You know the word "Poisonous” often refers to deadly, chemical products or by-products--those compounds you know to be toxic, dangerous, contaminated and even lethal. But did you know the word could also apply to employees, perhaps even someone in your own business?

Just what is a poisonous employee and how do you recognize one? Are they really harmful to your business? And if they are, what exactly can you do about them?

Identifying the Poison

Like a virus, poisonous employees can subtly--or overtly--spread their counterproductive attitudes or actions that can negatively impact the workplace. Their harmful, contrarian and antagonistic attitudes and actions can easily spread to other employees who then begin to agree with and identify with the poisonous (toxic) individual.

The result? Vulnerable employees without a strong resistance or the ability to rationally understand what's happening can become victims of this toxic virus; these victims often can't discern or differentiate antagonism from positive criticism, can't separate forming negative coalitions from simply agreeing with colleagues. Because neither employees nor organizations are immune from employees with toxic, negative attitudes and behaviors, as the boss, you have to be aware of the signs, symptoms and impact of employee toxicity.

So just what are the symptoms? They are many:

• A decrease in or lack of productivity
• A decrease in or poor morale
• An increased frequency in arguments between the employee and others
• A sense that the employee is increasingly frustrated because "things just aren't going right"
• A negative, antagonistic attitude
• An increase in negative comments and personal attacks
• An unwillingness to work overtime or stay late without reason
• An unwillingness to "go the extra mile" while encouraging others to refuse as well
• Other symptoms include infighting, backbiting, passive/aggressive behavior (aggressive actions done in a passive or weak manner), arguments or criticisms for the sake of being different or antagonistic, and an unwillingness to help out others in a culture that values providing input and assistance to colleagues.

This is not to suggest that opposing views or differences of opinions, attitudes and behaviors must be squelched. But when these behaviors are negatively affecting other employees and productivity, you've got to jump in and address the problem.

Addressing the Problem

So what exactly should you do? The answer is, "It depends." If you're a laissez-faire, hands-off leader, then you could do nothing and just hope the situation will go away or burn itself out. And every once in awhile, it will. But understand that in the majority of cases, this action (which is really inaction on your part) will not correct the situation.

On the contrary, it will only serve to allow the problem to grow and continue to negatively impact and infect your business's other employees, productivity, growth, profitability and success. The longer you allow the negative behavior to stand, the more difficult it is to change the behavior.

On the other hand, if you're an action-oriented entrepreneur type leader who would prefer to isolate and end these negative attitudes and actions, then you have several "anti-poisonous" techniques you can use.

First, you need to "identify the poison." In other words, you need gather your data to ensure that you have an accurate and complete picture of the situation. You don't want to take any action based simply on hearsay, rumors or assumptions. You want to deal with only those behaviors you have personally observed or have documented evidence. (Personality conflicts which disrupt the workplace are the most difficult to document and cannot be based only on hearsay or complaints of one person.)

So your first step is to talk to any managers or supervisors who work directly with the toxic employee. Look at error rates, attendance or tardiness records, late arrivals or early departures. Determine whether the employee's work, such as reports or projects, is being completed on time and with top quality. If projects are late, delayed or laden with errors, try to determine why or if a pattern exists. Investigate the complaints of negativity or antagonism. Do these occur with just one individual or with several or many individuals? In other words, is this an isolated personal issue between two people or one that's happening across the board?

Next, speak with your employees who work most closely with the employee in regards to problem employee's attitude toward work, colleagues, the unit and the company in general. Determine who else may be infected with a negative attitude, behavior or performance record. (Looking at records of other employees within the same unit, shift, and work area.

After you have sufficient information to validate the complaints, observations or anecdotes you've heard about the poisonous employee, invite that employee into your office or a neutral office to discuss the situation. The goal here is to have a positive interaction with the employee, not an argument or negative confrontation. What you're attempting to do is determine the accuracy of your information as compared to the toxic employee's version.

Begin by stating your concerns in a general manner: that you've heard there are some potential problems, that the atmosphere is not as positive or productive as possible, that some employees are dissatisfied or upset. In other words, don't jump all over the employee with your information. Doing so will simply create a negative atmosphere and immediately put the employee on the defensive. In such cases, the outcome of the interaction is usually negative, stalemated and nonproductive. Instead, allow the employee to share their views of the situation, their relationships with their colleagues, their behavior at meetings, and any other areas in question.

Then state the results of your information collection. Identify key areas of inconsistency between your information and the poisonous employee's views. Attempt to reconcile the views or at least get an understanding as to why differences in perceptions of the situation exist (the old "he said/she said" argument). Attempt to demonstrate how you and others see the employee as negative (I would not use the term poisonous or toxic, but rather use terms like unconstructive behavior, unhelpful, pessimistic, or destructive), even if the employee's views differ from yours.

At this juncture, one of two things usually is evident: Either the employee's views are inconsistent with your information, or the information from both sides is compatible. In the first case, the employee might refuse to believe your information. Then the employee can either decide to change their behavior and attitude anyway just to be more aligned with the behavior and attitude you require. Or the employee can simply refuse to change. In the second scenario, you'll then have to decide whether to begin an official warning system procedure or the termination process.

Keep in mind that when meeting with your poisonous employee, your goal is to change their behavior and attitude. If you've invested time and money in developing an employee, especially a long-term employee, jumping quickly into the termination process may not be the best solution or return on your investment. Applying some attribution techniques might prove to be helpful (see articles on Attribution Theory for more information about this technique).

However, if it appears the employee just will not or cannot make changes that will lower the levels of poisonous behavior everyone else is encountering, then beginning the termination process may unfortunately be exactly what is required.

