Managing difficult employees

My longtime worker has turned difficult, absenting himself on critical days, missing out on a routine task that must be delivered every Monday. Due to his frequent absences, I'm forced to do it alone, or with the help of others who must work overtime. I feel he’s trying to sabotage our work. What’s the cure? — Fat Cat.

- REY ELBO

Some people vanish when the heat is on. You see them all week — laughing, chatting, sipping coffee — until crunch time arrives, and suddenly, they’re “on emergency leave,” “not feeling well,” or “unreachable due to poor signal.” Congratulations! You've just met the master of strategic absenteeism.

I was in the same boat before. Three decades back, our department was tasked to produce a print copy of an eight-page biweekly newsletter that needed to hit everyone’s desks every first and third Monday of the month. That means all hands on deck on Thursdays and Fridays — editing, proofreading, getting approval, and rushing files to the printer on Saturday.

My assistant, who knows the production cycle better than anyone, used to disappear just when I needed him most. Coincidence? That's unlikely.

So how do you manage a worker who's absent not by accident, but by habit and design?

I talked to him about it several times, but he came off convinced I could do it without him. Several weeks after that, he resigned, to my relief. He was eventually replaced by an outsider. Problem solved.

SEVEN-STEP APPROACH

Looking back, if he didn’t resign, I would have resorted to the following measures, with an eye towards demonstrating empathy, holding people accountable, while showing just the right dose of managerial spine: