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Posted: 17 October 2002 | Subscribe Online

There must be one of those inspirational posters somewhere that says something about there not being difficult staff just difficult circumstances. However, experience begs to differ. Social care organisations are notoriously bad at dealing with difficult staff, with the preferred option being to write them a glowing reference so they can go on and be difficult somewhere else.

As in all things, honesty is the best policy and once you recognise that there is a problem it needs to be dealt with and discussed. Recognition is often the first difficulty. In a small organisation, a difficult staff member is easier to spot but has a greater impact as a result of this.

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In social care we like to believe that everyone is a good sort and is reliable, honest and conscientious. Not so. There are those whose idea of timekeeping is an exercise in creativity, and others who would be unable to meet a deadline if it offered them a candlelit supper.

When it dawns on you through a fog of deadlines of your own that someone else is not actually doing what they are supposed to be doing, you need to plan carefully. There is a poster for that: “Fail to plan, plan to fail.”

Remember that no matter how difficult the staff member is, and no matter how difficult it is for you, this member of staff is responsible for their own actions. And more importantly they are paid to be responsible for clients who need support from your agency.

Managing difficult staff requires skills in negotiation and conflict resolution. Staff are mostly “situationally difficult” rather than impossible characters per se. You should find out the perspective of the difficult staff member and adopt a mature approach to handling differences within a time-limited discussion. The bottom line, however, is there is a job to be done.

Some staff are at their best when they first arrive - especially ones who end up being difficult. In your recruitment, you emphasise to them that they will be listened to, that they’ll be part of the team; you encourage them to voice their concerns. They believe you. They have the spirit to speak out, but they are not listened to and become unpopular in the team. You spent a lot of time, trouble and money recruiting and inducting them, and now, to all intents and purposes, you have lost them.

New managers are also often confronted with long-standing members of staff who are seen as difficult. If you are asked to sort someone who is difficult out, ask why it has been left to you and not been dealt with before. There may be some traps set in the organisational geography that you need to avoid. However, if you do finally deal with someone that no one else has been able to, your stock will rise - for a while. But before locking yourself into conflict with them, get to know them and find out what started it all. It is possible that difficult staff can become your most powerful and committed allies for positive change.

Nonetheless, with some folk all the supportive counselling, target setting, training courses and coaching (all of which should be the first approaches) in the world will not help. If you want to go down the disciplinary or poor performance route, get support from your personnel department early on. And take advice from a good employment law adviser. If your organisation is too small the Work Foundation (formerly the Industrial Society) has a good helpline.

Good management is not enough in such situations - but you have to be able to prove it. Documentation is everything. Write it all down. It demonstrates what has been done. If capability or conduct leads to disciplinary action, documentation becomes crucial.

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Make sure you have the evidence and that the member of staff has been properly supervised and managed - otherwise you could lose a case because you have failed to do anything constructive to resolve the problem. Above all, deal with it rather than hope the problem will go away.

Managers need to know that sometimes there is nothing that can be done with difficult people. Counselling may be appropriate only to a point; the manager may not be the right person to give it. Sometimes the best solution is for people to leave and this should not be seen as failure.
John Burton is an independent consultant; Anthony Douglas is director of social care and health, Suffolk Council; Kathryn Stone is director, Voice UK. Additional comments were provided by Des Kelly, director, Bupa partnerships.

Top tips

- Keep notes of all discussions.
- If you set deadlines you must keep to them yourself.
- Call in a mediator if you are personally too involved.
- Make sure the difficult member of staff does not have a point - sometimes the organisation is dysfunctional and needs to change more than the difficult member of staff.
- Attempt to achieve a permanent solution, not a short-lived fudge, or else the problem will inevitably come back.

Rubbish tips

- Get angry and start a fight. It will go to a points decision and there will not be a winner. You and your team or service will lose credibility.
- Talk about the problem to others behind the staff member’s back - it will get back to them and you will lose authority.
- Ball out the member of staff in public.

If you have a management problem - our panel is here to help.

John Belcher, chief executive, Anchor Housing Trust

Christine Doorly, regional manager, National Care Standards Commission

Anthony Douglas, director of social care and health, Suffolk Council

Sheena Doyle, programme manager, Children's Society

Jane Held, director of social services, London borough of Camden

Tony Hunter, director of social services, East Riding

Steve Jenkin, chief executive, Elizabeth FitzRoy Support

Des Kelly, director, BUPA partnerships

Andrew McCulloch, chief executive, mental health foundation

Daphne Obang, director of social services and housing, Bracknell Forest

Vijay Patel, consultant, voluntary sector