MDE - The Most Dangerous Employee...

One of my favorite voices on employee engagement is Judy McLeish of The Employee Factor and McDaniel Partners. 

Good presentation from Judy below regarding dealing with "bad apples" - employees who are poor performers and disengaged.  We all know the "drag-down" effect poor performers can have on an organization, and of course the effect is multiple if they are disengaged and also vocal about being unhappy.

So you have to/should deal with poor performers for all the reasons Judy outlines in this great slide deck.

Me?  I'm awarding the title of "Most Dangerous Employee" (MDE) to an employee profile that's similar in many ways, but different in one very important way.

My MDE award goes to any employee on your team who is disengaged and vocal, but is an average performer of record.  This employee meets the performance expecations you have for him/her, but is still disengaged and vocal.  So the obvious call to action that Judy makes below for dealing with the performance issues doesn't apply.

Disengaged, disenchanted, vocal and performing at an acceptable level.  The most dangerous employee. 

How do you deal with it?  Hit me in the comments with your thoughts.  If there's enough interest, maybe we'll start a series on the MDE.

Dealwithbadapples

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Comments

[Judy McLeish]

Kris, thanks so much for the post! What we find so interesting is how many companies fail to deal with the "bad apple". Imagine the positive environment it would create if they deal with them - quickly and effectively!

[Wally Bock]

Thanks for this, Kris. Far too many companies and bosses simply don't deal with your MDE because their performance "meets expectations." But performance isn't the only issue. Behavior is an issue as well.

How a person affects the performance or morale of the team is as important as the specific job skill performance. Good supervisors hold their team members accountable for their behavior and the impact on others.

The MDS (Most Dangerous Supervisor) is the one that lets a rancid employee spoil the team.

[Meg Bear]

You're spot on KD, not only is this a very dangerous employee it is also more complicated to deal with. It requires the manager to define "acceptable performance" in such a way that it includes attitude. This is a challenge for good managers and it's probably next to impossible for weak managers.

[KD]

Judy - Thanks for checking in...

Wally - adding value as usual by the MDS designation...

Meg - impossible is right. They're paralyzed in this situation, and even with coaching from a pro like you, when you aren't around, the average performing malcontent is enough of a game player where they're going to spin them like a top...

Thanks - KD