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TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 1
TOXIC EMPLOYEES .................................................................................................................... 2
TOXIC LEADERSHIP ................................................................................................................... 5
TOXIC CULTURE ......................................................................................................................... 8
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................. 16
ABOUT THE AUTHOR .............................................................................................................. 18
INTRODUCTION

My first book, Detox Your Life: Building a Healthy Relationship with Yourself and

Others, provided real-life examples to help individuals identify the mental and emotional toxins

that keep them stuck, in a holding pattern, and prevents them from taking their life to the next

level. Individuals who have not addressed their individual toxins, take them into the workplace

as either toxic employees or toxic leaders, thus aiding in creating a toxic culture.

With massive layoffs, reorganizations, high turnover, poor leadership, workplace

bullying etc., workplace toxicity is at the forefront of most business discussions. If you’re

unhappy in your work environment, that unhappiness can carry over into your personal life,

affecting your relationship with your family and friends, your physical health, and your mental

health. There was a study published in the journal, Occupational and Environmental Medicine,

that suggested some jobs are so demoralizing they're actually worse for mental health than not

working at all. Working in a toxic work environment is worse for your mental health than

unemployment.

There is a difference between regular workplace hassles and a toxic workplace. Are you

working in a toxic work environment? This ebook will identify signs of a toxic workplace.

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TOXIC EMPLOYEES
This ebook will cover three areas that create a toxic workplace: Toxic Employees, Toxic

Leadership, and a Toxic Culture. It starts with toxic employees. "People are hired for their

talents and fired for their behavior.” In most instances, this is true, but every now and then,

employees who display toxic behaviors are not fired, they are promoted up or promoted out.

What exactly is a toxic employee? Here are some, not all, characteristics of a toxic employee:

• Always negative. They do not hold themselves accountable. It’s everybody else’s fault.

They have a sense of entitlement.

• Might be capable of doing good work, but no one really knows because they spend so

much of their energy doing the bare minimum. They are very good at “pretending” to

work.

• Loves to gossip and draw others into office gossip and bickering. They spread rumors.

• Great at managing up. Their superiors rarely see what their peers see.

• Sabotages others. They have no problem throwing others under the bus. They are

backstabbing. They may even withhold information so their peer looks incompetent.

• They are narcissistic. They are very self-serving. They have a “What’s in it for me”

mentality. It’s about what’s best for them, not what’s best for the organization.

“The negative impact a toxic employee has on an organization far outweighs the unique skill

set he may have. In the study, conducted this past spring and garnering responses from more than

500 employees, 88 percent said that a special talent or skill infrequently compensates for the

impact of a toxic employee” (Gaul, 2015). According to another study done by Cornerstone

OnDemand, “Good employees are 54 percent more likely to quit when they work with a toxic

employee, if the proportion of toxic employees on their team grows by as little as one on a team

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of 20.” Fifty-four percentage is a high number of good employees who leave because of a toxic

employee. So how are toxic employees able to remain in the workplace?

Earlier, I mentioned toxic employees are good at managing up. Many managers aren't even

aware of the behavior or have a difficult time identifying or detecting toxic behavior. Sometimes

the person displaying the toxic behavior is a friend of the manager. Also, the manager may not

be able to see the behavior in their friend because that friend is behaving just like the manager.

When nepotism exists, more times than not, managers hire friends who are like-minded and/or

display “like-behavior”.

The people who are aware of the toxic behavior rarely report the behavior. If the toxic

employee is a friend of the manager, they believe nothing will be done to deal with the toxic

employee. They don’t want to be referred to as the “snitch” in the workplace. They don’t want

to become a target for the toxic employee.

Instead of dealing with a toxic employee, sometimes they are promoted up or promoted out.

Promoting up or promoting out sends a message to the toxic employee. That message is that the

behavior he/she is displaying is okay. The employee may be thinking, “I’m getting promoted, so

why should I change my behavior?” In a way, bad behavior is being rewarded. Some managers

are uncomfortable dealing with toxic behavior. They may not have the interpersonal skills to deal

with the behavior. Most people, professionally and personally, have a difficult time with

confrontation. When you combine a manager’s unawareness of the behavior and a manager’s

unwillingness to deal with the toxic behavior, the result is low morale, high turnover,

performance issue, and an impact on the organization’s bottom line.

