In a perfect world, employees are responsible, they follow directions and they are much less of a concern for managers than the general affairs of the organization. Ideally, executives want to spend less time concerning themselves with whether their workers are doing their jobs and more time focusing on company growth and other critical considerations.
Unfortunately, this isn't always the case. While some employees are able to do their jobs well with little direction, some difficult to manage employees can cause problems at any organization, and it takes a certain type of manager to ensure they are productive members of the team.
An article in Forbes offers a number of tips to help manage people who are hard to manage. Contributor Victor Lipman ties many of these to the various difficult personalities managers will encounter while doing their jobs. A manager is never going to agree with all of his or her workers, and those employees aren't going to agree with each other either. As such, conflict will likely arise, and it's up to the manager to handle it appropriately.
"Conflict is the currency of management," Lipman writes. "If you abhor conflict, management likely isn't the right job for you. The best managers aren't 'conflict avoiders,' but neither do they pull rank and roll right over others when conflicts occurs. Remember, you're going to have to continue work with these same people in the future. Best to look for fair constructive resolutions, not simply 'getting your way.'"
When filling executive and senior management positions at your company, you must find those who can follow this type of management style. An executive search firm will help find the right people to effectively manage conflict.
