You are describing a situation that is not even mismanagement. It’s non-management. Management and HR in your company are abdicating their responsibilities and tolerating totally unprofessional and inappropriate behaviors. The first question is why they would allow this to happen. The more you understand the rationale (or lack of same) behind their acceptance of this employee’s actions, the better you’ll be able to develop a strategy to deal with it.
In some cases, management tolerates these types of untoward behaviors simply because the managers themselves are inept. In other cases, managers foolishly tolerate such behaviors because of the problematic employee’s expertise, contacts, relationship with or to a key player, or their own managerial lethargy.
One strategy that may help you deal with this type of situation is for you and a few of your fellow employees to meet with senior management, spell out the specific problematic behaviors displayed by this employee, and then describe the costs in terms of employee motivation, morale, productivity, commitment, as well as potential for claims against the company. If management can better understand the costs of this employee’s outrageous behaviors, along with the benefits associated with taking actual corrective steps, management will be more inclined to take action rather than fake action.
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