How to Supervise People Who are Hostile and Abusive in the Workplace * Incedo Group

How to Supervise People Who are Hostile and Abusive in the Workplace

Aside from being a real pain in the neck, hostile and abusive employees also tend to drain company resources and waste time. Hostile employees can harm the company’s productivity because they can either slow down the work pace, or hinder other employees from accomplishing things.

Hostile and abusive employees range from passive-aggressive types, to the extreme types that interact with their co-workers or customers in a violent manner. If company management doesn’t know how to supervise people like this, it would bode poorly for the business, as difficult situations will surely arise if these employees are not managed properly. It is thus important to deal with these peculiar types of employees as soon as they are exhibiting the first signs of aggression.

There are various ways on how to supervise people who are hostile and abusive, but here’s a systematic process to take control of workplace bullies:

1. Quickly identify the employee’s hostile behavior – As mentioned earlier, it will be best to address an employee’s behavior as soon as he or she starts manifesting it. Managers should be able to observe how employees act in the workplace, and determine if everything is working all right, or if anything is amiss. Learning how to supervise people is tantamount to training yourself to be extra observant, especially for tiny nuances in employees’ behavior.

2. Document incidents of hostility – Remember that not all people who exhibit hostile behavior should automatically be terminated. Sometimes, people lose their temper for reasons other than innate personality disorders. You need to keep a record of instances of hostility, so that you can identify your employees’ behavior patterns and plot out how such errant behaviors contribute to counterproductive activities in the office. This will also help you tell the difference between employees who break down because of rare moments of distress and those who really have violent tendencies or who simply have bad behavior and attitudes. By keeping track of your employees’ disposition, you will you be able to address hostile people and understand how your employees work together.

3. Act swiftly to curb bad behavior – When employees start making a scene in the office, you need to intervene quickly to avoid further violent encounters- and office damage. While some managers will rather ignore these incidents and put up with hostile behavior rather than deal with it directly, it is much more effective to directly intervene and confront erring employees, as it will enable faster resolution of conflicts.

4. Help employees change – Erring employees should be given a chance to change their ways. If you want to learn how to supervise people with hostile behavior, you also need to be open to offering assistance to them. Managers should be able to coach employees on how to reduce their aggressiveness and teach them how to convert their hostile behavior into more positive and productive forces.

5. Terminate stubborn employees – If hostile and abusive employees are not willing to change their ways, even if you are exerting your best efforts, then it might be time to give them the boot. Frequent outbursts can hamper productivity and it would be wiser to get rid of these employees, than put up with them and risk incurring further problems.

Learning how to supervise people with hostile or bad behavior begins at the hiring process. It is important to weed out unmanageable employees from the start.