When you think of a “toxic” person at work or in an organization you volunteer for, what do you think of?You probably know one (or two).Toxic employees have behaviors that upset and annoy fellow staff members because of their laziness, bullying, lying, constant complaining, gossiping, harassing, and manipulative acts.The toxic employee may not be your most outspoken or aggressive employee. Passive people can be toxic too.In fact, passive toxic people have been called “snipers”.You never know when they are going to strike!
Another word for a toxic employee is: “Hurricane employee”.Dr. Duffy from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota coined that term.He states, “Hurricane employees have the ability to destroy the social fabric of the organization by creating friction, drama, tension, and hostility among other employees. Their damage extends beyond themselves.”Have you ever witnessed that kind of damage?If so, then you’ve witnessed a toxic person whipping up their hurricane!
Why do companies keep these “hurricane employees”?There are a few reasons.Believe it or not, significant research indicates toxic employees are often retained because they are highly productive.Yes, they may be your hardest worker and even volunteer to do extra work. In fact, in-depth research by Dr. Dylan Minor and Dr. Michael Housman from Harvard University found that toxic employees are often even more productive (working faster and staying on task) than non-toxic employees.
Additionally, toxic workers exhibit valued traits that leaders are looking for:charisma, curiosity, and high self-esteem.It’s possible that these toxic people are faking and posturing themselves as team players in front of their leaders; however, being their “toxic selves” among fellow employees.The faking and posturing is further behavior of a toxic employee. This type of behavior creates a vicious cycle within the organization and can have a detrimental impact on morale and ultimately the corporate culture.When a toxic person is promoted or given accolades for something at work, the rest of the team is confused, angry, and can feel defeated. Once this type of culture is created, it’s difficult to change.
Companies also keep toxic employees because managers fear conflict.They simply don’t want to address the issue.Researcher and author of The Boundaryless Organization and Simply Effective, Dr. Ron Ashkenas found that most managers will not admit that they avoid conflict; they are in complete denial.Rather, managers “rationalize away” why they shouldn’t deal with it.He said, “Avoidance is so common that there’s no panacea for overcoming it.”If a manager avoids a difficult conversation with a toxic employee, there is little hope for the rest of the employees.
Both of these reasons are cause for concern.Toxic people cause stress and emotional discourse at work or in any environment. While this is not calculated on the bottom line of your financial statements, it’s definitely affecting it.Researchers at Concordia University, Dr. Steven H. Appelbaum and Dr. David Roy-Girard discovered that employees who work around toxic people suffer from impaired judgement, irritability, anxiety, anger, and loss of memory/concentration.Furthermore, toxic employees cost over 200 billion dollars each year and are the reason for approximately 30% of all business failures in the United States.
There’s an emotional component and a business component to retaining toxic employees.They may be hard workers, but as a leader, can you really afford them…emotionally…and financially?Is the “contagion” worth it? If you are a manager, what are some goals you can set for yourself that will help you manage toxic employees? You may feel uncomfortable managing these employees at first, that’s normal.It takes courage, resiliency, and confidence to navigate through the turbulence of this treacherous hurricane.
It’s okay to ask for help. If you are able, find a mentor or a coach to help you with skill-building in this area. This is a skill that takes time to develop. If you are comfortable with managing these situations, offer your guidance to others.If you are the leader, people will count on you to help them navigate through the destructiveness of the hurricane.The true “leader in you” emerges during the most difficult of times. It’s important to design a proactive strategy to either preempt this behavior or to react appropriately when it happens. If you’re a leader, your reputation and the health of the company will depend on it.
