Approaching Worker Attitude Problems: Attitude is Difficult to Measure

When employers are faced with employee attitude problems, they know how contaminating those related behaviors can be to a workplace environment. When faced with employee counseling issues, which relate to problematic workplace attitudes, we run smack into those ‘difficult to measure’ areas. Although we hear this term a lot, it’s challenging to define it. 

I’ll share one workplace attitude experience that some employers or managers might find not all that uncommon. 

An Example

I worked with an employer who was suffering employee morale issues because one employee was creating a very unpleasant work environment. For example, co-workers reported that they did not want to approach this difficult employee, because she would “bite their head off.” Understandably no one wanted to deal with her and, as a result, her co-workers were not getting the necessary information in order to perform their jobs.  

Not only that, they noticed that this employee was spending much of the workday engaging in personal phone calls, which also led to her working overtime in order to get her work done. The co-workers were upset because they were getting their work done during regular business hours, and this employee ended up earning overtime pay. The co-workers were very resentful, and this situation was contaminating the workplace atmosphere. 

When the manager approached this difficult employee, the employee’s tone reportedly bordered on insubordination and, as it turned out, she became so emotional that the meeting had to be delayed. I was asked to work with the manager, and I recommended that we back off from using the word ‘attitude’ for every situation. I suggested that we instead get more specific by addressing the actual work performance issues, which could be more easily measured: 

1. How is the quality of her work?
2. Is she getting her work done and meeting deadlines?
3. How is she handling this task and this responsibility?
4. Is she following procedures and policies? 

In other words, we broke it all down so that the manager could be very specific with the employee in terms of her work performance. Come to find out, the difficult employee was dealing with a lot of personal issues, and she conceded that the personal matters were mounting and affecting her attitude at work. 

The manager documented the meeting as a verbal counseling session, and the manager also outlined specific areas for improvement. Those specific areas were also ones that we could measure, such as: She needed to get her work done during regular business hours so she did not have to work overtime; and she was limited to the number and duration of personal phone calls, etc. Essentially, the manager set very clear expectations and timeframes. The manager also provided the employee with an employee assistance program (EAP) brochure.  

Eventually this employee ended up being productive and she resolved many of her personal issues. Her co-workers even started to talk to her again without expressing fears or anxieties. As a result of applying this approach, the employee showed marked improvements in both her work performance and her attitude. In a way, it also helped the employee to know that the manager cared enough to give her a second chance. 

It’s important to keep such situations from getting worse, as ignoring the situation can seriously affect worker productivity and lower morale. Also, it helps to focus on the problem employee’s specific work tasks and responsibilities in a constructive way, and refrain from using phrases such as ‘bad attitude,’ etc. while counseling the employee. 

It was rewarding to see a negative situation turn out so positively for everyone involved. And these types of endings are similarly possible in situations where an employee might be contaminating the work environment in any company.

When employers are faced with employee attitude problems, they know how contaminating those related behaviors can be to a workplace environment.