Managing Toxic Employees-How to Protect Yourself Against the Occasional Bad Apple

For small, medium or large business enterprises, it is not uncommon for a few bad apples to occasionally defeat all the best pre-employment due diligence and find their way onto your team. Whether you are recruiting inside or outside the organization, at some point, a hiring manager or company HR professional is going to hit the hire button. While it may take days, weeks, months and sometimes longer for the toxic employee to reveal him/herself, once they have infiltrated the organization a bad apple can rapidly decrease team performance and spread toxicity.

Robert Sutton, a Stanford professor in his book The No Asshole Rule explains that anyone can behave like a bad apple. The difference between a “certified asshole” as coined by Professor Sutton and occasional slip-ups is a consistent pattern of bad behavior. The standalone toxic episode if addressed in a timely fashion, can have a minimal negative impact on the workplace environment, but persistent toxic behavior when left unaddressed can alienate productive workers and cause good workers to turn sour. Sutton applies a two-prong identity test to help managers zero in on the bad apples:

Test One: Upon engaging the suspect employee, does one walk away feeling bad, oppressed, humiliated, or belittled after the encounter?

Test Two: Upon closer observation, does the bad apple appear to target weaker more vulnerable employees in the organization?

Bad apples can typically be identified by 3 types of personality styles. The aggressive Jerk is one who attacks all ideas for no particular reason, lacks expertise on subject matter and is always offering an alternative point of view. The Cynic is a more depressive, doubter type who mopes about and sees the cup as always half empty. Last, but equally as toxic, is the Slacker or Loafer who shows little interest in the organization, his/her performance or how their attitude impacts on the team’s performance.

At Integrated Security Services, our staff of investigators and security professionals have spent years assisting clients manage their unruly employee matters. Our consultants specialize in deep dive background investigations, pre/post level hiring interviews, and can assist with vetting potential bad apple hires before you agree to move ahead with a job offer. Additional services such as past employer and community field canvassing are available when onboarding statements require validation.

When the organization suspects or becomes aware that an employee’s behavior is detrimental to the good order of the company, we recommend taking immediate action to neutralize that employee. Remaining silent or simply avoiding the bad apple will most likely empower the toxic personality and fuel more dominate behavior. Organizations and their managers must adopt a zero tolerance policy for bad apples and call out bad behavior by creating a policy that reflects those values. Like a bad virus, toxic behavior is infectious and moves rapidly.

Once toxic employee behavior has been reported, observed and documented by a co-worker, supervisor or HR manager, the next step is apply your company’s “no bad apple” policy, whatever that is. Most companies opt for counseling first, followed by coaching or some level of retraining and then when all else fails termination.

At Integrated Security Services, we do recommend attempting to neutralize the bad apple behavior first to see if that corrects the problem. We suggest trying to break the toxic behavior in a group setting which allows the Jerk or Slacker to be called out in front of his peers and challenged on his/her truths and beliefs. Once the bad apple’s attitude has been weakened, the group momentum can gather positive energy and silence the toxic behavior. Using this method may encourage the toxic employee to change their attitude or resign.

Another effective tool we recommend to silence a toxic employee is by ignoring the individual not their actions. That said, company’s managers must understand how to distinguish between remaining silent and ignoring bad apples. You ignore to silence the disruptive employee, but silence alone will not solve the problem. Not acknowledging that you have a problem with an employee will only perpetuate the risks associated with that individual.

Lastly, managing an toxic employee can be complex for company managers especially when the employee is tenured , an officer, shareholder or valued earner for the organization. Allow Integrated Security Services to confirm and validate your company’s experience by a conducting confidential deep dive background investigation, which can include surveillance, social media monitoring and field canvassing if necessary.

Conclusion

To reiterate, organizations choosing the path of least resistance by remaining silent create significant liability and risk for their company. Further, engaging a toxic employee on their level, like a bad virus, can be infectious, result in a hostile confrontation and in general hurt performance. Bad apples experience power and control when they know they are in the driver seat, so ignoring or limiting their access does take the wind out of their sails.

Let Integrated Security Services and our risk managers help you build a solid case when terminating an employee is warranted. Our seasoned security experts can also assist with your company’s personal protection needs should the toxic employee behavior become threatening and/or aggressive. Our professional staff are always available 24/7 and can be reached at our toll free number 888-809-9119 or via our website at intesecurity.com.

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