So you went for that interview and seemed to be the best candidate for the job. As a bonus you appeared very approachable and charismatic. After a few weeks in the new position, your Colleagues come to notice a few things about you; you don’t work well within a team environment and is a dreadful gossip with an extremely arrogant disposition. You are officially labelled by your peers as a toxic Employee.
Coming from a corporate background myself, I have seen and experienced first-hand the consequences that a toxic Employee can have on a department, not to mention a Company. According to a recent Harvard Business School study, Companies who avoid hiring toxic Employees, can in the long-term, save the Organisation more money. The study also revealed that the cost of a single toxic Employee can amount up to ZAR180 000.00. Scary, don’t you think?
Additionally, a toxic Employee can jeopardise the stability of other valuable Staff Members as well as slow down their productivity. Any Organisation would agree that their main function should be protecting and maintaining their most valuable resource; their Employees.
If you agree to one or more of the following points, you might be considered as just another toxic individual with no real value for the Business:
- You resist all forms of change, good or bad.
- Others find you to be aggressive and defensive in all situations.
- You are disorganised and lack credibility.
- You tend to display little to no motivation.
- You make damaging remarks about the Business and its leadership.
- Others perceive you as a gossip that has something bad to say about everyone and everything.
- Nobody can tell you much about anything because you know everything!
- You never do anything more than what is required of you.
- You don’t perform well in a team environment.
During the course of my career I have come to learn that there is no such thing as a perfect work environment. The important thing is that most Organisations are starting to realise the immense costs involved with allowing toxic behaviours to seep into teams and work extensively to contain it.
You will have to make the choice if you are going to work with the Organisation in achieving its short and long-term objectives or if you are going to take yourself down and be known in the industry for your destructiveness. By contributing to a culture of mutual profitableness and respect, you can make a change and ensure that your toxicity stops and does not spill over to the rest of the Organisation. Make the correct choice and be the change.
