Handling the Difficult Employee

This session provides managers and HR professionals with a practical, structured guide to identifying, addressing, and managing difficult employee behavior effectively and professionally.

Attendees will learn how to recognize the different types of difficult behavior and what typically drives them, how to have direct performance and behavior conversations with confidence, how to set clear expectations and hold people accountable, and how to know when a coaching conversation needs to escalate into standard corporate alignment processes. Every concept is grounded in real workplace scenarios and designed to give managers a clear, confident path forward the next time they're facing a difficult employee.

Why should you Attend: You know exactly who this webinar is about. The employee whose behavior you've been managing around instead of managing directly. The one who makes meetings harder, morale lower, and your job more exhausting than it should be. Every day that difficult behavior goes unaddressed, it doesn't stay contained - it shapes how the rest of your team sees you as a leader, and it teaches everyone watching that this is what gets tolerated. If you've been avoiding the conversation because you're not sure how to have it, unsure where the line is between coaching and formal action, or worried about saying the wrong thing, this session closes that gap. You'll leave with the language, the process, and the confidence to handle the difficult employee directly - before the situation handles you.

Areas Covered in the Session:

• The most common types of difficult employees - and what's usually driving the behavior beneath the surface
• Why difficult behavior often goes unaddressed, and the real cost of letting it continue
• How to prepare for and structure a direct, professional conversation about behavior or performance
• The language that keeps a difficult conversation productive instead of defensive or confrontational
• Setting clear expectations and boundaries that are fair, specific, and enforceable
• Holding difficult employees accountable without damaging team morale or your credibility as a leader
• Recognizing the difference between a constructive coaching issue and a formal performance process
• Documenting difficult employee conversations effectively to ensure clarity, consistency, and professional alignment
• Managing the ripple effect - protecting team morale while a difficult situation is being addressed
• Best practices for partnering with HR and navigating standard corporate escalation pathways
• Practical scripts and frameworks managers can use in their very next difficult conversation

• Managers and Team Leaders at All Levels
• Supervisors
• HR Professionals and HR Business Partners
• People and Culture Professionals
• Senior Leaders
• Department Heads
• Any Professional Responsible for Managing Employee Performance or Behavior