The ‘difficult’ employee in laboratory medicine: types, impact and management strategies

As laboratory medicine professionals, we are often asked to fill managerial roles with minimal prior managerial education or experience. While we attempt to fill these roles with the best of intentions within us and our colleagues, conflicts and differences of opinion inevitably arise. The “difficult employee” navigates these challenging circumstances in a manner that can harm themselves, their colleagues, and their patients. Difficult employees can present with prolonged turn-around times, decreased productivity, lack of self-awareness, a toxic work culture, and even criminal activity as the most extreme manifestation. As a laboratory leader, recognizing different types of the difficult employee will help to identify methods for effective early intervention before significant harm can occur.