Workplace toxicity is a major concern for businesses today. In the 2023 Work in America Survey from the APA, 92% of workers said it’s important for them to work in an organization that values their psychological well-being. Yet in that same survey, 19% said their workplace is toxic, 22% had experienced harassment at work in the past year, and more than half (55%) said their employer thinks the workplace is mentally healthier than it really is.
The pandemic brought workplace mental health into the forefront, and this increased awareness has driven positive changes in many organizations. Workplace toxicity is still a significant problem, however, and one that can have a significant detrimental impact on both your team and business. Workplace toxicity is a leading cause of employee burnout and turnover. It drains the energy and motivation from your team, preventing them from bringing their best to work even when they stay.
One of the difficult things about addressing workplace toxicity is that it can come from a variety of sources. In some cases, it’s created by the company’s policies, culture, leadership, and management style. Yet even when issues in these areas have been addressed, individuals within the workplace can still be a source of toxicity. Here are some strategies to spot toxic employees and how to address them when you do.
What is toxicity in the workplace?
A toxic workplace is a work environment that has a significant amount of conflict and negativity, to the point it impacts the mental health of employees. This can include fighting between coworkers, intimidation from leadership, or other activities that make team members feel afraid or psychologically unsafe in the workplace.
There are a variety of behaviors that can have this toxic effect on a workplace. Some of the most common include:
- Gossiping – At its most benign level, gossip can lower a team’s productivity because employees devote too much time and energy to chit-chat instead of their work. It also leads to drama and conflict between coworkers, even when that’s not the intent. More malicious gossip can be a form of bullying, potentially causing employees to be ostracized or even impacting their career progress if the gossip taints their professional reputation.
- Blaming – When team members don’t take accountability for their own mistakes, but instead blame others for them, this creates a culture of fear and distrust. This is especially damaging when management or leadership have low accountability, spreading a blame culture throughout their teams.
- Narcissism – Narcissists always need to be the center of attention, and this makes them poor team players. They may belittle others, sabotage the work of colleagues, or take credit for others’ work.
- Complaining – It’s natural for anyone to complain about work from time to time, but when someone always finds the worst in every situation this can bring down the entire team’s morale. Constant complainers create a negative workplace environment that drains the energy from the people around them.
- Cliques and exclusion – Belonging is crucial for psychological safety. Workplace cliques make those on the outside feel like they don’t fit in the workplace, and this can drive them away and kill their engagement.
Signs of toxic employees
The first step to eliminating toxic behaviors from your workplace is identifying their source. This can be trickier than you might expect. While some forms of behaviors like bullying or harassment are overt, others are more subtle and can occur under the radar.
It’s also important to remember that the individual who seems to be causing conflict may not be its root source. Toxicity is often contagious. When one employee in your workplace is behaving in a hostile or negative way, this can affect the mental state and behavior of other members of the team, spreading that toxicity until its true source becomes obscured.
Knowing the signs of a toxic employee can help you to accurately identify the source of these workplace culture issues and address them effectively. Here are some of the more subtle cues that you can watch out for to indicate a potentially toxic team member.
They always find the drama.
Some conflict is inevitable in any large group of people, and that includes workplace teams. An occasional disagreement or issue between colleagues doesn’t necessarily mean either party is a negative influence on the workplace overall. However, if there is one employee who is constantly getting into disagreements with their coworkers, or seems to be involved every time there’s interpersonal drama, that’s a likely sign that they’re a source of toxicity.
Nothing is ever their fault.
Life can be messy, and things often happen outside of our control. An occasional excuse for showing up late or missing a deadline isn’t necessarily toxic. However, toxic employees will often have an excuse for everything. They may blame their mistakes on others, or always have a crisis outside of work that prevents them from performing at their best. This lack of accountability and refusal to improve their own weaknesses is a common sign of a toxic team member.
Their glass is perpetually half-empty.
