This is a tough situation because no employee is required to socialize with anyone from work, unless they choose to. It doesn’t make sense to snoop around, trying to find out if an employee is being taken to the Dairy Queen when the Peanut Buster Parfait is on special, but if you hear from this employee there’s an exclusion going on, then you can look into this further. But your motivation has got to be work-related.
Perhaps you can find out from this employee what s/he feels s/he’s missing out on. If it’s exclusively social events outside of work that aren’t put on by the workplace (such as a workplace Christmas party or a workplace summer picnic), you’re not going to be able to intervene. However, perhaps you can ask if s/he feels ostracized within the workplace and is there a connection. It could be other employees aren’t treating him/her appropriately, OR employees might be responding to his/her inappropriate behaviour.
TRY THIS:
Talk to your employee about the behaviours that might seem inappropriate at work…from others and from this employee. If you know there are things that grate others about his/her behaviour, then be honest. If s/he has identified behaviours from others that sound like bullying, harassing or just inappropriate, you’ll need to look further into it.
HOW ABOUT:
“What employees do on their own time is up to them. However, if you feel the behaviour is related to work and I can help in some way, then I’m happy to talk about it. Tell me about the behaviours you think are related to your being excluded outside work. It might be something others have to change, or it might be something you have to change. Either way, it still might not end up with people inviting you to things they do on their own time.”
Stephen Hammond, B.A., J.D., CSP
If you have any questions, please contact Stephen
