Evaluating Employees
Bad Apple Staff Members Part 4
Written by Jay Shapiro for Gaebler Ventures
Bad apples work so subtly as to be virtually unnoticeable in the office. Is there a bad apple in your office?
There employees are the ones who like to make life difficult. Which ones are you currently putting up with?
Bad Apple Type 5: The Score Keeper:
Most of us know a Score Keeper. She's the person who keeps tabs on absolutely everything. Points are currency to the Score Keeper. She will never do anyone a favor simply to be helpful. No, the Score Keeper sees such gestures as an investment and will expect to be paid back for her acts of kindness.
Adept at remembering all the ways they have helped you; the Score Keeper is in the habit of forgetting that you've helped them out too in the past. They are always waiting to cash out their favors. They believe you owe them. Actually, they believe the world owes them.
What effect can the Score Keeper have on your other staff members?
When a Score Keeper has been working her way around your office you'll notice that other staff members develop a reticence about being helpful. In business there is often an element of back scratching going on, and that's fine so long as both parties' backs get scratched. Because so called debts are never seen as settled in the Score Keepers eyes, other members of your team will prefer to work independently. This is damaging to team spirit.
What to do if you think there is a Score Keeper in your midst?
It's worth getting actively involved here and getting team members together to highlight a new reward system you are thinking of using in the office. State that all recompense for work done outside someone's remit will be rewarded by you, the boss, and not by the recipient. That way your other workers won't have to feel obligated to the Score Keeper.
Bad Apple Type 6: The Professional Flirt:
Never underestimate the damage that can be caused by the Professional Flirt. It is foolhardy indeed to see these types as a welcome relief to the hum drum atmosphere of working life. The Professional Flirt can be male or female. They are pretty easy to spot. The use a more intimate style of communication than others and will readily drop a few innuendos into work emails as soon as look at you.
The lowdown is; they are not interested in the people they flirt with but believe that their charms will help them succeed.
What effect can the Professional Flirt have on your other staff members?
The Professional Flirt can cause relationships in the workplace to get complicated and overly intimate which is not conducive to productivity. There's also the risk that sexual harassment issues may arise from their inappropriate behavior.
What to do if you think there is a Professional Flirt in your midst?
If you think a Professional Flirt is sullying your workplace, hold a meeting, make it clear that all in-office communications, email, phone, memos and face to face chats, must remain professional at all times. If during the meeting the Professional Flirt tries fluttering her eyelashes or flexing his muscles at you, give them notice to leave, they'll never learn.
You may be able to nip certain bad apple behaviors in the bud, after all it takes all sorts to make a world and the same applies to the office environment. If you can see a way to make positive use of a bad apple's traits then hats off to you. If not, it may be time to have a rethink about who's on your workforce. Protect the employees who do a good job on your behalf.
Jay Shapiro is a freelance writer based in the UK. Jay has a particular interest in the emotive aspects of the entrepreneur's character. "Alongside the nuts and bolts of business, the character of the person is often the ingredient responsible for success."
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