Employee Insubordination

To Managers Who Want To Stop Employee Insubordination And Poor Performance

Insubordination and employee problems go hand in hand. After all, an employee that is insubordinate is one that believes he or she can make and live by his or her own rules. As the owner of a small business or as the Human Resources Manager, you should realize it is important to have all your employees abide by the same rules – which are the rules established by your company policies and procedures. Here are a few examples of how insubordination and employee problems can adversely affect your business.

Insubordination and Employee Production are Directly Linked

If you have even one insubordinate employee, you will find that your production decreases. Since an insubordinate employee thinks he or she makes the rules, you will discover the employee will also decide when he or she wants to work and will set his or her own work pace. Even worse, as your other employees notice the insubordinate employee is “getting away” with not doing what he or she is told, they will begin to show signs of insubordination and disrespect as well. As a result, you won’t have just one insubordinate employee – you will have an entire company filled with them.

Insubordination and Employee Safety Issues are Directly Linked

An employee that learns he or she can get away with being insubordinate will also start to ignore safety rules. Why not? If you are not going to enforce other rules, what is to make the employee decide to wear proper safety equipment and to follow other safety procedures? As a result, you might have an injured employee on your hands and you will be responsible because you didn’t enforce the rules. Further, the unsafe actions of the employee can also lead to other employees being injured. You don’t want the guilt of these injuries resting on your shoulders – and you don’t want to pay the hefty fines and medical expenses either.

Insubordination and Employee Moral are Directly Linked

If you have an insubordinate employee that you allow to be insubordinate without repercussions, you will notice a decline in the moral of your other employees. They will become disgruntled as they watch their co-worker do things he or she shouldn’t be doing. If you are not careful, this can lead to lawsuits as your other employees claim discrimination against them as you discipline one employee and not the other.

Consistency is key when it comes to managing your employees. No matter how you personally feel about an employee, you must act on insubordination and end it immediately. If you don’t, you will find yourself dealing with even bigger problems.

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