Brad Wayland* says that when you’re dealing with a co-worker you think might be toxic, you need to carefully consider their circumstances.
Photo: Heorhii Heorhiichuk
A single toxic employee can bring down the mood of an entire room, destroy productivity, and ultimately make your organisation a terrible place to work.
The question is: What you can do about it?
Can you turn a toxic employee into a productive member of staff?
We’ve all dealt with the type in one form or another:
- People who make everything about themselves and seem to have a penchant for sowing drama.
- People who constantly needle colleagues over inconsequential things and seem incapable of getting along with anyone.
- People who do nothing but complain and almost never say anything positive.
- People who are cruel and hostile to anyone lower on the totem pole than they are.
- People who micromanage their subordinates, making it impossible to get work done.
The above personalities all have one thing in common: If left unchecked, they can very easily cause your workplace to go south.
As the old cliché goes, a single bad apple can spoil the bunch.
If you notice any toxicity in your office, it’s imperative that you locate — and eliminate — the source as soon as humanly possible, lest it spread like a disease.
The question, of course, is what you should do about it.
If you’re faced with a truly toxic employee, is it worthwhile to work with him or her to be better?
Or, is it better to simply cut the toxicity out at the roots and remove him or her from the workplace?
Not every employee is toxic.
Most people who cause problems in the workplace are simply difficult.
They can be helped; you can steer them in the right direction.
When you’re dealing with someone you think might be toxic, you need to carefully consider his or her circumstances.
What kind of person was he or she before the problematic behaviour?
Is there a root cause that you can locate, or does his or her attitude seem to have developed out of thin air?
The answers to these questions will determine the best course.
The difference between toxic and difficult
“There’s a difference between a difficult employee and a toxic one,” Dylan Minor, Assistant Professor at the Kellogg School of Management, explained to Harvard Business Review.
“I call them toxic because not only do they cause harm, but they also spread their behaviour to others.”
“There’s a pattern of de-energising, frustrating, or putting down teammates.”
“It’s not just that Joe is rude.”
“The whole team suffers for it.”
A difficult employee might be the way he or she is because of something external.
- Domestic problems.
- Frustration with management.
- Frustration with a client.
- Frustration with a colleague.
- Health issues.
Sit down and talk to him or her about how he or she has been acting, but be sure to avoid any accusatory language.
Make it clear that you’re here with his or her best interests at heart.
Explain the impact his or her behaviour has had on co-workers, and focus on how you’d like his or her behaviour to improve.
Pay close attention to how the person responds.
Is he or she apologetic or remorseful?
Does the employee seem like he or she is listening to and engaged with your advice?
Or, does the person simply pile on the excuses and try to shift blame on to everyone but himself or herself?
The idea here is that where difficult employees are concerned, there’s an underlying reason for their behaviour, and there’s a good chance they aren’t even fully aware of the effect they have on others.
With toxic employees, they usually know exactly what they’re doing — and they simply don’t care.
Putting your foot down on toxicity
If your problem employees fail to respond to diplomacy, your next step is to put on your disciplinarian’s hat.
Give the worker a clear time frame in which he or she is to improve the behaviour and concrete consequences should he or she fail to do so.
Make it absolutely clear what behaviour needs to change and why; the more thorough you can be here, the better.
If possible, assign a manager to work with the employee as he or she strives to improve.
* Brad Wayland is the Chief Strategy Officer at BlueCotton.
This article first appeared at hrdailyadvisor.blr.com.
