7 ways to manage stubborn, uncooperative employees

1. Signs of stubborn employees

A stubborn employee is often seen as someone who does not behave professionally in their workplace. People who are not only annoying to those around them, but can also harm the business. In addition to harming the interests and business performance of the business, stubborn employees can also expose the company to legal troubles.

The three basic types of stubborn employees are those who:

• Poor Performance: There can be many reasons for this, such as lack of motivation, poor communication or insufficient resources leading to underperformance.
• Having a bad attitude: A negative, passive attitude will create a toxic environment internally and affect the whole business. Worse yet, an employee's bad attitude can affect their interactions with customers or suppliers, damaging the company's reputation.
• Undermining the authority of the manager: This happens to affect employee productivity and morale. If an employee undermines management's authority, other team members may also begin to question their superiors' competence.

2. How to effectively manage stubborn employees

2.1 Focus on behavior instead of personality

When dealing with a stubborn employee, instead of judging the individual's personality, the manager should focus on their specific actions and behaviors. Managers must try to help these employees correct the factors that make it difficult for them to work.

Managers also should not create confrontational conversation as this can make these employees hostile and not solve the problem. It is the manager's job to provide specific examples of wrongdoing and help his employees recognize the problem they are facing.

2.2 Find the core problem

Managers will not be able to effectively deal with stubborn employees until the cause of their behavior is found. These causes can be from work, colleagues or company environment. However, this cause can also come from unrelated individuals. It is the responsibility of a manager to find these core problems and try to find appropriate countermeasures.

2.3 Always respect employees

Stubborn employees are often people with personality. Their inappropriate behavior can be caused by strong personalities. However, being stubborn doesn't mean you can't do the job. Therefore, a manager must be someone who respects the personality and understands the thinking of his employees. As a result, managers can have a suitable orientation to help employees develop more.

2.4 Willingness to acknowledge employee feedback and opinions

Receiving and responding to feedback is an effective way to manage stubborn employees . Managers must have an open mind to acknowledge the opinions of their employees to find the reasons for their stubborn behavior. At the same time, managers also have to keep themselves to always have an objective view, unaffected by previous prejudices. This can help employees change their behavior more positively.

2.5 Clear thought orientation for personnel

Managers will have to have a specific and consistent thought in everything. Specifically, managers must have a resolute and firm attitude in working, reward and punishment, and assign specific tasks and responsibilities. This makes stubborn employees have to follow the work rules and take responsibility for their own actions.

2.6 Applying reward and punishment mechanisms

Applying the right rewards and punishments in your company is an effective way to deal with stubborn employees. Penalties that affect material things such as salaries, bonuses, ... can make even the most stubborn employees have to follow the working rules.
 

2.7 Application of the final dismissal measure

The method of dismissal is the last option that businesses can choose to deal with stubborn employees. This measure should only be taken when an employee's attitude and behavior seriously affects the people around him, the working environment and the interests of the enterprise, and refuses to change despite doing many ways.