Tough Interview Questions for Managers: How Do You Deal with Someone Who Is Insubordinate? | JobSearchTV.com
By Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter
It probably doesn’t happen often, but when it does, here is how to answer this question.
Answering Behavioral Interview Questions The Right Way
This is one of those tough interview questions for managers, directors, those in leadership, who have responsibility for people. How do you deal with an insubordinate employee? And the first thing is to recognize there’s a difference between someone not doing something–they made a mistake, they don’t understand– and the insubordinate employee who refuses to do something, may be trying to create a conspiracy within the office, because they’re feeling rebellious about the situation and they’re trying to draw other people into their drama. It’s the latter that we’re dealing with, not the person who makes a mistake, even if that’s multiple times.
The multiple times person you can talk with about the impact of what they’re doing. The insubordinate person probably has stopped caring, and is sufficiently rebellious that they’re causing problems. So if you’re on an interview and you’re asked this question, here’s a couple of things you have to remember to talk about.
Number one is, when I have someone who’s in support, which doesn’t happen often, I’ve got a great team, I hire well, but I’ve had it happen on a few occasions. Number one is, I get charged by it so I try and take a deep breath and not lose my cool. And at the same time, I try not to take it personally. Often what I’ll start by doing is consult with HR, consult with my mentor, and just confirm that they’re seeing this as being insubordinate, as well because, again, I’m emotionally involved in this situation. So I want to just confirm that, before I start talking, I’m not overreacting. And thus, getting an advisor is important to me.
The next thing is, once I’ve confirmed that this seems to be insubordination, I try and understand what’s the problem? Why is it that they’re being
insubordinate? Because people don’t do that unnecessarily. ‘I think the rule is stupid. I think you’re managing like a moron.’ These are insubordinate comments. And in meeting with someone, you want to just hear it, let it go, and then just simply say, ‘I’m going to be honest with you, this is the way it’s going to be. I hear you. And to some degree, my hands are tied, my management wants me to enforce this. Or ‘I see this as the best solution for the problem.’
Always make sure you document every conversation you have, even with the people you’re asking to be advisors, as a way of ensuring that you’re being compliant with any office policies. There are probably postures for writing someone up. And at the same time, you don’t want to be the person who overreacts because if you’re the over reactive person, you start to develop a rep for that within the organization.
But for purposes of an interview question, you meet with advisors that confirm that they see this as insubordination. I try and keep my cool and make sure that when it comes time to have a conversation, I’m level headed, and I don’t react, I respond. I speak with the person directly in order to understand what their side of this is. And on the few occasions I’ve had this happen, they’ve maintained an insubordinate attitude, and thus I’ve confirmed with them that this is the way it’s going to be. I expect their compliance. I keep documentation of all my conversations. And if necessary, you know, we wind up putting them in a framework within the office where unless they’re compliant, we’re going to let them go. And I involve HR in that part of the conversation. So in answering the question, that’s how I really encourage you to answer.
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Should I Confirm an Interview?
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