Rainmakers can create Toxic Rain in the Workplace

Sound familiar? Rainmakers, or those who bring in new business, ironically can also cause trouble for an organization.

These are the ones who typically bring in a lot of new business and/or produce high sales volumes—bringing wanted revenue to a business, a manufacturer, a service organization, law firm or a medical practice.

Rainmakers are generally your high producers. The traits that can make them valuable employees—such as strong ego, bright, aggressive and driven—sometimes will also bring out other undesirable qualities that, in turn, make them difficult employees.

Difficult employees can turn the workplace into a toxic one. If those qualities translate into problematic or out-of-control behaviors, then an employer can be faced with very difficult issues.

Meaning: Here you have someone who brings in a lot of business and maintains revenue-generating customers, but who is also causing problems. Their behavior can often be summed in disrespectful tones or inferences such as: “I’m perfect, do it my way!” Or in some of the worst cases, they can be a bully.

When ideally what you want is that ‘perfect’ blend of an employee, one whose behavior exemplifies a combination: the high producer/who is respectful of other employees. 

Instead, problematic rainmakers can turn a work environment into a negative and hostile type of environment. Not only that, they tend to not bring out the best in others around them.

I always say employees will ‘speak with their feet’; as you will lose other valuable staff members. They might not have an ego as strong as the rainmaker, but enough of an ego to say ‘I am not going to put up with that.’

When the rainmaker is toxic, in fact, they can seriously jeopardize an employer’s business and put them at risk by displaying such behaviors as:

• Yelling and outbursts
• Tantrums
• Insubordination
• Disrespect
• Violating harassment codes

What mistakes can an employer make when faced with such an employee, a troublemaking rainmaker?

1. Ignoring the problem.
2. Waiting too long to confront the problem.
3. Thinking that the problem will go away on its own.
4. Denying the issue exists, which is how harassment charges can begin.
5. Turning a blind eye to why good employees are leaving, complaining or grumbling. If you’re hearing it, many other hours of productivity have already been lost by staff discussing the issue among themselves. 

Granted, this issue is not an easy problem to resolve. Employers have an entire workforce to be concerned about, but yet there is this high producer who may have control of an employer’s best clients.

At the same time, he or she might be out of control with others in the workplace. How can they do so well with the clients and not with their co-workers?

However difficult to handle, there are some remedial steps an employer can attempt to take:

1. Consider an employee counseling or coaching program. Start with coaching: ‘you know what a valuable member of this organization you are, and I would like to discuss some things you can do to make an even bigger impact.’
2. Find someone to serve as a counselor who the rainmaker trusts and respects.
3. Look for a counselor who will listen and who can engage the problem employee in productive conversation.
4. Outline specifically what behaviors need to change.
5. Explain how the behaviors are affecting others within the organization; and why they need to stop.
6. Refrain from using threatening or offensive tones. An effective counselor will say things such as, “I don’t think you meant to come across this way, but this is what we need to address.”  Pose that the inter-office relationships are internal client relationships.

The objective involves getting the individual to understand and agree to work on problem behaviors. It may take more than one conversation or session in order to do that.

If this approach does not work, and the problem rainmaker does not mend their behaviors, then, the next step involves a written documentation process. Here the employer will inform the rainmaker that there are consequences to the negative behavior; he or she could possibly lose their job, if things do not improve. It’s a good practice to ask the employee to sign an acknowledgement form. Be sure and give the employee a copy.

When all works well: Employers will have managed to help the rainmaker keep his or her ego intact. This is important so the rainmaker will continue using those strong ego traits in positive ways, yet all the while discontinuing those behaviors that create a toxic workplace.

Problem employees can drive other valuable employees to 'speak with their feet.' Employers can end up losing those valuable employees.