How To Handle An Insubordinate Employee

Failure to Handle the Insubordinate Employee Affects Your Ability to Manage Terminating an employee? Here's what you must consider before firing.

The insubordinate employee, it is a manager's worst nightmare. He or she refuses to carry out your instructions, causes morale problems among coworkers, and makes your job almost impossible to carry out. If a you do not correct the problem then it spells trouble in the workplace. By not handling the employee properly, your problems will only get worse. Insubordinate Employee Types

An insubordinate employee is one of two types. The insubordinate employee can be outgoing and blatant or passive aggressive. The passive aggressive is more difficult to deal with because you have no way of knowing what this person is doing until it is too late. For example, you tell an employee to do something one way and the employee does it their way. This could result in the overall task not getting done, or it may cause problems for other coworkers who must use the results.

The insubordinate employee is not necessarily a poor performer. In fact, some of your most blatant insubordinates can be good employees because they are independent thinkers. But the blatant employee can cause you terminal headaches if the two of you differ in opinion. They must follow your direction and if they fail to do this it hurts overall workplace productivity. And remember while the employee may be innovative, it is your responsibility to make sure the business's overall needs are met. Handling the Insubordinate Employee


You have to deal with the insubordinate employee quickly and decisively. Remember, the others are watching and if you drop the ball on this one then you will inevitably have to deal with the problem again and possibly from someone else. If an employee is drawing a paycheck from you, he or she must follow your orders.

Make sure that you let the employee know the insubordination will result in disciplinary action. Get a witness if you have to. But do not back down and do not apologize for your assertion. If the employee carries out your instruction then that is the end of it. However, regardless of the outcome you must document the incident in your own personnel files so you can reference if it reoccurs.

You can also question the employee about why he or she wants to be insubordinate to your instruction. It could be the employee has a grievance or maybe doesn't understand the task. Remember deal with these problems head-on, otherwise you will pay in other ways later. As a manager, you will have to earn the respect of your employees. By tolerating insubordination, you are sending a message to your workers that they do not have to respect your authority in the workplace.