The old saying that one bad apple can ruin the barrel also holds true in the workplace. If ignored, just one bad apple can infect your entire workplace – and that’s why it’s important to have a plan in place to manage toxic staff.
However, toxic employees aren’t typically lazy or poor performers. They can be incredibly productive compared to the average worker.
What’s more, these individuals often possess other valued traits. They often have sky-high levels of self-esteem and more than their fair share of charisma.
Why are toxic staff bad for business?
At one end of the spectrum, toxic staff can simply be annoying or a bad fit for the business. On the other end, they harass, bully, and make life unpleasant for co-workers.
But, even relatively modest levels of this behaviour can take a major toll on your business and other employees. They can destroy morale, lower workforce productivity, induce absenteeism, and be the source of the uptick in employee turnover.
Save your office (and yourself) from all the headaches with our guide and learn how to manage toxic staff.
For related issues, you may also want to explore our guide on dealing with bad managers, as they can significantly contribute to a toxic work environment.
What you’ll learn in the manage toxic staff guide:
- How to use the performance management checklistÂ
- The best way to detect and manage toxic staff behaviour early
- How to avoid the damaging impact of bad apples
- How to use behavioural interviewing techniques to weed out toxic employees
- Much, much more!
Save yourself from an HR nightmare.
Download our guide today and learn how to manage toxic staff.
How do you deal with toxic employees?
Ask an HR consultant about the best way to deal with toxic employees, and they’ll tell you to avoid hiring them in the first place!
While this is sound advice, it comes as cold comfort to you if you’ve already made the hire and are now dealing with managing toxic behaviour. Don’t beat yourself up.
Toxic employees can be difficult to spot when you first meet them.
For small businesses, our guide to hiring new employees can help you make better hiring decisions to prevent toxic employees from joining your team.
Be sure to hear them out
The first step is to make sure you’re dealing with a true toxic employee, as opposed to someone who’s just being difficult or lazy or going through a tricky time or transition. It may just be a case of an underperforming employee, so investigate the situation to understand precisely what’s going on before you jump to any conclusions.
The root cause of the behaviour may be of a personal nature, such as a relationship breakdown, or money troubles, rather than being hell-bent on destroying your business.
If this is the case, most HR professionals say it’s best not to get involved beyond lending a supportive ear or helping them find resources that might help them with their problems. Obviously, if their performance continues to suffer, then you’ll need to manage this as well.
However, if the person is behaving in ways that are harmful to your company, then it’s likely you’re dealing with toxic employees.
Telltale signs of toxic employees in your business
A toxic employee can potentially put the brakes on business productivity, damage your business reputation, and destroy morale – all of which can come as a big blow to your bottom line.
So how do you spot truly toxic employees? Know the signs and watch for these four common behaviours:
1. They constantly complain
Incessant negativity and employees who never seem to be satisfied unless they have something to criticise are sure signs of toxicity.
A toxic worker generally has negative things to say about the workplace, their workload, and the business. And they don’t mind telling anyone who’ll listen.
2. They say, “that’s not my job”
As you know, in small businesses it’s important that everyone thinks on their feet and can adapt quickly to shifting priorities, and do whatever it takes to get things done.
Now, we’re not talking about asking your marketing staff to clean the bathrooms or your accounts department to go out on sales calls, it’s more an attitude of willingness to jump in – sometimes without being asked.
Those who simply say “that’s not my job”, probably aren’t well suited to a small business environment or being a team player. In fact, this type of behaviour can quickly destroy overall team cohesion.
3. Toxic employees gossip
There’s nothing harmless about gossip when it means employees are wasting time that could be better spent on productive conversations.
Gossip can quickly become a breeding ground for negativity. And worse, it could actually undermine a colleague’s self-esteem or cause good people to leave your business.
4. They slack off
Those employees who never seem to get any work done and don’t pull their own weight will drag their team down and with it your business.
Remember, a team is only as strong as its weakest link. If you have a team of star employees, along with one slacker, the slacker in the team will quickly bring everyone else down to their level.
Not only do slackers fail to do their work but they can also distract others.
To effectively measure and manage these behaviours, our guide to HR metrics can help you discover the crucial metrics that drive success in managing your workforce.
Tackle infection head-on before it spreads
If you have spotted any of these toxic behaviours, try and tackle the infection head-on before it spreads across your team. If it comes to having to fire a toxic employee, don’t be rash. Make sure you follow due process and give them every chance to mend their ways.
For your employees, think about providing some education and coaching about toxic behaviours during your onboarding process and training managers to detect early signs. Of course, as we said in the beginning, the best way to deal with toxic employees is not to hire them in the first place.
Learn to spot toxic traits at the interview stage with these five potent behavioural questions.
Download our guide
For more on detecting toxic behaviour early and avoiding the damaging impact of bad apples in your business, download our free guide on how to manage a toxic employee now.
Download our guide now.
Read more:Â During challenging times, such as natural disasters, maintaining a supportive environment is crucial. Our guide on supporting your team through a natural disaster provides valuable insights.
