Sample answers to discuss managing difficult or problem employees

Sample answer 1:

‘Two years ago, I managed a team of 5 consultants, and I had one team member who was constantly
late when it came to completing tasks. These tasks were set out and discussed during the weekly
planning to make sure all team members had the same workload. With him being late, the whole team
started to run behind on the planning. I had a one-on-one with him and, next to giving him a warning,
explained the situation and what it meant for the team. We discussed a deadline for him to improve his
contribution to the team effort.

After the first two weeks that followed, I saw no improvement, so I talked to him again and told him that
I would include this in his employee record and report it to the HR department. We discussed a final
deadline to improve himself, and I offered to coach him during the process. Luckily for the team and me,
he took it seriously. Within a week, there was a real improvement in his output and quality of work, and
furthermore, everything was delivered ahead of the project the deadline. Besides his productivity and
quality going up, the friction within the team was gone, and all issues were solved.’

This answer shows that you are able to pinpoint specific behavior of employees that need to be
improved. It also shows that you are willing to help them improve their professional behaviors to
improve team performance in general.

Sample answer 2:

‘In my previous job as a manager of the customer service department I had a team member who was
struggling with handling customer service in a professional manner. His feedback scores were generally
lower than the averages of other team members. The main reason for this was that clients pointed out
his inability to address their concerns empathetically. Of course, for us as a company, this meant that
our reputation was impacted by his actions.

I spoke to him in private and addressed the poor evaluations, and we went over his customer ratings
together. By highlighting the specific negative feedback from clients, he understood what he needed to
work on. He asked me if he could get in-house training to improve his client engagement skills. After he
finished his training, I offered to coach him and go over his client conversations together. After we had
our sit-down and made a plan together to improve his performance, his customer evaluation scores
improved soon after. He’s currently scoring above average regularly and has much more fun in his work.’
This answer shows that you as a manager are able to turn around a situation in which an employee with
potential is underperforming. You’re highlighting that you took specific steps to improve his
performance without giving up on him.