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HOW TO AVOID, DETECT, & CORRECT

TOXIC

EMPLOYEES

Meet your presenterA San Francisco native, Mike first came to Australia in 1986, returning with his Australian family to permanently reside in Sydney in 2005.

Over the course of the past 25 years, ‘shared-technology’ solutions have underscored his career. In the late 90’s, Mike was introduced to the Talent sector, quickly developing a passion for

applying Saas solutions to develop, empower and align people to realise their potential and the objectives of the company in which they work.

Mike joined Cornerstone OnDemand in 2014 to lead the company's efforts in the Australia and New Zealand region and is part of an amazing team who are passionate about using technology to engage people and drive business performance.

Mike ErlinManaging Director,

Australia & New

Zealand

How to interact

What Does Toxic Mean?

Definition: Acting as or having the effect

of a poison; poisonous:

We are not talking about

specific PEOPLE, but rather the

BEHAVIOURS they are exhibiting.

Evidence suggests that

toxic employees are more

focused on the quantityof the work produced

than the quality.

Toxic behaviour is contagious!

The presence of a single toxic employee can increase

the turnover of good team members up to 54%.

Higher attrition rate due to toxic employees can cost

up to $8,800 per year – and per toxic employee.

So first let’s try to understand the

WHY?

Reasons for TOXIC Behaviour Vary:

Does not understand

the company’s vision

Is disconnected from

the company’s mission

Is not in the right role

Is not being managed

properly

Suffers from poor

emotional or social skills

Is experiencing

problems at home

Feels

underappreciated

But one thing is very clear:

SOMETHING Must Change

What DAMAGE can be done?

Toxic employees have a remarkably strong

impact on voluntary attrition (more so than

on day-to-day workplace performance)

They ‘destroy the social fabric of the

organisation by creating friction, drama,

tension and hostility among other

employees’

Can We Quantify

the Effects of

Toxic Employees?

Wharton 2013, Careerbuilder 2012

Lower Productivity

30% drop in team performance due to one bad apple

69% of employers report being adversely affected by a bad hire

41% estimated the cost to be more than $25,000

24% said a bad hire cost more than $50,000

Increased Turnover

54% increase in the likelihood of losing a

good employee due to the presence of just

ONE toxic employee

Decreased Revenue

$$ loss of revenue due to client dissatisfaction

after exposure to a toxic employee

Cornerstone/Kellogg 2014

It is CRITICAL that

employers focus their

attention on avoiding

toxic employees in the

first place.

Alternatively, the

responsibility lies with the

employer to IDENTIFY

and ERADICATE toxic

behaviour as quickly as

possible.

Successful business

depends on successful

people.

Therefore, it only makes

sense to put effort into

finding those who’ll help

you succeed.

How to Avoid Hiring Toxic

Employees

It is harder than ever to

predict a good hire:

Recruiters spend an average of five to seven

seconds looking at resumes – focusing mainly

on previous experience and salary

requirements

Job seekers have learned to game the online

application system by using key ‘buzz’ words

Candid reference checks are rare

Assessments to identify toxicity:

Cognitive Ability Tests

o Mentally can’t perform tasks

Personality Tests

o Socially aren’t suited to the tasks

or team

Motivation Assessments

o Motivationally challenged

• My SUPERVISOR will reward

successful performance

• I have a relationship with my

SUPERVISOR which would

be difficult to break

• My SUPERVISOR treats me

with fairness and respect

• My SUPERVISOR is committed

to excellent customer service

• I am inspired by my

SUPERVISOR to do my best

Non-Toxic

Leadership:• I am inspired by my ORGANISATION

to do my best

• I will be fairly rewarded for

achieving my objectives

• I feel safe to share my ideas

with my ORGANISATION

• I speak highly of my

TEAM when talking to others

• I enjoy working with my TEAM

Non-Toxic

Employees:

Wonderlic (2015)

Positive perceptions decrease toxic behaviors:

What If You Already Have

Toxic Employees?

Why do most managers avoid

dealing with Toxic behaviour?

• Too busy with more urgent matters

• They are uncomfortable “Confronting” the

behaviour directly

• Lack talent management skills to deal with

the behaviour effectively

Identify who is the toxic employee:

• Unreliable

• Unlikely to help others

• Change in behaviour

• Vocal on their negativity

• Claim to follow the rules

Toxic employees speak loud and take

credit Janet Britcher’s* advice

Turn down the volume on charm

Listen to the words

Watch the action

Note some of these common behaviours:• Are they great in a group but critical one-on-one?

• Do they manage up well, but throw peers under the bus?• Do they take all the credit?

• Do you find yourself defending them because they are so

insightful, despite repeated reports from reliable co-

workers about the damage they leave in their wake?

*President of Transformation Management

Do You Help Them or Weed

Them Out?

How Do You Correct

Toxic Behaviours?

How to address the problem – 5 steps discussion

STEP 1: Opening: say something positive, but explain the issue

STEP 2: Getting agreement: cite examples of toxic behavior,

ask for fact-based agreements

STEP 3: Alternatives: make and ask for suggestions, discuss benefits and drawbacks

STEP 4: Getting a commitment to act: encourage employee to

talk, agree and praise to reinforce what employee says

STEP 5: Closing: consolidate, thank employee and let him/her

know the follow up

Edward R. Mitnick, Esq., Just Training Solutions, LLC

Understand what the employee really wants

or needs:

Interesting work

Challenging work

To feel value in what they’re doing

Feeling ‘In’ on the ‘bigger picture’

Appreciation for work well done

Good wages

Good working conditions

Job security

Deserved promotions/growth

opportunities

Tactful disciplining

Sympathetic help with

personal problems

What can help here?

Training/Coaching

Performance Evaluations

Transforming the Toxic behaviour through

coaching and training

Coaching

• Developing managers' skills in this area

• One-on-one coaching

• Regular feedback

Training

• Look for creative development opportunities

• Learning new skills

• Being challenged

• Adding to self-worth

• Being ‘invested in’

Transforming the Toxic behaviour through

effective performance management

Identify the problem

Engage in an interactive dialogue with employee

Listen to employee’s reasons for poor performance

Constructive coaching

Identify manager’s responsibilities for addressing the

performance problem.

Recognising efforts and work done well

Collect and prepare the 3 D’s:

• Data

• Document

• Details

Avoid toxic employees in the first

place and do your best to

identify and eradicate poisonous

behaviour quickly.

Visit our webpage at

https://www.cornerstoneondemand.com.au/

Join us at

twitter @CSOD_ANZ

Blog https://www.cornerstoneondemand.com.au/blog

For more information, or to schedule a demo, contact:

E: info_anz@csod.com

Thank You