Arrogant or ambitious? Dealing with difficult employees in hybrid work

HR directors and managers have probably never had to deal with so many different issues in the workplace. The immense change in legislation alone is a veritable nightmare: Fair Work Act 2009; National Employment Standards (NES), Work Health and Safety Standards (WHS), state and federal anti-discrimination laws and the Privacy Act 1988.

On top of that there are a company’s own terms and conditions.

It’s not surprising that given the change in workplace rules, society’s expectations and young generations coming through who are taking a more holistic view of the businesses that they work for, that difficult employees start to emerge. Questioning an employer’s sustainability policy or asking what its ethical investing strategy is not uncommon for Generation Z. Nor is changing jobs every two to three years. But does that make them unnecessary difficult? And how should we deal with those employees who seem to be more demanding than others?

“It’s okay to ask questions – it’s not okay to believe you have a right to privileged or preferential treatment just because of your position or belief in your own ability,” Joanne Alilovic, founder of 3D HR Legal, said. “When a seemingly difficult employee is making requests or demands in the workplace, the best course of action is to ask for clarification on the basis for the demand. For example, are they seeking to enforce a right in their contract of employment, under a company policy or in accordance with the law? Or is the request based on personal circumstances?

“Once this is known, and the company has a clearly defined set of conditions for what needs to exist to justify their demand/request such as a promotion or pay rise, it provides a much clearer basis for a conversation to answer their requests.”

This is where communication within an office is vitally important. It is easy for ‘Chinese Whispers’ to spread through a business especially now that hybrid working is becoming the ‘normal’ for most businesses.

A little bit of wrong information always seems to spread faster than good news. So, if an employee is becoming obtuse, getting frustrated with their job or not following protocols or wants an unreasonable pay rise, the best way to move forward is to have a face-to-face conversation with them to find out the root of the cause.

“Expectations get out of control when they aren’t managed properly in the first place,” Alilovic added. “Sometimes individual managers want to keep employees on side so promise them things like asking for pay rises on their behalf, or putting them forward for promotions, even when they know that the employee hasn’t met the criteria. This leads to an unjustified sense of entitlement.

“Often companies haven’t clearly identified what prerequisites must be met in order for rewards such as promotion and pay rises to be earned.

“In the worst cases, the difficult employees make unsubstantiated demands which are granted by the company – perhaps because it was easier than saying no, or because the company hadn’t properly articulated the prerequisites and so couldn’t articulate any reasons for saying no. This type of action enforces the employee’s sense of entitlement and makes it much harder to control.”

We all fight our own insecurities everyday with most humans plagued by self-doubt, however, all companies can go a long way to meeting, and even exceeding the demands of employees, by articulating and regular communicating both in a one-on-one setting and in teams. Employees will only be as difficult as the company culture allows them to get away with it.