Some employees are difficult to deal with, and there are
those who are plain toxic. Difficult employees may get themselves involved in
all sorts of inexcusable behaviors without putting their peers to the
consequences that follow. While both kinds cause problems, the latter types are
called “toxic” because they spread poor work attitudes to others. It is the
villain that makes work environment miserable. A leader is often perplexed by a
single bad apple in organization because as unruly as the toxic employee’s
behaviors are, they don’t run against anything legal to call for termination of
employment. As a leader, here is what you can do instead.
Explore the Underlying
Problems
The last thing you want to do is jumping to conclusion.
There can be reasons why some employees behave the way they do at work, and you
will find a lot of possible culprits for examples conflict with coworkers, financial
hardship, marriage problem, recent loss of family member, medical condition, or
even mental health issue. Personal circumstances affect performance, and to
some extent encourage unpleasant behaviors at work. If that is the case, you
can in fact offer support such as counseling resources or recommend potential
solutions to alleviate the underlying problems. As a leader, this is part of
due diligence.
Make Clear the
Consequences
Another possible reason a toxic employee shows no
willingness to improve is the unawareness of negative consequences. People have
tendency to deal with potential losses more seriously than with potential
gains. They are also inclined to be more responsive anytime there is a real
possibility of serious penalty. In other words, you may need to make threats
and follow through if the person is hesitant to change. For most people, the
likelihood of suspension without pay or missing out on a promotion makes a
strong enough motivation to behave in more civil way.
Get the Documentation
Compiled
You should hope that a toxic employee will eventually improve
and be responsible for damages done, but there are times when you just have to
accept that some people will not change. If at the end of the day there is
nothing else you can do in your professional capacity to alter the situation,
terminating the term of employment is the last resort. Before you do that,
however, make sure to document all offenses made along with your responses so
far. It is crucial that you establish a pattern of the employee’s behaviors and
measures taken to address the issue. Formal complaints, video or photo evidence
of poor conducts, performance evaluation records, and other relevant
information would be helpful. The idea behind documentation is to protect the
organization (and yourself) from legal consequences and show that you let the
employee go for good reasons.
It certainly takes a lot of time and energy – invaluable
resources you can otherwise spend more productively to address more important
issues – to fix problems with or caused by a single toxic employee. The
negativity is sometimes too much to deal with, but put in mind that this is one
of the responsibilities every leader must bear. As a leader, you are deemed
capable of putting an end to the issue with the least possible consequences on
productivity and organizational well-being.
Ultimately, your company has invested a lot of time and resources
in hiring, grooming and supporting each employee. It is a lot more
cost-effective to listen to employees, come to a clear understanding of what
needs to change and help them be more successful. Every “problem” is really an “opportunity”.
Listen more than you speak and try to find win-solutions. Trust is earned and
fragile. Earn trust back and help the employee know you want him/her to be the
best employee possible and how their success is your success. Of course, we
must own our own mistakes and do our best to be supportive leaders. Leadership
is an active process, right?
Make good choices and have a great day! Only you get
to choose how you feel about it!
Thanks so much for reading! Please share this with
someone you care about and like the article if you agree with it!
Dr. Paul Gerhardt is a skilled leadership and diversity
trainer who builds customized workshops online or at your workplace. He is a
tenured professor of management. He is a diversity and leadership
well-respected and trusted trainer who helps organizations get amazing returns
on their training investment. Visit www.SupervisionEssentials.com for more
great free articles and to learn more about leadership effectiveness. Dr.
Gerhardt is the author of several publications available on Amazon.com,
including Diversity at Work, The Diversity King; Leadership Lucy and the
Leadership Handbook. Consider inviting Dr. Paul Gerhardt to do customized
leadership or diversity training at your organization. Most organizations find
that diversity and leadership training by the right trainer yields a
significant instant return on investment. You can get your FREE COPY of the
Leadership Handbook by clicking this link: http://bit.ly/LeadershipHandbook
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