Ask any harried worker in a position of responsibility what the hardest part of their job is and they will invariably tell you it’s managing other people.

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Getting promoted into a position of power is great, but dealing with the employees who throw diva-like tantrums over their annual leave requirements or insist on arguing with every suggestion you make is nothing short of a nightmare.

Dysfunctional bosses often get a bad rap – and rightly so – but truanting, lazy and difficult employees must equally share the blame for a toxic workplace.

But do not despair. Whether you manage a small team or an entire office floor, there are ways to wrangle insubordinates into shape.

Softly, softly

Problem employee? Don’t despair. Photo: Shutterstock

Senior regional director at Hays Recruitment, Peter Noblet, says it takes certain “soft skills” to manage problem staff, alongside a high degree of emotional intelligence.

“You need to be able to adapt to different people’s personalities and find out what they are motivated by,” he says.

“It helps if you are able to put yourself in the other person’s shoes, to ask yourself how they will be feeling about a certain meeting or situation.

“These are the kinds of skills you can work on to become a better manager. People are sometimes promoted because they were good at their old job or they have been with the company for a long time, and none of these reasons are good reasons.

“But you can become better at it.”

It is an unfortunate fact, according to Mr Noblet, that many managers spend most of their time dealing with one or two problem cases.

“You want to spend your time with the dynamic people in the office, the people who are achieving things and working hard, but many managers spend too much time wondering what to do about the difficult employee,” he says.

Get to the root of the matter

Group manager of employee relations and HR compliance from Adecco Group, Chris Turner, says most people fall into one of a handful of office types, which he has grouped roughly into artists, natural-born leaders, dreamers, fixers, logical types, the workhorses and everyone’s friend (aka the office gossip).

A healthy smattering of each of these types in the office is easier to manage as they tend to balance each other out.

“If you find yourself in a situation where you have too many of the same types – say natural-born leaders – then you are going to have to compensate by being the logical one,” says Mr Turner.

“Likewise, if one person is causing problems you need to be the shock absorber and make sure they are not affecting everyone else in the group.”

Nip the problem in the bud. Photo: Shutterstock

Nip it in the bud

If a problem personality persists, the next step, according to Mr Turner, is to work out the cause of the problem by having a direct and open conversation.

“People can be afraid of having these conversations with staff, but in my experience – more often than not – they lead to greater openness and understanding.”

Mr Noblet concedes that no matter how empathetic managers are to the needs of staff, some employees will not play ball. There are those who will always be late, or slack off or cause rifts within groups.

The trick, according to Mr Noblet, is to deal with the issue straight away.

“Sometimes people think that it will sort itself out and they sweep it under the carpet, but it never works,” he says.

Mr Turner agrees, arguing managers often avoid addressing difficult staff, which can have serious consequences for morale.

“We are human beings and naturally we are conflict-averse,” he says. “But you have to be prepared to have the tough conversations.”