Reader Submission from Danielle

I’m an HR manager and recently had to deal with a jerk in another department. I noticed there was quite a bit of turnover in our IT department, especially under one supervisor. I originally thought the problem was with the supervisor, but after further investigation, I realized it was actually a narcissistic employee. His behavior was so cruel that many other employees asked to be transferred or found jobs elsewhere. Many of the complaints described him as being “arrogant, manipulative, offensive, controlling” and more.

One of my friends that’s also in HR at another company dealt with a similar situation. She recommended that I continue to keep good records of all the complaints and incidents. We had to alter our approach of giving constructive feedback and present it mildly and kind of like we were praising him. After building a pretty large file of complaints, we recommended that he get some counseling. He’s still attending sessions, but so far there’s been some improvement.