Dealing With Disrespectful Employees And Fixing A Toxic Worksite
In managing construction projects, it takes a patient and strategic person. To do their job well, construction managers and contractors utilize project management software to keep track of the project’s progress, as well as monitor the resources. But looking after the project is just one part of the equation. Project management for construction has the responsibility of looking after and supervising their employees.
In an environment like construction sites, tensions already run high. Physically and mentally intense tasks can cause the workers’ attitudes to turn sour. While this is common and expected on job sites, this can turn into a big problem when a sour mood can turn into a toxic workplace, especially with difficult employees.
But with the right project management tools and techniques, you can turn a toxic work site into a productive one.
What makes an employee disrespectful?
It’s a universal truth that respect is a must in any workplace, whether it’s between superiors and employees or among crew members. Generally speaking, subordinates must respect their leaders. Unfortunately, respect is a missed trait in some.
In essence, disrespectful employees show unprofessional, rude, inappropriate, and offensive behavior that often stresses or hurts others.
There many different types and instances of employee insubordination and disrespect. Dominant and disrespectful employees typically boss people around, including their bosses. They think that they are superior, so they tend to fixate on other people’s work rather than their own. Hostile, biased, passive-aggressive, and manipulative are other traits disrespectful employees could have.
In some instances, the disrespect is not blatant. For example, employees who procrastinate tend to finish their tasks late, causing considerable delays in the project. This action shows that they have little to no respect for other people’s time and effort.
How to deal with disrespectful employees
- Stay calm and be polite.
Fighting fire with fire is seldom a good thing. If you face an employee with several behavioral problems, try your best to stay calm and be patient. When you angrily confront an already-aggressive employee, a simple reprimand and discussion could escalate into a fight. When they are fueled up, remain calm and wait for them to finish their case.
When aggressive employees are often confronted by equally aggressive managers, chances are they will trigger other employees’ anger, thus causing a workplace to become mismanaged and toxic.
2. Listen with an open mind.
When project managers come across difficult employees, their instincts might tell them to ignore them. They think that if they do this, these employees will stop “seeking attention.” On the contrary, however, employees will continue this behavior until they get what they want. Or, they’ll think that their bosses don’t care, so they continue to act out.
So, the best thing to do is to hear them out first before doing anything. When subordinates show negative behavior, there could be an underlying problem. When you listen to them with an open mind, you’ll most likely find the cause of the problem and know how to address it.
3. Document incidents
Before confronting problematic employees about their behavior, make sure you have all the facts. Without gathering the complete information, things could escalate. Instead of fixing the problem, you could make things worse.
Dig deeper. If they have offended other employees, take time to interview them, and then you can present all the facts to them. Presenting documented accounts of their insubordination and rudeness can limit the chances of making excuses and reacting with hostility.
4. Treat behavioral problems as performance problems.
Treating behavioral problems like performance problems means looking at them with the same severity. In the same way, you would deal with a significant performance problem, treat insubordination and disrespectful employees seriously.
Like with any company problem, give appropriate consequences to their inappropriate actions. Match the severity of the consequence of their actions.
5. Enforce rules
Strictly enforcing rules can both prevent toxic behavior and fix it.
From the get-go, set expectations from them and establish consequences for unprofessional behavior. Also, set improvement expectations.
If they have been problematic in the past, knowing what will come can prevent them from going further. On the same note, if they know what’s to go for when they act out, they can think about it and stop themselves from continuing their negative behavior.
6. Be consistent
When you set employee standards and guidelines, be consistent. Don’t pick favorites — give consequences based on the actions and not the person. Also, react appropriately to the offense, both consequence-wise and time-wise.
For example, you assign them a task this week that’s due in three days. If they fail to accomplish this task by the deadline, react on the day they failed. Do not excuse them on the day and wait longer to show your reaction.
If you wait to reprimand them, they might think that the offense they did was not that severe. Subsequently, they might continue doing that action or anything similar.
7. Be direct and give feedback.
Aside from ignoring negative behavior, employers tend to go around the bush when reprimanding problematic employees. When they do this, this makes employees impatient and even more aggressive. Do not feed their anger by speaking indirectly.
And instead of complaining about them around the company, speak to them directly and get to the root cause of the problem. By speaking plainly and being specific, you can pinpoint what must be done. Being plain and clear about goals and changes can limit adverse reactions and will more likely result in direct and specific modifications.
8. Praise positive change
Change in disrespectful and difficult employees can be difficult. Their pride can get in the way of positive change. So, it’s a massive achievement for them to welcome criticism and change. When you notice this, offer praise and encouragement. This will push them to further their journey to becoming better employees and better people. With positive feedback coming their way from their superiors, they can avoid reverting to their negative habits. When small, infrequent slip-ups occur, they could get worse and would require another correcting conversion.
9. Cut ties
When employees are unwilling to change and cannot accept change, the best thing to do is fire those problematic employees. Keeping them on can make the workplace even more toxic and hinder productivity. Instead of wasting energy on a disrespectful employee who does not want to listen, let them go and direct that energy to positive people and cultivate a healthy worksite culture.
Keeping toxic people on can even jeopardize the company. You would not want these kinds of people interacting with clients. More than that, they are likely to affect and influence other employees, thus decreasing efficiency and productivity. So, create space for competent members to join.
Preventing Toxic Behavior In A Workplace
The impact of a toxic construction site is larger than you’d expect. When workers feel stressed because of a fellow’s actions, their performances are likely to decrease, thus resulting in delays in the project. So, the best and simplest way to handle a toxic work environment is to prevent it.
a. Hire the right people
Interviews are integral in building companies. Therefore, company runners and managers must pay attention during interviews. Are they open to feedback and change? Do you think they offer more than their trade skills?
Similar to building construction, creating a healthy and positive foundation of employees will make an excellent future for the company. On the same note, having incapable and toxic employees can be the downfall of the business.
b. Treat all employees with respect.
It’s basic human decency to treat people equally, with kindness, and with respect. When they have committed mistakes or have violated company rules, treat them appropriately. Do not blow things out of proportion. Be patient and control your anger.
More than that, you set the tone and standard for the rest of the company. People at the top should lead by example and subordinates are more likely to follow superiors when they see them doing it.
c. Hold managers accountable
Although managers and supervisors are “superior” to the rest of the employees, they are not perfect. You are vulnerable to committing mistakes as the people under you. Also, just because you hold a higher position, you are not excused from answering your faults.
On top of accepting mistakes, superiors should, in fact, must be trained to uphold standards of professionalism. This means not abusing their power and positions, likewise treating their employees and crew members with respect.
d. Play by the (hand)book
Employee handbooks are part of the company for a reason. In essence, they summarize company rules and how employees and managers should conduct themselves professionally. As a person in power and position, you are responsible for enforcing the said handbook rules, specifically civility and respect.
But you are implementing and enforcing these standards are not enough. You should also explain them to your subordinates for them to understand them as well as their importance. Tell them about basic human decency, being polite, and being respectful towards bosses and fellow workers.
