Latest / Daily Influence / 517. Dealing with Toxic Employees: Understanding, Identifying, and Remediating Harmful Behaviors

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517. Dealing with Toxic Employees: Understanding, Identifying, and Remediating Harmful Behaviors · Daily Influence

• 0:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: Welcome to the daily influence where our mission is to deliver a daily dose of positive influence that can uplift you personally or be shared within your sphere of influence.
• 0:20
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• 0:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: Hey everybody, Brian Smith here with the iM team series and your daily influence and today we're going to be talking about how we can deal with toxic employees.
• 0:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: I've actually been getting a lot of social media advertisements about dealing with toxic employees, how to manage them, you know, what I see missing is
• 1:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: What is a toxic employee?
• 1:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: What I might think is toxic and other might think is something different, you know, business is usual, especially in certain atmospheres.
• 1:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: There are certain markets where there is more what I would call drama that could be defined as toxic, but others might view it as just, you know, enter at the watering hole.
• 1:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I think what's really important is
• 1:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: that we understand first our individual definition of a toxic employee in our organization.
• 1:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: And, you know, first of all, toxic person in our organization isn't necessarily a poor performer.
• 1:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: They can meet or even exceed expectations.
• 1:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: Those expectations might be tactical and on paper.
• 1:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: What really defines toxicity and what a toxic person is is behavior that consistently undermines our team, the team cohesion, it damages morale, it erodes trust.
• 2:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: And the individuals they might be manipulative.
• 2:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: They might gossip or resist feedback.
• 2:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: They may
• 2:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: display passive aggressive behavior.
• 2:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: Their influence can quietly oftentimes destabilize even the strongest cultures.
• 2:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: And it makes it vital for us as leaders to look past just performance.
• 2:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: And think about the ripple effect of the behaviors that happen within our organizations because you know, look, we spend
• 2:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: Some of us, almost a third of our lives in our work environment and we can get very comfortable in those environments.
• 2:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: That comfort has us taking for granted that we're in these environments and we that are guard down and we might oftentimes behave in a way that we don't even realize.
• 3:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: which takes us to the next point that I want to bring up in dealing with what we define as toxic behavior, which is training to identify toxic behavior in your organization and doing that early.
• 3:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: We have to be equipped with the tools to see these subtle signs, the forehead spreads and
• 3:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: the grades, our culture, the grades, the efficiency of our organization starts to disrupt our ability to communicate and to do what we do in our individual businesses.
• 3:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: You can do things like training on emotional intelligence, train on active listening, understand what active listening is.
• 3:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: An active listening isn't just about hearing.
• 3:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's about seeing body language and how people react
• 3:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: around one another, having that observational awareness is amazingly important.
• 3:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: Look for patterns, recurring conflict, exclusionary behaviors, isolation, a shift in team energy.
• 4:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: And that's not just on the whole team, but also individuals.
• 4:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: If you see an individual who is backing away, who is becoming more siloed, you know, those are
• 4:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: examples of a person who might be being affected by toxic behavior.
• 4:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: In encouraging feedback culture, look feedback loops are so important in organizations.
• 4:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: They're important to us as individuals.
• 4:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: The best way for us to improve ourselves is to have a feedback loop on our own behavior about the things that we do as individuals.
• 4:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: I experience this all the time and constantly checking myself.
• 4:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm constantly making mistakes.
• 4:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm constantly having to think about more intentionally how I behave.
• 4:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: So provide an encourage for positive feedback loops, a feedback culture where team members can express their concerns without fear.
• 5:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: Look, these concerns are about improvement.
• 5:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: They're not about discipline, they're not about accountability, really.
• 5:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, they are, but not accountability in the sense that we're disciplining.
• 5:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's accountability for improvement.
• 5:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: And early identification prevents long term damage.
• 5:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: And it creates that culture of accountability that actually leans into continuous improvement, not discipline, not fear, but something that's very positive and responsible for us as leaders and individuals in our organizations.
• 5:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: And then remediating toxic behavior.
• 5:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: Look, you're going to get to a point where we have to remediate it.
• 5:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: And what that remediation looks like is really important.
• 5:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: When you identify an individual who might have toxic behavior, it shouldn't be a goal to immediately extract them from the environment.
• 5:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's about realignment.
• 5:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's about improvement.
• 6:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: What I just said structured remediation is about continuous improvement and it begins with direct but respectful.
• 6:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: and positive conversations rooted in clarity and your corporate values.
• 6:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: Use coaching, use development plans, regular check-ins to support that behavioral improvement that you are looking for within individuals and your overall team structure.
• 6:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: Make expectations explicit and measurable.
• 6:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: We teach this in smart communications being specific, being measurable, making sure that what we're asking for or expecting is attainable.
• 6:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: realistic and it's timely and be prepared if the toxicity persists.
• 6:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: Despite good faith efforts protecting the team might require very decisive and quick action, remediation is about giving the individual a fair and understandable smart path to a positive and responsible ending.
• 7:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: So you want to do that in the best and healthy way for you and your team.
• 7:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: each individually and individual as a group.
• 7:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: So that's the way to not enable continuous toxic behavior.
• 7:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's the way to remediate it.
• 7:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's the way to understand it, identify it.
• 7:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: Look, remember, influence starts with awareness.
• 7:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: And sometimes that means addressing the uncomfortable to protect what matters most.
• 7:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: Your people and your culture stay intentional, stay kind, and keep building the best version of your team.
• 7:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: Until next time, thanks for joining me on the daily importance.