The Toxic Workplace

One Bad Apple Can Spoil the Bunch

“I took a sip 
From my devil's cup
Slowly, it's taking over me.”

from Toxic by Britney Spears

Recently, I was asked the following question:

I have an employee that spends all day on his phone, but he always gets his work done well. Other members of the team are annoyed by him. Do I fire him?

Instead of directly answering the question on separation, I felt inclined to give the following, lengthy response:

Have you talked to the employee? 

Is he/she aware that the habit is annoying to others? 

Has the team talked among themselves? 

Upon knowing that his/her behavior is annoying, was there any change or response by the employee? 

Why is he/she on the phone all day? 

Does he/she do the work while on the phone? 

Does that impact the quality in any way? 

What do other employees do during their workday (chat, listen to music, …)? 

Does the physical set-up of the office permit someone to step out for a phone call? 

Or for you to re-arrange the set-up?

My answer to your question is: No, do not fire him/her (yet). I assume you agree that we pay employees to get their assigned work done, quantity and quality. As a next step, ask all those questions. And with the knowledge acquired, evaluate whether the behavior is “just” annoying or possibly toxic to the work environment and the results of everyone else.

·       If it is “just” annoying, you are dealing with a typical workplace situation were humans with different behaviors and personalities need to get along. Being on the phone is then similar to all other behaviors that one person may find annoying about another: like chatting, the right HVAC setting, getting up and walking around, listening to music, chewing gum, eating at the desk, …

·       If it is toxic, and your conversation with the employee does not lead to change, you have to fire him/her.

How would you have responded?

For my own education, I later looked up Wikipedia’s definition of a toxic workplace:

A toxic workplace is a workplace that is marked by significant drama and infighting, where personal battles often harm productivity. Toxic workplaces are often considered the result of toxic employers and/or toxic employees who are motivated by personal gain (power, money, fame or special status), use unethical, mean-spirited and sometimes illegal means to manipulate and annoy those around them; and whose motives are to maintain or increase power, money or special status or divert attention away from their performance shortfalls and misdeeds. Toxic workers do not recognize a duty to the organization for which they work or their co-workers in terms of ethics or professional conduct toward others.

This puts up a high bar for whether an employee is toxic. 

“One bad apple can spoil the bunch.” 

This is important to keep in mind when a situation like the one I was asked about occurs. Because the one person engaging in annoying or possibly toxic behavior can trigger a landslide. Others may feel empowered to behave similarly. And soon, it may not be just one person, but rather the entire workplace that becomes toxic.

Abbey Slattery put a list of signs together that allow you to identify whether a workplace is toxic. My shortlist includes:

1.     There’s poor communication

2.     No one’s in a good mood

3.     Rumors fly

4.     You experience verbal abuse

5.     There’s a high turnover rate

6.     People take credit for work they didn’t do

7.     People don’t pull their weight

8.     People play the blame game

If you are caught in a toxic workplace, focus on acceptance and an exit strategy. Adunola Adeshola provides an excellent description of an exit path:

“You need to accept that you hate your job. I know how hard it is to accept that your once dream job has now become your main source of frustration, but you need to accept it. Accept that it’s not getting any better, despite how many “good” days you might randomly have next week or next month.

Next, accept that you need to get a real exit strategy. Recognize that you don’t want to just run from the job you hate, you want to run towards a new job you’ll love. Decide that you don’t want to just move on, you want to move forward.

And finally, accept and believe that your brilliance will follow you wherever you go. You are valuable not because of where you work, but because of who you are and what you bring to the table, and you’ll be even more valued elsewhere.”

As a final note: Sometimes, toxic workplaces become a legal issue, as some practices are a violation of the law. 

·       There is discrimination based on gender, age, race, religion, sexual orientation, parental status, or disability

·       Employees are sexually harassed

·       The company fails to heed and address allegations of discrimination or sexual harassment

This scenario requires a different approach altogether.

__________________

Abbey Slattery – 13 Signs of a Toxic Workplace & When It Becomes Illegal

Adunola Adeshola – The Smartest Way to Quit A Toxic Job

Benoit, Suzanne - Toxic Employees: great companies resolve this problem, you can too! - Falmouth, Maine: BCSPublishing

Photo by Anne Gosewehr