3 Options For Dealing with a Disruptive Employee

You may have someone on your team who is disruptive, not performing well, and in your assessment, is bringing more harm than benefit to the team. The question is: how do you deal with that situation without breaching employment laws or good industrial relations practice?

You may eventually have to make a business decision that the team and company would be better off without this individual.

The key is to handle this situation with fairness and proper procedure. 

Here are three options that you may consider:

1. Disciplinary Process- If the disruptive behaviour qualifies as misconduct, you can address it through the disciplinary process- that is, investigate the issue, hold a disciplinary hearing, and if the employee is found guilty, apply progressive discipline. Over time, if the behaviour does not improve despite progressive discipline being applied, dismissal may ultimately be fair.

2. Performance Management Process- If the issue is more about performance, then the performance management process should be followed. Raise the concerns, provide coaching and support, and put the employee on a performance improvement plan. If, after multiple warnings and a reasonable period, the performance still does not improve, dismissal may again be justified.

3. Voluntary Separation- It may be viable to communicate with the employee about your dissatisfaction with their behaviour or performance and explore an amicable resolution. You may offer a separation package, and if both sides agree, the employment can end by mutual agreement. However, it is important to ensure that this does not come across as an attempt to force the employee to resign. One of the ways to avoid that perception is to encourage the employee to seek independent advice before any agreement is made.

The worst approach is to do nothing and allow a disruptive employee to continue affecting the team because of fear that taking action could lead to liability. 

Sometimes, difficult decisions are necessary for the greater good of the team and organization. But always seek proper advice before taking such steps to ensure that you manage the process correctly and avoid exposing the business to unnecessary risk.