Jerry L. Streich, a Minneapolis-area fire chief/emergency manager, took on an issue that every department deals with at FDIC 2023 鈥� bad behavior and difficult people.
Streich shared his personal experience with personnel issues, and strategies for dealing with the different generations and personality types you鈥檒l encounter in the emergency services.
Memorable quotes on hostile work environments
Streich shared his experiences in managing various personality types and problematic members. Here are some memorable quotes:
- 鈥淏ad people make good people leave 鈥� it鈥檚 so true.鈥�
- 鈥淭here鈥檚 nothing worse than two people screaming at each other and thinking there鈥檚 going to be a resolution, because there won鈥檛 be.鈥�
- 鈥淚f you have a reality TV show going on in your department, everyone knows about it.鈥�
- 鈥淲e only get a little bit of time. You鈥檙e either going to leave a legacy or a tragedy.鈥�
Top takeaways on dealing with problem employees
Streich shared conflict resolution techniques to deal with the different challenging personalities in the fire and EMS station.
Following are the top takeaways from Streich鈥檚 workshop.
1. Identify difficult employees
Streich noted some characteristics of difficult people are easier to identify than others, but some signs include:
- Yelling, screaming, a raised voice
- Anger if not getting their way
- Micromanaging (my way or the highway)
- Gossiping, complaining, insisting on always being right
These people exhibit damaging behavior, including:
- Harassment
- Intimidation
- Bullying
2. Understand the costs of workplace drama
There are tangible costs of having difficult employees, but others are less obvious. They range from:
- Absenteeism and loss of productivity: People do not want to be around a difficult person and they will call out to avoid the behavior
- Increased costs: Bad behavior leads to incidents and injury, resulting in workers鈥� compensation and disability insurance expenses
- Turnover, recruitment, interviewing hiring challenges: Word gets out, Streich stressed. If you have workplace drama, that word gets around to mutual aid partners and prospective candidates who will not want to work for your organization.
- Organizational reputation: 鈥淚t takes years to build a reputation and a millisecond to ruin it,鈥� Streich said. An organization with a reputation for drama will have discipline problems, a lack of participation, complaining, gossip and a lack of trust.
- Health: Dealing with negativity, complaints, conflict and bad behavior is stressful for everyone and increases the impacts of fatigue and wellness
The chief is not immune from the stress and health impacts, Streich stressed. 鈥淢anaging [difficult] people can cause post-traumatic stress. If you think of them when you should be sleeping, you might be in the presence of a bully or a threat.鈥�
One tip he offered to deal with pushback is to predict how different members will react to a new initiative or change before announcing it. Write it on a piece of paper, he suggested 鈥� not to poke fun at the anticipated complaints, but to prevent internalizing that criticism when it inevitably comes.
3. Understand generational differences
We鈥檝e heard about generational stereotypes and perceptions, but we鈥檙e facing an unprecedented diversity in our emergency services workforces including more generations than ever. Streich noted it can be helpful to look at where members are coming from, in their backgrounds and experiences, to understand their motivation and communication preferences.
Every one of us grew up in an environment that is completely different, he pointed out. 鈥淲e have to be more open to the generational differences we have to better communicate.鈥�
The key? Listening. We have to talk to members, Streich said. 鈥淗ere鈥檚 what I鈥檝e learned; we live on the same planet, but I know you have experiences I haven鈥檛; I鈥檇 like to hear about them.鈥�
Get to know your people, he advised. Take out some index cards and have members fill out things you don鈥檛 know about them. Try to guess who is who. Streich encouraged attendees to have 鈥渂rave talk.鈥� 鈥淲e don鈥檛 talk about the things we should, he said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of surface understanding of who we are.鈥� Better understanding can provide a foundation for building culture, mission and vision.
4. How to mitigate a hostile member
Streich shared universal strategies for dealing with a hostile member:
- Remain calm
- Acknowledge their feelings
- Listen to their complaints
- Explain your feelings in a non-blaming way
- Lower your voice
- Use the word 鈥淚鈥� 鈥� 鈥淚 would like to work it out鈥�
- Protect yourself. If warranted, call the police.
He also provided tips for dealing with specific personality types like the:
- Chronic complainer. Listen and ask clarifying questions, but watch your body language. Don鈥檛 agree with the complaints, verbally or by nodding your head. Don鈥檛 counterattack or get defensive, but don鈥檛 apologize. Get the facts with a problem-solving attitude.
- Know-it-all. Streich noted there are actual people in the emergency services who have seen and experienced so much, they are actual resources for almost any scenario. Then there are the people with an unwarranted opinion on everything. Identify which type your constant interjector is by asking them, 鈥淲here did you get your information from?鈥�
- Keyboard commander. Their behind-the-scenes comments can cause morale problems and stir up group think. Respond quickly and call them out.
- Cranky person: Determine what鈥檚 really going on, Streich advised. Stay positive. Do not take their crankiness personally, but demand respect and ensure the behavior stops.
Create a culture of responsibility
Ultimately, weeding out bad behavior is everyone鈥檚 responsibility and it needs to be called out. 鈥淚f you seriously think the chief has total control of everything, I鈥檓 sorry to say you鈥檙e wrong,鈥� Streich said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not going to tolerate bad behavior. Who鈥檚 not going to tolerate it? We are not. That needs to be collective.鈥�
Focus on building your mission, vision and core values, with a focus on professionalism, service, excellence, dedication, integrity, respect and striving to be better.
鈥淚f someone doesn鈥檛 get it, we need to build them a bridge,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e part of our team. We鈥檙e a big family and we stick together.鈥�
Additional resources
- How to really address problem emergency responders
- 5 dysfunctions that turn teams into mere groups
- Want to nip bullying in the bud? Start at the top
- Achieving positive discipline without destroying trust
This article was originally posted April 26, 2023. It has been updated.
