Over the next months we are going to discuss some difficult personalities in the workplace and how they can be handled effectively.

There are many personalities that make up and organisation. Some personalities are more difficult to handle than others. Most personalities can be managed well if management have the emotional intelligence to deal with employees who have acceptable skills, in order to achieve the behaviour they want.

This month we are going to discuss the ‘Martyr’ type personality or the ’Drama Queen’.

This personality is one of the hardest to handle. They are the people who cannot say no and feel that they are responsible for everything and everyone. They work themselves to a frazzle, say nothing about how they are feeling except the odd sigh, slam work down on desks and make a huge deal about the hours they HAVE to work to get through the work. They never ask for help and expect everyone to know how they are feeling and will never delegate. Quite often they will create a health problem for themselves, but most of the time they become tearful, cry and behave in a victim style manner. They complain to their spouses, friends and to fellow employees who will listen. They become quite disruptive in an organization because they can split the team. The team members who are not performing to their own ability will side with the Martyr and the ones who are working to their ability will not. There is no inkling that something is wrong until they blow and when they do it becomes a continuous behavioural pattern. They will blame the organization and anything or anyone around them for the way they feel or the injustice they perceive is happening against them. Usually they find it difficult to entertain the notion that the situation has been created by themselves.

Do not justify to them or sympathise with the tears. Make sure you stick to the facts; what is expected of them in their role and what their key performance indicators are.

The best way to handle people like this is to monitor their work load by meeting daily with them. First thing in the morning and late in the afternoon to make sure that you are confident that their workload is reasonable to their ability. Quite often these people oversell themselves and their ability when interviewed for the job. They are often taken advantage of in an organization by workmates who can delegate and know that the ‘Martyr’ will not say no. Do not allow their tears to control management handling the situation in a business like manner. If they cry leave them alone until they stop. Tell them you will return to the conversation when they finish crying and leave the room. Do not justify to them or sympathise with the tears. Make sure you stick to the facts;  what is expected of them in their role and what their key performance indicators are. If they are not able to do what is expected of them, ask what can be done for them by management, in order for them to perform and within an acceptable timeframe. Always put it back on the Martyr to tell you how they see it, rather than management giving suggested solutions. Allow them to think it through themselves calmly and own the solution. Reassure them that what they do in their role is valued by the organization.

We at Rag Trade Recruitment are privy to many personality problems that our clients have with employees. With careful handling an employee who becomes troublesome because of a personality trait can become a valuable member of an organization if they are handled well.