There’s No Synergy and Little Camaraderie between My Tenured Staff and New Hires… What Do I Do?

So, you had a wonderful staff and everything was going really well. Then, the whole world fell into chaos due to the pandemic. But, you managed to work your way through and even brought on additional personnel. It was a reasonable and logistical decision. Now, you’re caught in a quagmire because your tenured employees aren’t syncing with your new hires. What can you do before it becomes too big a problem? Simple, take immediate action, size up differences, be impartial, formulate an action plan, and then keep an eye out.

Every Solution Breeds New Problems

It sure seems that when you find a way to fix an issue, it only creates another problem. Although it’s a well-known cliche, it’s certainly something that practically every business has experienced. When you brought aboard fresh talent, you probably pictured them working side by side with your existing staff. Instead, you’ve got a kind of civil war unfolding in your place of business.
…it is important to intervene early. In extreme examples, the conflict might be due to one employee who is creating a problem, but most often it is a matter of having two personalities that don’t mesh well together. The sooner a solution is reached, the sooner both employees will be happy to be able to move on—and the sooner their coworkers will be relieved to feel the easing of tensions in the office. —The Balance Careers
Obviously, you can’t let this go on and need to address it as quickly as possible. If you don’t, it will only worsen over time and divisions will grow deeper among your combative team members. They might even go so far as to quit abruptly in a moment of anger and leave you to deal with the very untimely fallout. Instead of letting this situation grow out of control, you need to intervene and take rational, measured action. Otherwise, you might also become emotionally overcharged and that will only lead to a lot more trouble.

How to Deal with Employees Who Don’t Work Well Together

There is always a potential for personalities to clash. It’s the opposite problem of having employees who get along too well, to the point they isolate themselves from the rest of the staff and that too becomes an issue. Because people are inherently social, they really like to get along. But, there are individuals who feel an innate need to do their own thing and this also can present a number of problems. If you have a tenured staff that isn’t meshing with new hires, here are a few bits of advice about how to deal with these circumstances:
  • Identify the problem(s). We’ll start with the most obvious step to take. And that is, to identify the root issues of what’s causing so much chaos. You might find there are very petty differences here that have managed to quickly balloon out of proportion. If so, that’s actually good news because it’s a much easier fix. However, if you discover it’s a very wide and deep rift, you’ll have your work cut out for you.
  • Understand basic personalities. It’s not just enough to understand what’s going on at the most basic level, it’s imperative that you also know precisely what types of personalities are involved. If you don’t have a firm grip on these elements, there’s really nothing that you can do to end the feud. If necessary, take a little time to get to know your new people better so that you can approach this with confidence.
  • Don’t show favoritism to anyone. If there’s one thing that will sabotage all of your healing attempts, it’s showing favoritism. Usually, this trait appears on behalf of the people you know best and is biased against the new people in the business. Even if it’s the other way around, favoritism is a poison pill. Be objective and think things through before you take any significant action.
  • Present some real, workable solutions. Obviously, as the leader of the business, you’ll be the one who needs to come up with one or more solutions or a set of compromises. Regardless of what these are, don’t apply them unilaterally. Instead, speak to people individually in order to get a sense of what they think is most fair, then bring everyone together as a group to talk it out.
  • Monitor the situation objectively thereafter. Lastly, don’t pull yourself away from the situation too quickly. Instead, watch what unfolds over the next few days to several weeks and be ready to make changes if necessary. You could discover that it’s just not workable and have to make changes to your staff or even put people in different roles. Hopefully, they will begin to work well together and develop strong professional relationships.
What other suggestions do you have for dealing with team members who don’t necessarily get along? Please take a moment or two to express your thoughts and experiences; you might just help someone else out in a big way! Interested in learning more about business? Then just visit Waters Business Consulting Group.

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Alex Jones, InfoWars, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube — Why it’s All Gone So Bad

October 10, 2018 No Comments

Alex Jones is all over the news. His controversial content sparked a national conversation about free speech. And, social media corporations have received public pressure to remove the conspiracy theorist’s presence. They’ve mostly complied. Regardless of what you think about the man, it not only brings up the issue of free speech but also puts another dynamic at the forefront. That is the age-old saying, “One bad apple can ruin the bunch.” Or, in this case, how these various social networks put themselves in an untenable condition. How One Bad Employee can Damage a Company The real crux of the matter comes down to the fact that social sites do police and prohibit certain types of content. (Violent images, pornography, and more.) But, we’ve seen that just one user can easily tarnish the reputation of the entire platform. The same holds true for business. A bad employee can utterly damage a company. Once the damage is done, it becomes an even larger issue. There’s that one person on your team — the bad apple who has nothing positive to say, riles up other team members, and makes work life miserable. If you can’t fire him, how do you respond to his behavior? What feedback do you give? How do you mitigate the damage he inflicts? —Harvard Business Review.org All it takes is a single instance of an egregious behavior. Or, a pattern of bad practices that go without correction. This is why Disney parks enforce so many employee behavior rules. The theme parks are selling experiences. And, all it takes is one bad encounter to absolutely ruin a whole family’s trip. Because, that’s what they’ll most remember — the bad stuff. If you don’t believe this, just look at the statistics about how many people an unhappy customer will tell their friends about a bad experience. It’s double, even triple, the number of people a happy customer will tell others about a good experience. 3 Ways to Prevent Employees from Ruining Your Business If you sense or have already encountered a situation where an employee is damaging your company, you must take action immediately. Here are some effective ways to prevent employees from ruining your business: Privately deal with the bad behavior. Once it’s happened, you can’t ignore it. Bring the employee in for a private chat. Have an honest talk about the circumstances and give positive guidance. Then, follow up periodically to ensure things are going well. Regularly monitor everyone for toxic behavior. Yes, one bad apple will ruin the bunch. And, this goes for employees. Bad attitude easily spreads throughout a business’ culture. So, keep your eyes open and listen for any negativity. Encourage team members to openly recognize one another. It’s not just on you as the leader. Encourage employees to praise each other and encourage one another when appropriate. The more positive the environment, the better. How do you deal with bad employees? What methods are the most effective? Please comment and share your thoughts and experiences! Interested in learning more about business? Then just visit Waters Business Consulting Group.

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