Toxic employees are everyday threats that can negatively impact your workplace if left undealt with. Although it can sometimes be uncomfortable and confrontational, its critical to address issues right away as âToxic employees create discord, crush morale and reduce co-workersâ productivityâ . Through this article I’ll explore how to deal with toxic co-worker.
A Harvard study shows that â toxic employees alienate their co-workers and team members, which also directly impacts the bottom lineâ, meaning its bad for business. These statistics from this study make the argument that you might be better with off with an empty chair than a toxic co-worker.
- 80 percent of employees lost work time worrying about the offending employeesâ rudeness
- 78 percent said their commitment to the organization declined in the face of toxic behaviour
- 66 percent said their performance declined
- 63 percent lost work time in avoiding the offender
- 48 percent decreased their work effort
Below you can find a breakdown of some of the steps to take if you find yourself working with a toxic peer, and how to resolve the issues at hand with minimal impact to yourself and team.
Seek to understand: Ask why?
The first step is to seek to understand your colleagueâs behaviour before reacting. Before writing this person off, give some credit to your leadership and company. Your teammate would have gone through the same interview process you did, and although maybe they have been derailed and are off track at the moment, there might be a reason why. There is a fine line between your personal life and your professional life and often no matter how bad we want to say weâre in complete control, worlds often collide. There could be other factors happening outside of work that are impacting them on a day to day basis and you just happen to be the outlet and collateral damage. A simple âhey, how you feeling today? Howâs everything outside of work? Can I help you with anything?â will go a long way in helping you better understand your colleagueâs behaviour.
Be a leader and take control
You need to take ownership of the situation. Leaders donât point fingers; they take control which means you might need to park your ego (easier said than done) for the greater good of the situation. If someone is making you feel uncomfortable you need to take action. Take your time, make a plan and follow these 3 steps.
Simon Sinek captures this perfectly in this short video.
- When you talk to them tell them exactly how you feel. Be specific
- Talk about the specific action/behaviour they took to make you feel that way
- Explain to them the potential impact of what happens if they make you feel this way again
Documentation is a powerful tool
You need to be aware and keep track of incidents with toxic colleagues. Keeping a log or a journal can be helpful in setting up a timeline or looking at a trend. If weâre at this stage, itâs because you have tried to make peace, move on and failed. The next step will be to involve management or HR to find a solution. However, when you get to these stages the more information you have the better. Facts are examples which will help add credibility and outline to your organization that this isnât something small that happened at the water cooler last month. This is something that is consistent and needs to be addressed. I would recommend keeping a word document and outlining the days, times and add a quick note or memo of what happened in real time. The more details you have the better as this will be helpful in the next step.
Be Proactive.
Let your manager know whatâs going on in your world. Especially if youâre work is impacted and youâre not at the level your manager is expecting form you. Ask you manager for help and their advice before you approach your office nemeses. Itâs important to make them aware in case something goes wrong; they have some context as to why and can help you resolve it. Very important, always have a solution to the problem before approaching your manager instead of having your manager solve your problems. This shows your leadership team you are solution driven are not afraid to stand up for yourself and do whatâs best for the company. It also shows you’re colleague that you respect them enough and give them benefit of the doubt that as adults you can sort it out. If youâre not sure on how to approach the situation, ask your manager to help you put a plan in place to deal with it. If they canât, ask your manager for an introduction to someone who can.
Draw a line in the sand and move on.
Give yourself some credit for doing all that you can and trust in your leadership that by doing the right thing behaviours will change. You can only control what you can control so you need to make a plan on how you can continue to move forward and advance your career. Set boundaries, set clear expectations and be consistent with the follow-through when dealing with your toxic peer. I hope this article helps you understand how to deal with a toxic co-worker.
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Co-founder @avansai
