Let’s Work Out How to Reduce the Likelihood of Workplace Insubordination

Reversing the effect of workplace insubordination is much harder than preventing it from occurring in the first place. Reducing the chances of workplace insubordination may feel like an unnecessary precaution, but when cases do sporadically come up, putting things back in order can take up a lot of resources, leaving behind some creases that are hard to iron out completely.

Insubordination management in the workplace should start even before problems escalate, with a keen eye set out for early signs of unrest. 

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How to Reduce the Probability of Insubordination at Work

Before we begin exploring how to deal with insubordination or its early signs, let’s first get a sense of what insubordination is. Engaging in insubordination refers to an intentional disregard for workplace regulations or dismissal of the instruction and recommendations of an authority figure within the workspace. 

This could be a refusal to follow the workplace culture and its documented rules regularly, with the intention to subvert authority or make a statement about the lack of care for the management’s preferences. The severity of insubordination can vary greatly, but all forms of it are disruptive to the workspace and hinder the organization from progressing along its intended course. 

Why Should You Care About Insubordination Management in the Workplace?

An employee coming in later to work frequently despite repeated instructions to arrive on time could be a minor case of insubordination that, while not aggressive or disruptive to the whole organization, can still cause issues within the team. 

In more severe cases, an employee might ignore their tasks, confront their managers and coworkers, and act violently toward the people around them. Such major infractions require a more severe response from the organization and they create a generally unpleasant work atmosphere for everyone who witnesses the problem. 

Dealing with insubordination at work could require managers to become more strict to confront the problem head on, but this can be uncomfortable for others to watch and listen to. When employees have to be reprimanded, suspended, or even fired, it creates an uneasy environment for the other workers, even if the employee who created the issue is in the wrong.

This is why organizations need to create their own personal guide for dealing with insubordination at work, ensuring that early signs of such problems are identified and addressed. Confronting insubordination at work also requires the organization to distinguish between whether the problematic behavior that is occurring is intentional or not, as either situation requires the management to take on a different approach. 

How to Reduce the Chances of Insubordination Occurring?

We’ve spoken about addressing serious cases of insubordination before, but let’s discuss some preemptive steps to catch the early signs. 

Create a Guide for Identifying Insubordination at Work

It’s easy to identify a problem when it escalates into something serious but early signs are easy to miss, especially for new managers or those who have too many workers under their wing. Create a guide for managers to understand the early identifiers reported by HR and the central management team so everyone knows what to look out for. 

In the guide, include solutions and immediate responses for the managers to follow so they know how to respond to the situation in a way that has been approved by the organization.

Conduct Regular Meetings with Employees to Understand their  Experiences

Managers should meet with employees regularly and go over the challenges the workers are facing day-to-day. These discussions should extend beyond project deadlines to cover some of the outlying issues employees have encountered, even if they are just minor roadblocks. 

This will help a manager identify whether the employee has recently faced any personal setbacks that might be a cause for the change in behavior, rather than blaming it on willful disruption immediately.

Offer Some Flexibility to Employees

Continuing the example of the employee who might be late to work repeatedly, there might be a genuine reason for the late arrival that eventually turns into a way to rebel against the organization’s restrictions and lack of empathy.

During the meetings with employees, if managers are able to discuss some way to change conditions temporarily or support the employee, then providing that flexibility can nip any resentment against the employer early on, putting an end to any future needs for resentment management in the workplace. 

Train Managers to De-escalate Conflict

To reduce workplace insubordination, managers need to be well-trained in conflict resolution. When employees start to challenge their decisions, managers who get frustrated and lash out are likely to make the problem worse. Especially when employees are at odds with each other, a calm third-party voice is required to dial the situation down and prevent further issues from arising. 

Managers need to receive training on mitigating conflict between employees and keeping their cool when faced with aggression themselves.

Aid Employees with Language and Communication Skills

Dealing with insubordination at work might require employers to address the communication guidelines within the workspace. If employees are becoming irate because of frequent misunderstandings and problems in communication, then the organization should help them address language barriers or communication gaps. 

Facilitate interactions between employees and teams so that they are able to develop a healthy rapport with each other. 

Document Incidents and Follow Problematic Behavior Patterns

When genuine issues of insubordination occur, do not ignore or dismiss them. Create a record of the incident and keep an eye out for other similar problems. If there are repeated conflicts with the employee, do not attempt to avoid confrontation and disguise the problem. Talk to the employee, discuss a solution, and then track whether they are able to correct the problematic behavior. 

While creating a guide regarding insubordination at work, also add consequences for violations and generally disruptive behavior. Communicate these to employees well in advance so they are aware of the consequences.

Establish a Healthy Relationship with Employees and Regularly Collect Feedback

The best way to avoid insubordination and rebellion at work is to develop a really healthy relationship with employees. Workers who feel heard and understood by their employer have little reason to undermine their authority or hold up the work done at the organization.

Collecting feedback from employees regularly, especially before and after implementing a big change, is a very respectable move. Not only should you pay attention to what is being said, but also take the feedback into consideration before making any other changes at the company.

Dealing with insubordination can feel like a lot of work, but if you set up a good framework for identifying and resolving issues within the workplace in advance, your team will have a much easier time overcoming hurdles that come their way.

The post Let’s Work Out How to Reduce the Likelihood of Workplace Insubordination appeared first on The HR Digest.

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