A Survival Guide to Managing Employees from Hell: Handling Idiots, Whiners, Slackers, and Other Workplace Demons

Chapter 20. Scary Employee

Sometimes an employee may have major personal problems, but you may not be aware of them, either because the employee keeps those problems hidden or other employees don’t tell you. This concealment is particularly likely when an employee is working with little supervision or has only occasional interaction with other employees so the personal problems don’t surface and don’t affect the operations of a team. Then, too, even if other employees are aware of the problems, they may not want to say anything. They may feel protective, don’t want to be viewed as an informer, don’t think it is their place to tell the boss about the problems of someone else, fear retaliation, or don’t want to get involved for other reasons.

This ...