• FREE RESOURCES
  • PREMIUM CONTENT
        • SEE MORE
          PREMIUM RESOURCES
  • HR DEEP DIVES
        • Coronavirus (COVID-19) Resources for HR Professionals
          Employment Law
          Labor Law Posting Requirements: Everything You Need to Know
          Recruiting
          businesswoman selecting future employees on digital interfaces
          Recruiting Resources for HR & Hiring Managers
          Performance Management
          vector image of young female making star rating
          Performance Review Resources
          Employment Law
          Understanding Equal Employment Opportunity and the EEOC
          Recruiting
          Onboarding Resources for HR & Hiring Managers
  • CORONAVIRUS & HR

  • LOGIN
  • SIGN UP FREE

HR Morning

  • FREE RESOURCES
  • PREMIUM CONTENT
        • SEE MORE
          PREMIUM RESOURCES
  • HR DEEP DIVES
        • Coronavirus (COVID-19) Resources for HR Professionals
          Employment Law
          Labor Law Posting Requirements: Everything You Need to Know
          Recruiting
          businesswoman selecting future employees on digital interfaces
          Recruiting Resources for HR & Hiring Managers
          Performance Management
          vector image of young female making star rating
          Performance Review Resources
          Employment Law
          Understanding Equal Employment Opportunity and the EEOC
          Recruiting
          Onboarding Resources for HR & Hiring Managers
  • CORONAVIRUS & HR
  • Employment Law
  • Benefits
  • Recruiting
  • Talent Management
  • Performance Management
  • HR Technology
  • More
    • Leadership & Strategy
    • Compensation
    • Staff Administration
    • Policy & Procedures
    • Wellness
    • Staff Departure
    • Employee Services
    • Work Location
    • HR Career & Self-Care
    • Health Care
    • Retirement Plans

Topics managers should avoid in the workplace, and dealing with argumentative workers

Tim Gould
by Tim Gould
December 12, 2014
3 minute read
  • SHARE ON

HR pros know managers can land your company in trouble when supervisors aren’t careful about what they say around the office.  
If the wrong thing slips out in conversations, an employee might misconstrue a manager’s comments as bias against certain people.
And that can lead them to discrimination or wrongful termination lawsuits.

Touchy topics

Employment law attorney D. Albert Brannen of the firm Fisher & Phillips listed at MultiBriefs the top six conversation topics that get managers in trouble.
According to Brennan, the riskiest topics for managers to discuss were:

  • race and ethnicity
  • romance and sex
  • religion
  • health issues
  • drug and alcohol use, and
  • personal finances.

Beyond putting you at risk at for a lawsuit, talking about these kinds of topics can make employees feel singled out, angry or uncomfortable, which can lower employee morale and hurt productivity.
Some additional topics Brannen suggests managers avoid:

  • politics
  • criticisms of the employer and co-workers, and
  • off-color jokes.

These topics, too, can lead to any number of problems.
It’s also worth reminding managers that they are representatives of your company, so their actions reflect as much on the company as themselves.

Dealing with the employee who just wants to argue

The one thing all of those verboten topics has in common: they’re bound to start arguments. Which brings us to another area managers have to deal with: the employee who just won’t stop arguing about … well, everything.
In work, as in life, some differences of opinion are bound to happen, simply because no two people are alike.
Sometimes these differences don’t get settled very well and result in an employee being argumentative in a way that undermines authority.
Managers must deal with these employees quickly to prevent the behavior from worsening.
This means communicating with the employee in a respectful way and discussing the problem based on facts rather than emotions.
A word of caution: The manager shouldn’t presume the employee knows he has been argumentative. He may have been trying to assert himself to show independence, for example, and people do not always perceive the same situation in the same way.
Generally it helps to give specific examples of overly argumentative interactions, so the offending person can better understand.
So, the manager should take the employee behind closed doors and say something like the following:

Worplace Virtual Summit

John, in recent weeks you have grown to be argumentative and you have become an obstructionist.
We need to get you back on track and to get on with the job here, and your constant arguments are holding us up.
You are prolonging the discussion well past the point of reason. We have heard your arguments and we have considered them.
We have explained why we have decided to go forward on the present plan. We need everyone’s cooperation for that plan to succeed. The time for arguments is past.
Do you understand and can I have your agreement that we will go forward and all pull together on this?

 

Get the latest from HRMorning in your inbox PLUS immediately access 10 FREE HR guides.

I WANT MY FREE GUIDES

Keep Up To Date with the Latest HR News

With HRMorning arriving in your inbox, you will never miss critical stories on labor laws, benefits, retention and onboarding strategies.

Sign up for a free HRMorning membership and get our newsletter!
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
HR Morning Logo
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Linked In
  • ABOUT HRMORNING
  • ADVERTISE WITH US
  • WRITE FOR US
  • CONTACT
  • Employment Law
  • Benefits
  • Recruiting
  • Talent Management
  • HR Technology
  • Performance Management
  • Leadership & Strategy
  • Compensation & Payroll
  • Policy & Culture
  • Staff Administration
  • Wellness & Safety
  • Staff Departure
  • Employee Services
  • Work Location
  • HR Career & Self-Care

HRMorning, part of the SuccessFuel Network, provides the latest HR and employment law news for HR professionals in the trenches of small-to-medium-sized businesses. Rather than simply regurgitating the day’s headlines, HRMorning delivers actionable insights, helping HR execs understand what HR trends mean to their business.

Privacy Policy Terms of Service
Copyright © 2021 SuccessFuel

WELCOME BACK!

Enter your username and password below to log in

Forget Your Username or Password?

Reset Password

Lost your password? Please enter your username or email address. You will receive a link to create a new password via email.

Log In

During your free trial, you can cancel at any time with a single click on your “Account” page.  It’s that easy.

Why do we need your credit card for a free trial?

We ask for your credit card to allow your subscription to continue should you decide to keep your membership beyond the free trial period.  This prevents any interruption of content access.

Your card will not be charged at any point during your 21 day free trial
and you may cancel at any time during your free trial.

preloader