We’ve all dealt with them. The co-worker who flies into a tirade at everybody else when she screws up big time. Or worse the one who’s constant whining and complaining can drag an entire office into depression. Or worse still, the one who becomes so irrational and threatening that everyone wonders if he’ll ‘go postal’ before you can call security. If you’ve ever found yourself responsible for dealing with such an employee, Gini Graham Scott has written an excellent book just for you.
A Survival Guide to Managing Employees from Hell is a must-read for supervisors, managers, entrepreneurs and anyone else who is expected to tackle sticky workplace personnel issues from simple incompetence or not fitting in well with the work team to serious issues like substance abuse, employee theft and workplace violence.
Each chapter begins with a case study outlining how the manager came to hire a particular individual and what went wrong. Scott then discusses in detail exactly what the manager should and shouldn’t do in each situation. In most cases, her advice is to Not call the police and to handle matters internally, usually by promptly firing the problem employee. She also makes clear when such a course is unwise and you should call the cops or not can the EFH.
This information would be very useful to anyone who works, regardless of whether they have responsibility for managing employees. It should be noted however that the book is very specifically directed to management and it’s value to non-managers may lie more in showing what types of responses and treatment you can expect as an employee in many particular circumstances. Scott is definitely on management’s side every time, even when it seems clear management is in the wrong. Unlike Scott, I cheered when a California administrative judge ordered a temporary help agency to pay double the wages owed to an employee who had not been paid within the legally required time period. I agreed with the judge’s stance that when work has been performed wages Must be promptly paid. Period. Paragraph. And no excuses about late or missing paperwork accepted.
As someone whose job was outsourced twice with considerable experience working for staffing agencies, who not only paid significantly lower wages and crappy benefits for the same work but very often made employees jump through an inordinate number of hoops to collect their pay, this one touched a nerve for me. By contrast, Ron felt the fact that the agency had repeatedly and unsuccessfully tried to contact the employee to get a signature on a timecard exonerated them. Whether you are a manager or an employee, Managing Employees From Hell is Highly Recommended.
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December 19th, 2007 at 12:05 am
Now we just need a book on how to deal with the managers from hell and lets face it. We’ve all known at least one.
December 19th, 2007 at 9:55 am
Oooh, I could have used this one at my last job where most of my coworkers were from Hell. At my new place, no one seems to have come from Hell… though some of them are clearly neurotic.
December 19th, 2007 at 12:31 pm
I’m fortunate in that I work alone and don’t have to deal with things like this. Now if you could point me to a book on how to deal with a man going through mid-life crisis (or something), that would be great!
I love the new blog/look! You’ve done a wonderful job!!
December 19th, 2007 at 3:04 pm
Jamie,
If you find the book on dealing with a male middle aged crisis, send it to Me. I’m 43 and crazy, I think I qualify