Prima Donnas at the Workplace

They trail into work a little after the other employees have punched in, coffee in hand with “Star” emblazoned on the cup.  They give a regal nod to their coworkers as they pass by their desks.  When they reach their desk, they sit down, flip through the workload, pick out what they want to work on and the cast offs pile up to be distributed elsewhere.  If any of this sounds familiar or if you’ve seen it in action at your workplace, you’re dealing with a prima donna.

One of the problems with a prima donna is that because they are so good at their job, they expect everything and everyone to revolve around them.  They tend to forget that the purpose of their job is to support the purpose of another job.  The prima donna doesn’t play well with others very often.  They don’t like sharing information or working in a group where everyone shares the credit.  They do not have good interpersonal skills but are highly creative and star performers.  How do you handle this type of personality if you are their boss or supervisor?

First of all, figure out what motivates your prima donna and use it to your advantage.  Maybe they want more flexibility or a bonus.  Perhaps they’ll respond to more recognition.  The balance to this though, is for them to have respect for their coworkers and adhere to any rules or policies you have made. Prima donnas with faulty ethics or total disregard for company policies, however, have to learn to toe the line no matter how good they are.

Sometimes actually isolating a prima donna is a good solution.  It will keep them from disrupting the other employees with their demands and it will boost their ego to be responsible for a sole project.  You can just give them work and let them alone.  By isolating them, it makes sure that they will not cause issues for the other employees on the team.  If they weren’t keeping up their end of work projects in the past, this is one way to find out by having them work independently.

Going in the opposite direction in dealing with them is to have them work with a team.  This way their efforts are focused and it will keep them moving in the right direction.  Because prima donnas think they always have the best ideas, sometimes they don’t tend to stay focused, this would help keep them focused and on track. 

If your prima donna is good at what they do, you should recognize their abilities.  However, you still may need to remind them they are part of a team.  You are dealing with someone who thinks they are above reproach, so you need to make them accountable for their behavior.  You want to support this excellent performance by offering challenges that can stretch their skills.  However, you also have to control any hurtful or inappropriate behavior by them towards customers and coworkers.  Once they realize that the overall success of the company does not depend on just them and their talents but everyone’s talents in the group, they can become an excellent, well rounded employee.

Do you work with a prima donna?  If so, I’d like to hear comments from you.