Should a Manager Do Anything About Strange, But Harmless Behavior?

Is it better to talk to him about it? Or just quietly ignore it? If I talk to him, what the heck do I even say?

Unless that behavior impedes in some way his job performance or personal wellbeing, then you should try to stay out of his business.

Yes, people sometimes act weirdly (although this sounds quite unusual to be honest) but that is most of the times beyond the scope of workplace interaction and concerns.

Now, there is nothing wrong in being curious about what motivates him to do such actions if it makes you wonder, but if you do try to phrase it as polite and casual as possible. The least you want is to make him uncomfortable by asking such things.

If you sense that openly asking such things may not be the best, then perhaps a more private (but still casual) approach would be best.

Not a hill to die on.

• Does it affect his performance?
• Does it affect morale?
• Does it reflect poorly on the company?
• Does it involve the company in any way shape or form.

If you answered no to all of those, there's your answer

What should a manager do about strange, but harmless behavior? Nothing.

Eating 75 burgers is a little bit strange but personally I would have more problems with another employee not washing their hands after they have been at the restroom.

Usually star performers will show weird/odd behavior in some way. There is no point in changing them if their behavior is harmless. For some of them this might result in additional stress; you never know how they are feeling about a manager talking to them because of their behavior. Unless you have a personal connection with him and can talk to him about this behavior more as a friend than as a manager, don't talk to him about it. Even if you want to talk to him with good intentions he might feel different about it.

I slighty disagree with the not your job stance around. Of course, as long as it's not against the rules, you have no organisational obligation to do anything. BUT

Consider the following scenario:

Top Management guy comes visiting, sees Joe wearing bunny ears (for whatever reason, maybe supporting a good cause, doesn't matter), asks other guy, hey who's that? Oh that's Joe. Is he always like that? Yeah, pretty much.

5 months later you put him up for promotion. Top management guy sees the name, says, that's the guy with the bunny ears, right? This job requires contact to customers. Promotes someone else.

He'll never have the chance to explain himself.

Therefore, the nice thing to do would be to warn him that something like that could happen. Don't tell him he can't do him, just say, for his own good, he might want to consider how others perceive some things he does. Gossip is unstoppable and can ruin careers. That's not good, but a fact.

Don't criticize, just give him a hint.

I'm not even saying he needs to change, but a top performer beeing passed over for promotion (or something similar) for obscure reasons might become a not-so-top performer. He needs to be able to make an informed decision. Give him the necessary information.

I work for a company that exclusively employs people on the autistic spectrum as consultants. While we do have some internal projects, the majority of our time is spent at clients' offices.

I mention this because "Joe S" reminds me of most of my colleagues. They tend to get along well with people in a professional environment, they're intelligent and dedicated to their projects, and pretty much everybody has a few unusual hobbies or "strange" habits. For some, including myself, this extends to behaviours that, while harmless, may appear random or chaotic to a casual observer. There's usually a good reason, though.

For example, I get bored very easily, and it affects my mood and general wellbeing more than it would for most people. As a result, I tend to pick the most challenging projects and clients plus as many complex and time consuming hobbies as feasible, which have to be balanced with e.g. the need for physical exercise after 8 hours of sitting at a desk. I might get up at midnight for a hike to the beach, shower, go to work, spend my lunch break researching railguns, have a swordfight in the evening and write pirate songs until I fall asleep. Sounds pretty random, doesn't it? But 90% of it ties into ongoing projects with pretty consistent priorities.

My point is that, from the example you gave, Joe didn't act on impulse (no breakfast/lunch indicates planning) or, as far as I can tell, in poor judgment (no one seemed offended). He'll probably have a rational reason for what he does, even if it isn't readily apparent. Perhaps he's been training for this contest for a while and didn't want to give it up.

If you're worried for some reason, I'd recommend getting to know him better. Make small talk, maybe he'll share more of his thought process. If not, he might just be keeping inappropriate topics out of the workplace. Some people have really interesting personal lives that you never know about until, one evening, you have a drink at the hotel bar together. Which might be a bit jarring to reconcile with the "workplace image" you have of that person, but that's kind of the point of these things being separate.

Since you mentioned that "he never gets in trouble", I'd wager Joe is well aware of where to draw the line, and unless it starts affecting his work, any variation of "we need to talk about your strange behaviour" would, in my opinion, be you crossing this line.

It depends highly on how strange / what kind of strange. The one specific example you gave was a highly unusual food choice - that's their choice, and under almost no circumstances is the company allowed to mess with that.

But there are many different kinds of strange, and you did mention that there are multiple other strange incidents you're worried about, without specifying them (presumably to avoid personal identification).

Part of your question really is how you figure out how strange is strange enough to allow or demand action. Here are some examples where you can take action:

• Strange that's morally wrong to the point where it should offend several people. Usually these are things some but not all countries have laws against (downloading porn, doing drugs, eating live animals, etc). It doesn't have to be illegal in your country to be wrong.

• Strange that creates a constant negative impression, such as a strong smell, spitting, leaving nail clippings all over the office, etc.

• Strange that creates danger of bodily harm, e.g. pranking without thinking.

Now you identified an issue, what do you do?

1. Verify if the issue warrants action. Talk to someone who's allowed to know about the issue and knows how to stay professional - usually that's either your boss or someone from HR. Unless the 2 of you agree that something should be done, leave it alone.

2. If you decide to approach the issue and have no prior experience, request mentoring or training. Going about it wrong can offend people and you can easily be in violation of labor/discrimination laws. The training usually lasts significantly longer than reading a single stackexchange answer, and will be specific to your country and possibly your industry.

Is it better to talk to him about it? Or just quietly ignore it? If I talk to him, what the heck do I even say?

You say nothing.

BUT... Such behavior indicates a lack of good judgment on the part of the eating-contest contestant. It is really poor decorum to make a spectacle out of a dinner with co-workers.

There is nothing "wrong" with that, but like many other behaviors this signals that the person isn't mature or savvy enough to recognize that some contexts are different than others. It's like showing up at a client meeting wearing a clown outfit when everyone else is in a suit and tie-- people may find it amusing and even laugh, but it isn't a good impression.

You don't have to say anything about it, but you now realize that this person isn't "management material." When it comes time to think about who you want to represent the company to clients, vendors, collaborators or anyone, you'll think twice about sending this guy.

This is a perfect example of why merely "not breaking" rules in the employee handbook isn't enough. One has to use good judgement as well and that's much more subtle.