organization. What comes to my mind with the experience I have is:

- People have been asked to leave to cut down expenses.
- There is no major career growth.
- Employees do not feel empowered.
- Proper reward and reorganization are not in place.
- There are issues with the calculation of productive resources: means the scale of work being improper.
- A huge difference between finding self-worth with the help of organizational worth (Brand).
- Challenges between what was promised earlier (like promotion or pay rise) not honored.
- Team belonging as work is scattered and not appreciated.

If I am the organization leader, how would I cope up with this challenge?

1. Let him as he is (Cannot change someone in days).
2. Do not try to coach, mentor, or direct such employees. Such employees are prone to get personal and leave immediately.
3. Make a roadmap where each team member shares equal responsibility.
4. Tie him with a buddy who would take care of him.
5. The buddy can help him to cope up.
6. Have out-of-office get-together to understand the root cause. (Some family issues can be prevailing, an ailing mother, a broken relationship).
7. Appreciate only when he has done good work; false appreciation may spoil other team members as well.
8. Have some kind of tournaments to understand the spirits.
9. Have internal (Go-getter) Championships. Making each and everyone responsible for the task.
10. The most important is DO NOT in any way let others know or him know that there is an issue in the team. Be self-motivated, crack jokes, take it easy - focusing on the end goal.

I think such issues prevail because (more or less) contribute to the money factor. Appraisals it is! I have heard of MNCs (and these are very well known in India) that do not give any appraisals at all, even to a performer, for years together. This piles up as frustration towards the company. Correct me if I am wrong.

There are also some facts that people are confident enough that a competitor employer may be ready to hire them, which is why losing out on one job does not really matter.

Personal issues (as mentioned by respected kam27896 above) should not affect to the extent that someone decides they are okay if they are fired but they won't continue to achieve targets and influence others. This certainly does not look like someone is having some issues on the personal life front. This is a result of frustration towards something that as an employer did not do, which was expected.

Yes, 'behavioral perspectives' do matter here, and the remedy should lie somewhere between behavioral and performance itself.