August 27, 2008
Toxic employees drag down team morale
Usually when an employee leaves a company, their team members send them off with a farewell dinner or cake and coffee in the company conference room. Stories and jokes fly fast and furious as everyone recalls fun times, challenging assignments or inside jokes. These celebrations emphasize the team bonding that happens as a result of working closely with each other.
When a 'troubled' employee leaves, the rest of the team breathes a sigh of relief. A constant complainer or someone who doesn't do their share of work won't be missed. In fact, the team probably wonders why the manager didn't take corrective action sooner. According to the Daily Dash, the more common problem employees are:
- The sympathy junkie who spends too much time talking about personal problems
- The change resister who drags their feet whenever anything new is proposed
- The Overbearing one who gets the work done but lacks people skills
- The chronically tady who is always late to work
- The complainer who doesn't like anything
- The passive-aggressive who appears to agree but slow things down by asking the same questions over and over
- The Slacker who is so laid back they never get anything done
If you recognize any of your employees in this list, don't wait until the problem has reached critical mass before you address it. Your team is aware of the behavior and is watching to see what you do about it. The next time you observe the bad behavior, have a discussion with the employee at the first available moment. Be specific. An example for the overbearing one: "I noticed on today's conference call that you interrupted Byron several times in the middle of a sentence….". Follow up the verbal discussion in writing and let the person know that if the behavior continues it will impact their performance evaluation.
Addressing bad behavior in a consistent and timely fashion is an important management responsibility.
Filed under Leadership by Linda Griffin
Comments on Toxic employees drag down team morale »
Kimberly Powell @ 5:54 am
Linda, I couldn't agree more. Not dealing with toxic team members (and I know, not on anyone's top thing to do!} is going to cause YOU more problems in the end. At the end of the day, it's not about your problem staffer, as a leader, it is is about how effective/or ineffective are you being in eliminating their negative influence on your team.
Who better to solve this problem than you??? Quiet as it's kept, your team needs you to take action! Your team is watching…what you do about a chronic problem sends clear signals to your team about your character, how you regard THEM and what you'll tolerate. I recommend highly Crucial Conversations, it is a great primer and quick read on how to approach communications when the stakes are high. It actually feels good to know you addressed (and will continue to do so) a problem…very liberating! In the past I've used a great trick that my business coach posed in both professional and personal situations when I need to brainstorm how to identify big issues…the magic question is "What are you tolerating? Further, what is the impact??" The answers to that question may very well give you the basis for the feedback you'll need to provide.
Setting high standards, expectations and not tolerating behavior that detracts from your mission is critical to all leaders, managers and supervisors. You want to retain your high performers, not have them leave because you didn't address a problem performer that contributed to a dysfunctional environment. You may be the first person ever to articulate to this toxic employee that their behavior is unacceptable. Be clear, communicate the impact of the behavior on their performance, the team, etc. and ask them to own the resolution, and schedule time to assess progress or lack thereof.
Linda Griffin @ 11:30 am
Kim, thanks so much for your comment and the resource you recommended:Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler.
I love your point that a conversation like this can be enlightening to the 'toxic employee'. Many managers ignore this behavior so you may be the first person to address the issue and give the person an opportunity to correct it.