"Toxic" employees can immediately overturn a ship full of productive team players. The problem is, the toxic employee is not only the underperforming asset but even the most productive of them all. Businesses deal with toxic employees depending on their attitude against their immediate superiors.
According to BBC -- citing US Management Expert Bruce Tulgan -- company leaders need to be clear about who are "low performers" or "toxic employees." He said that lots of time is needed to improve the "toxic" employee. Ultimately, he said if things do not improve, he suggested firing "those low performers since you are paying them and they aren't following instructions," which he views amounts to insubordination.
It is true that troubling employee behavior should be addressed immediately. But identifying "low performers" can be difficult. According to Entepreneur.com, citing GetVoip.com's infographics, there is a multitude of "toxic" employees -- including the best performers in your team. While there's the "Hot Mess" that is unreliable, consistently dependent on other people and error-prone, there is also "The Martyr," a worker that does not understand his or her limits and will continue to go to work despite stress and hogging all the team's work.
Employee burnout balancing along with clear expectations set the stage for a good manager- employee relationship. Overloaded employees will vent out their feelings to other employees, social media or in some cases "jump" the chain of command and complain to upper management. Bored employees become disengaged with their job and they would avoid career development because they deem the tasks as unrewarding.
It is inevitable that all employees will become a "toxic" employee at some point. Employment and career development is a ladder that will need one's complete concentration and dedication. Over-dedication and a mismanagement of one's capabilities only spell trouble not just for the employee but the company itself and any company would truly be wise to help employees find solutions, cope with the stress and eventually perform better with their jobs.