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 According to HR Focus (2016), having a ‘‘toxic worker’’ on your team costs $12,489 in

‘‘induced turnover’’ alone, as frustrated co-workers flee. That figure ‘‘does not include other

potential costs, such as litigation, regulatory penalty, and reduced employee morale.’’

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TOXIC LEADERSHIP
Wikipedia defines a toxic leader as, “A person who has responsibility over a group of people

or an organization, and who abuses the leader-follower relationship by leaving the group or

organization in a worse-off condition than when s/he first found them.

There are tell-tale signs of a toxic leader. Some of those signs are:

• Narcissistic. They are all about themselves. They aren’t necessarily looking out for

what’s best for the organization, they are looking out for what’s best for them and their

career. They aren’t good listeners. Have a sense of entitlement. Lack empathy. They tend

to have a high turnover rate.

• Bullying. They intimidate, demoralize, terrorize employees and/or threaten or punish

employees who fail to comply or questions the leader’s action.

• Don’t communicate. They aren’t transparent or are poor communicators. Their

employees find out about decisions after they have been implemented.

• Take credit, not responsibility. They take credit for others’ successes and manipulate

others (and information) to ensure that they look good, but they shift blame when

something goes wrong (e.g., blame others for their mistakes or failures).

• Show favoritism. They hire or promote close friends. Their favorites get special

privileges and benefits that aren’t shared with the rest of the unit. Their favorites aren’t

held accountable for mistakes or bad workplace practices, or same standards as other

members of the team.

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 For decades, academic researchers focused on how leaders can improve and increase the

organization’s effectiveness. Only recently have researchers begun to directly explore negative

leadership styles. Mawritz, Mayer, Hoobler, Wayne, and Marinova (2012) showed that abusive

supervision among senior managers was directly related to this same leadership style among

front-line supervisors, which in turn was directly related to interpersonal deviance among

employees. This “trickle-down” model of abusive supervision explains how negative leadership

behaviors can be replicated downward throughout the organization, creating a highly destructive

leadership climate.

Findings suggest that dysfunctional behaviors in organizations are not simply the result of a

handful of bad apples. Dysfunctional behaviors in organizations, for example, abusive

supervision, can extend far beyond the perpetrator. People are often, in part, the product of their

environment. Individuals look to their work environment when deciding on how to behave. Thus,

in combating dysfunctional actions, such as abusive supervision, organizations may do well to

take a more active role in reducing situational factors that may make the trickle-down of abuse

more likely. Organizations can limit role modeling of abusive behaviors by encouraging an

environment that does not support hostile behavior (positive organizational climates should be

fostered and encouraged). Employees and managers at all levels of the organization should be

cognizant of the fact that they may be serving as a role model to others and that others at lower

levels may be observing and mimicking their behavior. It's highly unlikely that a manager who

starts out bad will improve. One survival strategy is for employees to maintain an unwavering

focus on the work that needs to be done rather than be drawn into a toxic personality.

Toxic leadership is behavior that is exploitive, abusive, destructive and psychologically, and

perhaps legalistically, corrupt and poisonous. Examples would cover the forced imposition of

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unrealistic workloads, workplace bullying and harassment, deception and fraud in addition to

deliberate workplace misinformation and misrepresentation.

Toxic leaders can have great appeal, and attract followers, because of the high level of

engagement and energy they display. They will ‘make it happen’, ‘get things done’, sort out ‘the

road block’, ‘cut away the dead wood’, yet how they may go about this can be profoundly

damaging to many around them and, potentially, to the business itself.

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TOXIC CULTURE
In the history of mankind, a broken corporate culture has never gotten better on its own.

Egocentric, or “narcissistic” managers can easily perpetuate a self-reinforcing pattern of

behavior, one in which the conquered subordinate is transformed into an enabler, or an

obsequious follower who willingly serves the boss. The enabler makes the narcissist look good,

always withholds criticism, and protects the narcissist from others in the organization who would

encroach on the narcissist’s territory.

Narcissism provides a basis for toxicity within organizations because excessive self-focus

precludes an extension of self on behalf of others, and encourages “winning” at any expense.

