Deck 14: The Problem Employee and Employee Problems

Question 1

A supervisor's leadership style and expectations of employee performance may well be part of the "problem employee's" problem.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

The problem employee is invariably a poor performer.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Categorizing an employee tends to lead to the assumption that the person is in fact that way and can thus channel a relationship with the person along certain narrow lines..

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Applying labels to designate employee "types" involves rendering personality judgments that most supervisors are unqualified to make..

Question 5

Members of a clique or other informal group follow an informal leader essentially because they have no other options.

Question 6

Whatever efforts one applies in trying to be a good supervisor will be recognized and appreciated by all employees in the group.

Question 7

Recent years have seen a visible increase in the number of applicants and employees who seem unable to take responsibility for their own circumstances.

Question 8

The successful supervisor assumes that it is frequently necessary to place the concerns of the employees above the concerns of the customers or clients.

Question 9

Owing to the differences between and among people it is reasonable to conclude that there is no single "right way" of dealing with all employees.

Question 10

Employees' lives outside of the workplace the supervisor's legitimate concern only when one's conduct negatively affects work performance or stands to harm the organization in some way.

Question 11

An organization's employee assistant program (EAP):

A) Is staffed with services provided within the organization.
B) Is ordinarily funded by government grants and other external sources.
C) Is usually coordinated by an individual from outside of the organization.
D) Is restricted in its use to non-supervisory employees.

Question 12

In relating to the troubled employee it is usually best to:

A) Listen carefully to the employee's problem and deliver the best advice you can offer.
B) Avoid passing judgment on the employee based on what you are seeing and hearing.
C) Call in another supervisor to ensure that you are correctly interpreting what the employee is saying
D) Encourage the employee to "tough it out" and conduct business as usual.

Question 13

The most effective control of absenteeism consists largely of:

A) The immediate supervisor's visible attention to attendance.
B) Clear, concise attendance rules published in a handbook or policy manual.
C) Visible examples made of chronic absentees.
D) The supervisor's backup by the next highest level of management..

Question 14

In dealing with the dead-end employee, that employee who can go no further in the organization, the supervisor should:

A) Advise transfer to some job that holds more interest or challenge.
B) Appeal to the individual through true motivating forces that stress job factors.
C) Do nothing, as long as the employee's work remains satisfactory.
D) None of the above.

Question 15

The best cure for a great many of the problems experienced with a troublesome employee is:

A) Utilizing a performance improvement approach including increased expectations of employee performance.
B) Reviewing the progressive disciplinary process with the employee.
C) Transferring the employee to another supervisor.
D) Keeping the person constructively occupied with meaningful work.

Question 16

Employee morale and individual motivation to perform are key factors in a department's rate of _____________.

Question 17

To a degree, absenteeism is governed by employee ___________.

Question 18

Always be patient, fair, and consistent with employees, but retain sufficient latitude in your behavior to allow for __________ among people.

Question 19

Use various _____________ available to you as a supervisor to discourage both absenteeism and the abuse of sick time.

Question 20

The ____________ is intended to provide employees who are troubled by personal problems with individualized, confidential assistance.

Question 21

Members of a clique or informal group gravitate toward an informal leader and implicitly recognize a form of __________ that is not imposed by any structure.