7 Types of Toxic Employees Dragging Your Business Down

Are you sensing an unusual tension or unpleasantly heavy and negative energy in the workplace? Perhaps your employees' performance, productivity, or morale are fluctuating more than usual? Or there's suddenly an unhealthy competition between some of your team members? If any of these rings true, I hate to break it to you, but you probably got a toxic employee onboard.

Now, don't go too hard on yourself. Sometimes, that's just the way it is. No matter how much time, effort, and scrutiny you put into the hiring process, a toxic professional is bound to slip through your keen eyes and into your workforce every once in a while. Other times, you take in a good hire who changes along the way, just not for the better. When the latter occurs, it's quite hard to put a finger on what exactly is dragging your whole team down and you're left to figure it out for yourself. With that, we offer a little help to aid you in quelling the damages and dangers of making a bad hire or having an employee who suddenly becomes a liability rather than an asset. So, here are seven types of destructive employees you’re probably overlooking (or tolerating), plus a few points on why you shouldn’t.

The one who believes he or she deserves to be singled out above everyone else

Entitled employees believe they are above certain policies, rules, and boundaries and deserve to receive more resources, higher salaries, preferential treatment, employee perks, and even a high commendation than their colleagues.

Don't get me wrong; it's only natural to want what we think we deserve. However, with entitled employees, the balance is not quite there. They often disregard their fair share of work that would warrant such rewards and privileges and expect to receive extra benefits or whatever they feel entitled to, minus the extra effort from their end. In other words, they believe they are owed something that, in reality, they haven't even earned.

They’re quite easy to notice and often cite their experience to justify their entitlement. And once an employee develops a sense of entitlement, employee disengagement is to be expected and harmony among team members may be disrupted as they tend to think they are better than everyone else, which in turn may trigger colleagues to feel annoyed and resentful.

The one having a hard time saying no.

They can easily be called the martyr, the one who almost always says yes to every project that is often outside their scope of work. Often, they insist on doing everything and are prone to micromanaging their co-workers.

Some workplace martyrs may be into it just because. You know, those who just love what they do and can't seem to get enough of their job. Other workplace martyrs are just going above and beyond to show others just how much they are sacrificing for the job. Whatever the case may be, having a martyr in your team is not much of a good thing as their attitude may either burn them out or hinder others from bettering themselves since they often hog every other fresh opportunity supposedly meant for multiple members of the team. Their presence can also make those around them feel frustrated, demotivated, and less worthy of their employment because they can't compare to the visible effort and willingness of the martyr.

The one who always throws colleagues under the bus

We all know someone who tends to play the victim card or the 'blame game.' They're quick to dodge accountability when things go south, pointing fingers at who's to blame or nudging others to take responsibility even for their own shortcomings rather than look for a solution to reverse the problem. This type of employee is mainly driven by a selfish desire to build themselves up and protect their desired self-image at the expense of others. However, that is not always the case as some blamer employees resort to such toxicity due to fear of being seen as a failure or an effort to deflect attention and avoid scrutiny altogether. Either way, they threaten any collaborative environment as a blame culture creates tension and mistrust among team members.

The one who leads pessimism in the workplace

Next is the employee who always finds something to complain about, may it be about the workplace, the work-life balance, or the people they work with, and gets all riled up over minor inconveniences like a jammed printer or the elevator wait time that's a tad longer than usual.

They may not be the kind of toxic employees that most leaders and managers consider a red flag since even leaders themselves have a thing or two to complain about every once in a while, but negativity from a constant complainer impacts your work culture and your business more than you realize.

It's common that when we encounter employees who exude negativity, we tend to brush it off, thinking, "Hey, we all have bad days." After all, there's nothing wrong with occasional venting. However, when it becomes a regular occurrence or somewhat a habit, you either start thinking that nothing can ever satisfy and pacify them or you start thinking like them. When the latter starts to unfold, it can translate to more unhappy employees, low team morale, workplace drama, and more complainers.

The one who never grew out of being a bully

Old habits really die hard to the point that some individuals, who are all grown up now, ironically never grew out of being a bully. 

We're no stranger to the concept of bullying in the workplace, which take many forms, such as the following:

• supposed harmless teasing

• intimidation

• spreading rumors

• humiliation

• exclusion or isolation

• constant interruption when a specific colleague is speaking or presenting

• dismissing a colleague's efforts

• unfair criticism

• gaslighting

• taking credit for someone else's work

These behaviors, in turn, can result in absenteeism, loss of self-esteem, concentration issues, and lower workplace productivity. The target individual of the corporate bully may even experience trauma and helplessness when the higher-ups turn a blind eye to bullying in the workplace.

The one who talks (and distracts colleagues) a little too much

We're all too familiar with that colleague who never runs out of stories. 

They're often the life of the party or the very people who can keep the whole team alive and awake (and honestly, every team has to have one!). These overly friendly employees initiate conversations, fill dead air at any given moment, and keep things light around with their humor and talkativeness, and with that, we couldn't care less since we could all use a bit of distraction every now and then. However, there's always a right time for everything. The gossip, the discussions that are not about work, and the sudden work breaks initiated by distracting employees shouldn't be done too often to the point that it will hinder others from accomplishing their daily tasks. As entertaining as they can be and as much as we enjoy their company, there are days when they can encroach on our time and space more than what little downtime our deliverables for the day can allow, possibly bringing down the team's productivity and leading some to become frustrated.

The one who works half-heartedly

This type of toxic employee is no slacker. They're actually okay at work, but the catch is that they're not subscribed to the typical hustle culture mentality. They get their job done, finish their deliverables on time, and speak up when needed or asked, but they don't go above and beyond. In other words, what they do is the bare minimum. It's like they don't really like their job, but they also don't hate it and are not really keen on the idea of outright quitting. I know what you're thinking: working is no charity, so it's natural for companies to get what they pay for. True, but as a leader or manager as well as when you look at the bigger picture, you'll see that this type of worker can hinder the growth of the whole team and even stomp the business' progress towards innovation. After all, whatever they do impacts the team's overall performance.

Now, the tricky thing about these demotivated and disengaged employees is that they're often the result of tolerating the rest of the listed types in this article. So, if you're looking for ways to manage employees that fall under this specific category, some guidance and a little nudge should be in place, but the important thing to do is to check on the attitude and behavior of the rest of the team to really understand what's up that's bringing your employees' motivation and morale down.

Want to avoid making a bad hire? We're here to find the right professionals for you!

Icon Executive Asia is a boutique executive management solutions firm offering retained recruitment services ranging from executive search to consultancy search. With our seasoned headhunters' recruitment best practices, we provide companies with quality candidates who have the right attitude and perfect-fit work ethics in no time. Take your hiring process to the next level today. Connect with us now on LinkedIn to learn more!