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Dealing with passive-aggressive employees
Whether you have a difficult new hire or a long-term staff member’s behaviour changes, how to deal with a passive-aggressive employee is essential to understand. Follow the wrong approach and you may breach UK employment laws or upset your company culture.
With the support of experienced business employment law specialists here in the UK, you can effectively handle the situation in next to no time. At WorkNest, we’ve helped hundreds of businesses overcome staff problems, which our detailed guide below explores in more detail.
How to manage a passive-aggressive employee
Addressing hostile behaviour in the workplace is essential to keep employee morale up. Your managers can keep an eye out for toxic staff behaviour. Passive-aggressive employee traits can include:
Snide remarks
Sulking
Malicious sarcasm
Lack of support for colleagues
Missing deadlines
Procrastination
Ignoring emails and requests
Unnecessary absenteeism
Avoiding responsibility
Extending their lunch break
The big problem with this behaviour is how it can damage team morale and your business productivity. There’s also a risk other employees may adopt this type of toxic behaviour, which can affect your workplace culture.
Managing passive aggressive employees effectively
The first port of call here is to follow a firm but informal approach. It’s not easy to address issues with passive aggressive employees as by their very nature, they’ll either want to avoid confrontation or be difficult to deal with when confronted.
However, it’s still important to speak to the employee directly. Rather than frame the meeting in a confrontational way, you should remind them of your company’s:
Ethos
Expectations
Values
You can explain how you have noticed certain attitudes and behaviours and give them specific examples of what they are doing and the negative effect it is having on others. It’s also good business practice to allow them to respond. They may be able to explain the roots of their behaviour and whether there are specific problems to address. Together, you can explore different options to resolve any issues.
It’s not a guaranteed way to resolve the situation, but it is a fair approach. An informal conversation may help nip the toxic behaviour in the bud. But if you’re facing a challenging employee, you may wish to take a more formal approach.
How to get rid of a passive-aggressive employee
You may find it tempting, as with other employers, to try and remove a toxic employee from your business. However, it’s vital to understand that passive-aggressive behaviour is rarely an act of gross misconduct that should result in contract termination.
You must always follow a fair dismissal procedure and have a fair, genuine reason for removing an employee from their role. If you don’t have a fair reason, your business may commit unfair dismissal. This may result in costly, damaging employment tribunals.
Instead, a suitable way to deal with passive-aggressive employees is through a verbal warning, written warning, and then a disciplinary procedure (if their behaviour doesn’t improve).
