The sad fact about chronically disruptive people is that they are rarely coachable or teachable. Human behaviour research shows us that functional environments will become dysfunctional as a result of disruptive employees. Rarely if ever does the opposite occur. This is because functional people, in an attempt to be the rational individuals they are, will placate the behaviour of dysfunctional individuals to try and create a sense of peace or unity. Scientifically, it’s because functional people exude a flow of positive energy and instinctively try to suppress and change the negative energy of a dysfunctional individual, unaware that negative energy is often stronger in its immediate impact and magnetism. Interestingly, dysfunctional people rarely, if ever, change on their own accord because they don’t think anything is wrong with them or their behaviour, and they thrive on the power of disruption. Basically, dysfunctional people lack the essential skills of self-awareness, self-management and collaboration that that are necessary skills for lasting personal change.

Also, if you attempt to challenge the status quo of a disruptive individual, they will erupt—particularly if they are having to function within a culture of accountability. In lieu of the single best tactic which is to immediately remove them from the work place, the next best tactic is to pressure them into a choice: change or leave. This means dealing quickly and head-on with an inappropriate attitude and/or behaviour, or both, and is critical in holding them accountable for their disruptive behaviour. If you think for a minute that you have a responsibility to rehabilitate these people, or that recruiting and training a new hire to replace them will be too costly, you are wrong. More harm is done the longer they remain in your organization, requiring hours of documentation for your human resources department and labor attorney. Eventually, when you are compelled to fire these people, you very well may still face a lawsuit because you have given them ample time to build an employment history they will use against you in court.

Furthermore, the longer it takes to recognize when an individual is lacking in behaviour skill, or is not coachable or teachable, the longer you allow them to undermine the technical-skill performance of their team members. As their leader, you get what you create or what you allow in performance of your team members. When you allow a proverbial “jerk at work” to mess with the brains of their team members, they inevitably mess with overall team performance too.

The ability of performance coaching and development to achieve optimal performance outcomes is indisputable. Providing resources and training to people with the right attitude will help them learn and grow, allowing them to be highly productive, but beware of spending too much time trying to coach the negative attitudes of problem employees. Focus on those employees who want to improve their skills, who desire to contribute to the greater good of the organization, but who simply lack the requisite skill or knowledge to do so effectively.

Injecting your culture of accountability with the skill of Positive Presence™ and the Positive Presence Behaviour Competencies is a game changer when it comes to recognizing when an individual is chronically lacking in behaviour skill, or is un-coachable or un-teachable. Positive Presence is an innovative thought model connecting workplace behaviour to emotional energy and provides a systematic, programmatic methodology for equipping leaders and their people with the knowledge and understanding necessary for effectively dealing with negative attitudes of problem employees.