Managing Negative Employee Behaviors

Problem

"As the VP of Engineering, I hired someone who at first seemed great. He was fantastic technically and I had high hopes for him. However, we started to notice that he was exhibiting negative behaviors towards his team."

Actions taken

"The team started to kick up a fuss, as his behavior was causing problems, and around sixty percent of the team complained about him. We decided not to do anything and overlook the behaviors due to his technical skills. However, this resulted in a drop in our team's productivity and morale. The friction between the Engineer and the team never went away, and ultimately the other Engineer left the team, as the team pushed him out.
Recently, a similar situation happened again. However, when the team complained I decided to take action. I took him aside and addressed the issues with him. I explained the values of the company and the team, and then explained that he had been doing things that were completely against our values. He acknowledged that his behavior had been unacceptable, and I'm now working with him to look at our fundamental values."

Lessons learned

"Even if someone has a pivotal role in the company and is great technically, if they're not aligned with their team, they need to go. Having said that, don't get rid of someone immediately. Be candid and upfront when there is a problem in your team, and explain what they need to do to improve. If they are willing to recognize the behavior in themselves and want to improve, you can then train them and mentor them so they improve. If you are clear and specific about the changes you want to see and the timeframe you want to see those changes in, then you are much more likely to see success."