If you’re a manager, there’s an excellent chance that at some point in your career you’ve had to deal with a problem employee—or two. We all know who they are: the know-it-all, the introvert, Mr. (or Ms.) Negativity, the employee who is chronically late. Your first instinct might be to fire the lot and start with a clean slate. But before you rush to such a drastic decision, think about the potential downsides. Among them—and they’re big ones in today’s rocky economy—are the costs involved in firing (severance, lost hours) and then hiring (hours spent interviewing and training).

In most cases, a better option is to help problem employees become productive, says Barb Krantz Taylor, a licensed psychologist and executive coach at the Bailey Consulting Group in Minneapolis. Here’s a sampling of tips for dealing with these less-than-easy personalities:

The know-it-all. In general, these people tend to be very competitive. They think they’re being helpful by constantly offering unsolicited advice. Often, they’re passed over for plum assignments or advancement and don’t understand why. This is a great time to give them feedback aimed at letting them know how others experience them. “It’s a tough conversation to have,” says Krantz Taylor. But they need to know their peers often find them overbearing.

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