--- title: 5 Warning Signs Difficult Employees Have I Performance Institute description: Difficult government employees are in fact, easy to identify. Here are some signs to look for. While they are not all-inclusive, they are good indicators of where your personnel problems lie image: https://www.performanceinstitute.org/hubfs/man-showing-distress-3777572%20(1).jpg --- [government performance](https://www.performanceinstitute.org/blog/tag/government-performance), [Employee Performance](https://www.performanceinstitute.org/blog/tag/employee-performance) # Five Warning Signs Difficult Employees Have and How To Deal With Them [mailto:?body=https://www.performanceinstitute.org/blog/warning-signs-difficult-employees](mailto:?body=https://www.performanceinstitute.org/blog/warning-signs-difficult-employees) ![Five Warning Signs Difficult Employees Have and How To Deal With Them](https://www.performanceinstitute.org/hs-fs/hubfs/man-showing-distress-3777572%20(1).jpg?width=950&name=man-showing-distress-3777572%20(1).jpg) [ Stewart Liff ](https://www.performanceinstitute.org/blog/author/stewart-liff) Apr 30, 2021 11:12:20 AM 2 min. read *The Performance Institute is pleased to present the first in a three-part series providing insight on *How to Manage Difficult Government Employees *authored by *[*Stewart Liff . *](https://www.performanceinstitute.org/pi-fellows-stew-liff) [**Difficult government employees**](https://www.performanceinstitute.org/research/new-human-capital-research-program-government-workforce-performance-optimization/) are in fact, **easy to identify.** Here are some signs to look for. While they are not all-inclusive, they are** good indicators **of where your personnel problems lie: ## ***1. Everyone is Aware of the Problem Employees*** That is because they stick out like a sore thumb. For example, whenever I visit a new organization, within a short period of time I know who the [problem employees are](https://www.performanceinstitute.org/blog/2015/02/25/part-1-of-3-how-to-manage-difficult-government-employees). Why? **Because everyone else knows who they are **and are more than willing to share this information with you in the hope that someone, anyone will do something about them. ## ***2. Difficult People Tend to be Cynical and See the Worst in Others*** Problem employees are usually suspicious of others and as a result,** frequently make negative comments about their co-workers**. They rarely take the extra step and often see demons around every corner. ## ***3. Difficult Employees are Unusually Critical of Management*** It is not unusual for employees to criticize poor management decisions. However, **problem employees tend to see every management decision through a prism of negativity and as **[**a result are never satisfied.**](https://www.performanceinstitute.org/blog/2015/03/13/gao-report-on-poor-performance) ## ***4. Troubled Employees are rarely willing to Take Responsibility for Their Problems*** This trait is easily detected because** difficult people will often have a number of problems**, both personal and work-related. The employee that commonly is late to work but [**blames traffic or an alarm clock**](https://www.performanceinstitute.org/blog/2015/06/18/7280) for not going off is the perfect example of the way a difficult employee thinks.  ## ***5. Poor Employees will Subtly Undermine the Organization*** **Your difficult people **are probably actively sabotaging you, but doing it in subtle ways. This is the employee** who breaks numerous rules**, but always seemingly in good faith and never the same way twice. Looking at the actions of the employee one at a time, they may seem to be innocent, but looking at those actions overall, [**you can see a pattern of insubordination and sabotage.**](https://www.performanceinstitute.org/blog/2016/07/20/resonate-with-your-audience) The point here is that people who exhibit the behavior described above,** are going to be harmful to your organization**. It may manifest itself in poor performance and/or behavior, but it will definitely appear in some form and will certainly pull you down. ## **Take Action.** **Want to manage difficult employees in your organization? **[The Performance Institute](https://www.performanceinstitute.org/solutions/training) offers more than 100 open enrollment courses annually and can bring any course on-site. Intensive, methodology-based courses include step-by-step processes to improve organizational management capacity. [Join The Performance Institute. ](https://www.performanceinstitute.org/)The Performance Institute is a nonpartisan, private think tank seeking to **improve public and private sector performance through the principles of transparency, accountability, performance and engagement. **We serve as the **nation’s leading authority** and repository on performance-based management practices for government. Learn more about our courses and how the can help your organization [here](https://www.performanceinstitute.org/solutions/training).  ### **About the Author** **Stewart Liff** is an HRM, visual performance management, and team development expert. He serves as a Fellow with [**The Performance Institute **](https://www.performanceinstitute.org/our-mission)and is the President and CEO of [Stewart Liff & Associates.](https://stewartliff.com/) He is the author or co-author of seven books, including Managing Government Employees and A Team of Leaders **View Stew Liff’s full webinar presentation, How to Manage Difficult Government Employees, **[**here.**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqmvSDIOCYk&feature=youtu.be)   ##### Popular content - [The Importance of Strategic Planning in Public Administration](https://www.performanceinstitute.org/blog/the-importance-of-strategic-planning-in-public-administration) - [The Power of Engagement: How Motivation, Purpose, and Workplace Conditions Drive Success](https://www.performanceinstitute.org/blog/the-power-of-engagement-how-motivation-purpose-and-workplace-conditions-drive-success) - [Factors that Influence Strategic Planning in your Organization](https://www.performanceinstitute.org/blog/factors-that-influence-strategic-planning-in-your-organization) - [6 Factors to Improve Government Performance](https://www.performanceinstitute.org/blog/improving-government-performance) - [Five Main Skills Government Employees Should Have](https://www.performanceinstitute.org/blog/main-skills-for-goverment-employees) ## Blog comments ## Related posts [![How to Manage Difficult Government Employees?](https://www.performanceinstitute.org/hs-fs/hubfs/four-woman-at-the-conference-room-1181421.jpg?height=500&name=four-woman-at-the-conference-room-1181421.jpg) ](https://www.performanceinstitute.org/blog/managing-difficult-government-employees) [government performance](https://www.performanceinstitute.org/blog/tag/government-performance), [Employee Performance](https://www.performanceinstitute.org/blog/tag/employee-performance) 3 min read. ## [How to Manage Difficult Government Employees?](https://www.performanceinstitute.org/blog/managing-difficult-government-employees) [Stewart Liff](https://www.performanceinstitute.org/blog/author/stewart-liff) Apr 30, 2021 11:12:28 AM The Performance Institute is pleased to present the first in a three part series providing insight... [Read more](https://www.performanceinstitute.org/blog/managing-difficult-government-employees) [![How to Lay Off a Government Employee?](https://www.performanceinstitute.org/hs-fs/hubfs/photo-1498184103684-bc1a70b0c068.jpg?height=500&name=photo-1498184103684-bc1a70b0c068.jpg) ](https://www.performanceinstitute.org/blog/lay-off-government-employees) [government performance](https://www.performanceinstitute.org/blog/tag/government-performance), [Employee Performance](https://www.performanceinstitute.org/blog/tag/employee-performance) 3 min read. ## [How to Lay Off a Government Employee?](https://www.performanceinstitute.org/blog/lay-off-government-employees) [Stewart Liff](https://www.performanceinstitute.org/blog/author/stewart-liff) Apr 30, 2021 11:12:15 AM The Performance Institute is pleased to present the final article of the three-part series... 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