*When we talk about a toxic personality in business, we are talking about a person adopting behavior that is harmful to the organization, in terms of property or personnel.

Why tolerate toxic personalities?

There are a number of reasons why managers tolerate negative behaviors and attitudes and fail to take action, many of which are exacerbated by the current labor shortage. The departure of just one person can be very worrying in this case.

The first of these is the dependence on the employee's know-how. In concrete terms, it is possible that the latter possesses rare and/or specific knowledge, essential to the functioning of the organization, which makes him indispensable.

A second reason is the appeal of short-term profitability. Despite their negative attitudes, many deviant employees are high performers who are hard to do without given their high productivity. Their above-average performance keeps them in the good graces of managers, who tend to be more forgiving of their toxic attitude.

Another explanation, but not the least, is the lack of managerial courage. After all, addressing the situation to the right person requires a good level of bravery, toxic people are often fine arguers. It is therefore sometimes considered simpler not to act and instead ask others to accept the colleague as he is, to ignore him or to adapt to him.

Failure to act: the hidden face of inaction

Although at first glance it may seem easier not to act, the consequences of this inaction have serious impacts on the employee experience of others in place. Demotivation, decreased productivity, impacts on mental health, decreased credibility of the organization and its leaders who tolerate the situation, domino effect (the toxic employee negatively influencing existing colleagues, gradually reproducing the tolerated negative behaviors themselves), staff turnover are just a few examples of the indirect costs of not acting. Although it may be difficult to quantify everything, we quickly understand that the resulting bill is quite steep for the organization.

Prevention is better than cure! The importance of acting upstream

There are several actions you can take to avoid getting stuck in a situation like this.

Clarify expectations: Nature abhors a vacuum and toxic personalities take great pleasure in navigating the fog of vague or informal rules. So establish clear guidelines in terms of attitudes and behaviors, with concrete examples if necessary and clear consequences in the event of non-compliance. Communicate these expectations (you can never communicate too much) and validate their understanding with the staff. Organize a meeting with the staff in place and have the employees sign a document to demonstrate their commitment to respecting these rules of conduct. Ensure compliance with the agreed rules: the best and most beautiful conduct guide will prove to be obsolete if management does not apply it.

Limit your dependency: ensure knowledge sharing internally so as not to be at the mercy of their rare know-how, which would put you in a very vulnerable position. Some ideas: information management computer systems, succession planning, documenting processes, integrating a non-compete clause into your employment contracts, etc.

Select your players based on soft skills, not just soft skills. Several tools can help you in this regard (psychometric tools, structured interviews) and are valuable tools for making hiring decisions.

Equip your managers: support them in identifying toxic behaviors, help them identify the impacts on existing colleagues and the organization. Allow them to be coached, if necessary, on managerial courage and their self-confidence.

In short, taking action will certainly require effort and time in the short term. On the other hand, not taking action involves considerably more in the medium/long term. So act quickly before letting the rotten apple contaminate your organization. This will save your employee experience and ultimately, your employer brand!