A New Career Strategy: Be Insufferable?
Without realizing it, managers may not be enforcing RTO requirements for difficult-to-work-with employees. How is this affecting culture?
The manager could not stand Bob. He was always late to meetings, tended to ask self-focused questions, and never attended optional events. He complained about assignments, and failed to help coworkers. When pressed on these traits, he grew argumentative. But he never quite broke the company’s conduct guidelines, leaving the manager with no formal disciplinary route. And so when Bob stopped coming in four days a week as required, the manager…did nothing. Let Bob stay home. Why not?
Obnoxious and irritating employees are discovering that their most repellant traits have an upside: the opportunity to work from home. Frequently. And it’s precisely because of their bad behavior that they’re given more flexibility—which s wildly unfair to workers who show up in the office most days as required. “The risk is that Bob’s bad behavior is not only tolerated but rewarded,” says engagement expert Mark Royal, senior client partner at Korn Ferry.
At a time when RTO seems like a closed issue, the Bobs of the workforce are getting a free pass—signaling that RTO hasn’t been solved at all. The option of a hybrid schedule is shifting the calculus on which interpersonal problems managers feel compelled to solve directly. This shift comes at a moment when engagement is at a decade-long low, with just 20% of global employees engaged in their jobs, according to Gallup. And managers have more employees than ever to keep track of, following years of firms culling out middle managers. This means that a manager who previously might have coped just fine with Bob’s five annoying questions in a row at the staff meeting may no longer have the tolerance to calmly manage Bob.
Ideally, other team members beyond the manager are irritated also, which helps the manager. “Coworkers may be able to regulate the situation to some degree, without it going to the manager,” says Renee Whalen, senior client partner in the consumer and healthcare practices at Korn Ferry. Managers tend to be most annoyed by employees who damage team spirit and subtly question the boss’ judgment, such as by asking whether a project really needs to happen now, or why another teammate is assigned less work.
Repeated disruptions, such as talking out of turn or shifting the conversation topic to oneself, can drain the energy of others, says Royal. “It just becomes harder and harder for people to collaborate,” he says. Problems emerge not so much because of the person’s behavior, but because of a manager’s failure to address the situation, says Royal. When Bob is allowed to gab on during meetings, often more responsible team members end up stepping in to smooth tensions or compensate after awkward moments. They also might begin to perceive the various rules that Bob breaks to be optional, which creates a major managerial headache.
A manager, seeing the fabric of the team weaken, might be moved to take action. The question is what action? Many simply let Bob work from home. It seems like a good solution: Bob is happy at home; the manager is happier at work. Except it’s not a good solution, says Royal. “It’s easier to manage in the short-term, but harder to correct over the long term.” When employees are in the office, it’s relatively easy to pull someone aside and say, “Hey, this is how your behavior is affecting the team.” But when someone is working from home, those opportunities disappear—and over the long-term, the behavior continues without being addressed. Add a second Bob to the team, and suddenly the dynamics are spinning out of the manager’s control.
Experts advise direct corrective advice. And, if sending Bob home seems like the only option, managers need to first confirm that Bob’s exile does, actually, improve the culture, says Tamara Rodman, senior client partner in the culture, change and communications practice at Korn Ferry. “Annoying people, unfortunately, exist virtually as well.”
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