People who have a permanently negative outlook can be very difficult to work with. This doesn’t always take the form of complaining about work. Employees who always have drama in their personal life, and bring that drama into the workplace, can be just as detrimental to the overall morale. If there is someone on your team who constantly has problems or is a perpetual victim of circumstance, they can contribute to workplace toxicity.
They’re overly competitive.
Healthy competition in a workplace can drive everyone to bring their best. There is a limit to this, though, and problems come up when that competitive spirit drives employees, not just to improve their work, but to bring down the work of others. These individuals will often feel bitter or upset when other people get recognition, and may resort to behaviors like sabotage, stealing credit, or bad-mouthing colleagues in order to ensure they’re seen as the best.
They want the credit (but won’t do the work).
A workplace is at its best when everyone contributes equally to team efforts. When you have people who aren’t pulling their fair share of the weight, it leads to stress and resentment from the people who are putting in their full effort—especially when the slacker employee still wants to take full credit for doing less work.
Steps to address workplace toxicity
Once you’ve identified a potentially toxic employee on your team—what next? Unfortunately, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer to this question. Instead, it often comes down to the type of behavior, its impact on the team, and the toxic employee’s motivation, mindset, and role.
While the specifics of the process vary, there are some big-picture steps that you can take to address a toxic employee.
1. Meet one-on-one with the employee to discuss their behavior.
Some employees may not realize the impact their behavior has on the team. Others may simply behave badly as long as they think they can get away with it. In either case, addressing the issue head-on with the employee can be a good first step to addressing the problem.
To start the meeting, calmly explain the behavior you’ve observed and how it impacts the team. Work with the employee to identify the root of the toxicity. In some cases, it may be appropriate to recommend counseling or other professional help. Workplace toxicity often arises out of mental health issues, and addressing those underlying issues can help to correct the behavior.
2. Develop an action plan for improvement.
Be specific when developing this plan. Outline the behaviors that need to change, the strategies you’ll use to help correct them, and a timeline for these improvements. Along with this, establish consequences for failing to make these changes, and set a schedule for when you’ll check in on their progress.
3. Address the harm caused to the team and take action to prevent future harm.
The type and severity of the toxicity will be a factor here. If the toxic employee bullied or harassed team members, they may not feel comfortable working on the same team in the future. A good first step is to meet with the employees who were the most affected by the toxicity and hear their expectations for the workplace moving forward, and what changes they need to feel safe and comfortable in it. From here, look for ways you can modify employee schedules, team assignments, work stations, or other aspects of the workplace to minimize the risk of future harm.
4. Follow up consistently with the toxic employee’s progress.
Toxic behaviors are habits that need to be unlearned, and that isn’t a change that can happen overnight. One conversation isn’t enough to address toxicity—it takes consistent effort from the individual, and consistent supervision from leadership to ensure they’re following through.
Along with formal, scheduled check-ins, keep an eye on the employee’s behavior moving forward. When you see evidence of positive change, be proactive in rewarding and praising it. If they slip back into old habits, correct them immediately. This kind of involvement shows the employee that you’re serious about the consequences you established in that first meeting, and can get them to fully commit to your improvement plan.
5. Revise company policies to clarify workplace expectations and steps to address future toxicity.
When you discover a toxic employee, the focus needs to first be on addressing that issue and the harm it has already caused. Once that immediate threat to the culture is neutralized, it’s time to look toward the broader picture, and identify ways you can prevent similar issues in the future.
A clear policy that outlines which behaviors are unacceptable in the workplace can be very beneficial. For one thing, it can prevent toxic behavior if individuals know there will be consequences for harassing, bullying, or otherwise mistreating their coworkers.
Having a policy in place also gives the victims of toxic employees a recourse when they experience this behavior. Include the steps that someone should take if they experience or witness toxicity, and make sure this process is confidential, straightforward, and accessible to everyone.
Toxicity can be very damaging to a workplace culture and team, but the good news is, you can root it out of your organization. Taking a proactive approach to preventing and addressing toxic behavior is the best way to ensure your team feels psychologically safe and is able to bring their best selves to your organization.
