Customer Reviews

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

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A pile of fluff that seems to have been churned out only to add a notch to the author's list of publications. It is unclear whether the author has had any experience managing anyone, let alone difficult people, and while a lack of experience with the topic could have been replaced with a journalistic approach, no outside research (on solutions) is offered.

Each chapter outlines a management scenario, and after each scenario is a brainstormed list of possibilities for what the put-upon manager could have done differently, frequently including some fairly ridiculous options and always ending with "Other?". While it's true there are likely to be different ideal solutions for specific situations, this author seems to simply not have any idea what to do about any given problem employee.

Each chapter ends with "Today's Take-Aways." Here you'll find such gems as:
* "If you think an employee may be a threat to you, try to avoid hiring that employee and risking that this threat may become real."
* "If an employee is calling in sick a lot, it could be they are sick -- or may [sic] they just want the time off for other reasons."
* "Sometimes the law of karma may really come to your aid and take care of a very difficult problem for you, though you can only hope and pray!"

These points are fairly representative of the quality of information you'll find in the book. If they seem enlightening to you, go for it.

We have all known the "employee from hell" in all of his or her guises: the complainer, the egomaniac, the troublemaker, the passive-aggressive type, the clever con artist, and many more.

In this plain-spoken book, management consultant Gini Graham Scott categorizes bad employees into some three dozen pigeonholes (like the "impossible intern," the "negative Nelly," and the out-and-out liar) and assigns each a brief chapter that opens with a succinct case study. In each setting, Scott asks the same question: Did the boss handle the situation well? Should she have fired the employee on the spot, put him on probation, called a staff meeting, had a one-on-one conversation with the troublesome employee, let the whole thing go, or done something else entirely?

Scott's advice springs largely from common sense. She acknowledges that there isn't just one way to handle a difficult worker. A good deal depends on the office atmosphere, the employee's and boss's personalities, and other intangibles. In discussing a saleswoman who gives so much attention to the first customer of the day that she neglects her duties to other customers, Scott suggests a variety of steps: giving the worker one more chance, explaining that she will be fired if she doesn't change, clarifying where she has gone wrong, asking another employee to monitor her behavior, and rewarding her with small bonuses if her performance improves.

Of course, some problematic behavior - drug use on the job, stealing from the employer, a pattern of lying -- can't be tolerated, and Scott urges that supervisors should fire people who do those things, even if the employee is a friend, or the friend of a friend. Still, there are a number of ways to dismiss someone, and Scott insists that even a fireable employee should be shown the door graciously.

It would appear that the author of this book has no actual experience in supervision. The contents of this book sounded very interesting. Unfortunately, the recommendations are not well thought out or beneficial. In some cases, the recommendations are just plain bad advise. A Survival Guide to Managing Employees from Hell: Handling Idiots, Whiners, Slackers, And Other Workplace Demons

The information presented was not earth shattering. A few of my employees are extremely problematic. I was desperately trying to resolve some of the issues, theirs and mine. I didn't find it in this book.

A 'must' for managers is Gini Graham Scott, Ph.D.'s A SURVIVAL GUIDE TO MANAGING EMPLOYEES FROM HELL, telling how to handle a typical problem employee. Humor blends with practical, life-tested advice for handling different types of employee issues, from the clueless incompetent to the party-time performer who can't seem to separate work from fun. Case histories blend with advice and techniques from the field in a manual key to any level manager's success.

I have not finished reading this new book but what I have read so far is good.
I realize that it is a compilation of anecdotes which enumerates different employees's personalities and their tribulations.
I am sure that I will be delighted by the time I finish reading it.
Good advice when working with narrow-minded co-workers.

I was excited to receive, but it's a doorstop now. Maybe I'll read it later.