Episode 17: Episode 87: Handling a Difficult Employee
From Business English Expressions at Work by Johnny
March 20, 2026 · 4 min · Season 5 · Episode 17
About this episode
This episode discusses how HR professionals handle a challenging employee situation affecting team dynamics.
Episode 87 of Expressions at Work takes you back inside the Human Resources department as the team deals with a challenging workplace situation — a high-performing employee whose behavior is beginning to affect the team. In this episode, you’ll hear how HR professionals handle sensitive issues by discussing performance concerns, deciding how to address the behavior, and ensuring that problems are properly documented. The team also explores how to set clear expectations and when to introduce a performance improvement plan (PIP). This episode is ideal for intermediate to advanced English learners who want to understand how professionals communicate in difficult workplace situations, especially when balancing performance with professionalism. Listening to realistic HR conversations will help you improve your business English vocabulary, communication skills, and confidence in professional environments. 🎧 In this episode you’ll learn expressions such as: • Performance concerns • Address the behavior • Document the issue • Set clear expectations • Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) • Professional conduct Subscribe to Expressions at Work for more realistic workplace English…
People in this episode
Host: Johnny
Topics covered
- difficult employee
- performance concerns
- HR communication
- workplace professionalism
- performance improvement plan
Keywords
- difficult employee
- performance concerns
- HR
- communication skills
- performance improvement plan
- business English
- workplace situations
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Human Resources
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