Experienced and high quality consulting firms, like MuRF Systems, can provide individual coaching which, depending upon the value this employee brings to the organization can bring about the changes in behavior needed over time.

When Good Employees Go Bad – Victims of Poisonous Employees

Let's say you've got an employee you think is pretty much close to perfect. This staff member has continually been productive, cooperative and successful, and has always contributed positively to the work effort. They're responsive to direction and input from others, take initiative, complete their work in a timely manner, ask appropriate questions, and willingly participate in work-related events. Their mood is positive and upbeat, and they're a joy to be around.

However, recently, their productivity has tanked. They're no longer cooperative, productive or self-motivated, and they may be irritable or even depressed. They're not getting their work done and their formerly sunny disposition has a little black rain cloud right over it. You suspect that they have been contaminated by something or someone.

If this is the case, it doesn't take Sigmund Freud to tell you that your employee is experiencing some kind of event that's sucking the energy, enthusiasm and productivity right out of them. You know it, and, most likely, other people know it, too.

So what do you do when an effective employee's work output begins to take a tumble? When your formerly close-to-perfect employee turns into a problem?

First, realize that no change occurs without some form of awareness, either internally (within the individual) or externally (from the boss, colleagues, significant others, etc.). The easiest way to gain insight into the problem or issue is to speak directly with the employee.

But wait. Before you interact with that employee, you'll want to prepare yourself for a frank discussion with that employee by first gathering any necessary data. That might include first discussing your concerns with the employee's direct supervisor or team leader; looking into their productivity levels; reviewing performance factors, including quality and error rates; taking a look at their absentee records; and reviewing any complaints made to your HR manager. Then examine their job description to understand exactly what the employee is supposed to be doing as opposed to what you think they should be doing. What you want to do is gain as complete a picture of the situation as possible before you speak to the employee. But do it quickly! Enough time has passed since this out-of-the-ordinary behavior pattern began--no need to waste more time.  The longer the new negative behavior persists, the tougher it will be to change this behavior.

Next, ask the employee to meet you in a neutral space, such as a conference room or some other quiet area. Avoid meeting in the employee's office or workspace, since that can be seen as an invasion of turf. Don’t meet on your turf since this could infer that they are on trial. (After your discussion, your employee will have no "safe" haven to return to if you meet on their turf.)

If no neutral space is available, then meet in your office. Ask the employee in and invite them to sit down. (It would be best if you are sitting at an angle in front of  the employee with no desk or barrier between the two of you.) The goal is to create a positive atmosphere where the two of you can talk openly and honestly with each other about the employee's job performance. Remember, you're relating to a valued employee whose work has generally been positive and effective. Something has now gone wrong, and your goal is to learn what the issue is and to create mutually agreeable methods and steps to reverse that downward slope of productivity.

If possible, sit at a round table so you don't appear to be in a power position or too distant from the employee. If a table's not available, pull your chair out from behind your desk and sit next to or at an angle to the person. Create positive rapport by maintaining eye contact, keeping your arms and legs uncrossed, and having a pleasant look on your face. Even though you're in charge of this situation, you need to avoid coming off as "the big boss" who's coming down on an underling for poor job performance.

Begin the conversation with a positive tone of voice and on a positive note. Talk about the employee's past successes and praise past accomplishments. If it's appropriate, mention potential plans for their near future and career path.  Give them as optimistic future orientation as possible. Encourage their desire for improved future performance.

Then, while maintaining eye contact, you can take one of two tacks. You can be fairly straightforward and mention that "Things seem to be going inconsistent with past performance or poorly as compared to their most recent performance” as based on several criteria, which you can present at this time, including complaints, performance data, absentee records, unusual behavior and so on.

Or you can be more general and ask them, "How would you evaluate your recent accomplishments (or behavior, or attitude, or mood)?" If you use this latter approach, you have to be prepared for the employee to respond that "Everything seems to be going well...perhaps not perfectly, but certainly passably." If this is the case, then you need to use the data you collected to show that "all is not well."  They may not be ready to admit to things going wrong at the present time.

Be firm about your beliefs that all is not well, but don't be overbearing: Coming on too strong will usually prompt an employee to deny or minimize any problems or difficulties. Your goal is to encourage this person to realize that you're aware of the difficulties they've been having, and to open up and participate in a discussion about what's really going on and how you two can turn it around so the employee can return to their former productive self.

If the employee tries to negate your information and appears resistant to the possibility that something's wrong, don't push the point. Instead, simply refer to the data and talk about their recent performance. It's possible that the individual doesn't want to admit to having any problems such as issues at home, problems with alcohol or drugs, lack of competence, or fears and anxieties or having been influenced by someone else. Your goal is not to force them to admit to a problem but rather to look at the impact of the problem and the hard facts of a decrease in productivity.

Often, at this point, many employees will admit to decreased output or performance. Then you can begin to look into ways to turn their behavior around. Perhaps a reassignment to get them from the negative influence, more training or closer supervision is needed; perhaps more appropriate work tools or implements are required. Maybe their work schedule needs to be modified to allow for daycare drop-off and pick-up or a change in environment. Or maybe they just need a few days off to relax and de-stress and give some thought to the points they have just learned. You may even want to discuss the benefits of seeking a counselor who can help them deal with the causes and impact of whatever the underlying issue is. In any case, no matter what they're problem is, your concern is for their well being as well as for a return to their previous positive levels of performance.

No matter what approach you take to working with a performance issue, the key to remember is that you value this individual and the individual's previous work ethic and output. Your task--and the task of the individual involved--is to come up with a plan for turning that former productive employee back into a standout performer.

MuRF Systems and its North American and European distributors and consulting associates, provide training in Corrective Employee Counseling techniques and applying Attribution techniques to changing employee behavior.