Indeed, researchers found that companies under the directorship of narcissistic CEOs

experienced more erratic and extreme measures of performance (Chatterjee & Hambrick, 2007),

which may result from CEOs’ single-minded desire to “look good” for the media, investors and

corporate peers, combined with their willingness to take large risks in that pursuit. Selfish,

greedy, and myopic behaviors that are an outgrowth of an overriding self-centeredness is what

breeds cutthroat tactics, devious office politics, and a Machiavellian orientation. Leaders in a

position to model their behavior set the stage for narcissistic tendencies that might otherwise

remain under wraps in a culture of connection and mutual support. Narcissistic behaviors

include, but are not limited to, practices of employee monitoring, micromanagement, and

politically motivated performance appraisals.

A toxic work environment affects the overall business. If your organization shows any of the

signs below, you work in a toxic workplace.

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• Poor Communication. Negative communication, too little communication, and

controlling communication negatively impact an organization. Not providing enough

details and information, written or verbally, is a sign of poor communication. Making

negative statements that focus only on problems rather than solutions is a sign of poor

communication. Controlling/dictatorship communication can result in an employee

feeling dominated, manipulated, or intimidated. The workplace can be a challenging

environment when communication is not running smoothly. It is important for

communication to be top-down, bottom-up, and horizontal. Poor communication affects

productivity, moral, and can lead to mistakes.

• Narcissistic leadership. Do toxic leaders create toxic workplaces or are toxic workplaces

a magnet for toxic leaders? Narcissistic leaders are all about themselves. They view

themselves as smarter and more talented than anyone else around and therefore more

deserving of special treatment. They think the rules are for everyone else, not them.

Toxic leaders relate to others in a condescending manner. They take credit for others’

successes and manipulate others (and information) to ensure that they look good.

Narcissistic leaders appear to have a successful career, but over the long term, their

attitudes and actions catch up with them. Trust and teamwork deteriorate in their areas.

They have a high turnover rate in their departments and will eventually destroy the health

of the organization.

• Toxic employees. Always negative. They do not hold themselves accountable. They have

a sense of entitlement. Great at managing up Their supervisors rarely see what their peers

see. Negative cliques thrive, which are a group of employees form a negative clique, who

at times, act like the cast from “Mean Girls”. They are mean-spirited and derive negative

momentum and strength from each other. They are also known as bullies in the

workplace. Negative cliques affect morale.

• Lack of fairness and equality. One of the fastest ways to erode a workplace's sense of

fairness is by giving recognition, promotions, and workload unequally. People have an

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 inherent need for fairness. Left unaddressed, employees’ lingering concerns about

fairness and justice can have a significant effect on employees’ morale, organization

productivity.

• Widespread anger and frustration. If you walk into work and everyone around you is

miserable and unhappy, you may be working in a toxic environment. In this type of work

environment, there is no enthusiasm; no one coming in with smiles on their faces and no

one ever says “I love working here.” A high turnover rate among employees is a good

sign that people are fleeing very quickly, most likely because of their unhappiness in the

workplace.

• Inconsistent policies and favoritism. Increase in favoritism, sketchy workplace

practices and inconsistent policies. If you start to notice too many close friends of bosses

being hired, that could be a sure sign of favoritism. When some people seem to get

special privileges and benefits that aren’t shared with the rest of the company, it could be

a sign that things aren’t on the up and up in your office. When others aren’t held

accountable for mistakes or bad workplace practices, it could be a sign of inconsistent

policies. Inconsistent policies and favoritism tend to result in low morale and high

turnover.

Inherently, toxicity and toxic behaviors create an aversive situation for employees that results

in psychological distress (e.g., anxiety, depression, burnout, substance abuse) and corresponding

lowered work performance. There has been a recent increase in toxic leaders, toxic managers,

and even toxic cultures which has increased the research on toxic workplaces, as well as, how to

address and manage toxic behaviors (Appelbaum & Roy-Girard, 2007).

Author Molly Reynolds suggests several strategies to help leaders of “toxic” companies with

their cultural “detox”:

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 • Define Your Vision as a Leader: As the brain of the operation, you need to map out a

clear company vision. It is hard to create a strong culture if the leader can't articulate

where the company is headed and having a plan is critical.

• Have an Ongoing Conversation: Sit down with focus groups and talk about what culture

looks like. Ask the right questions and be ready, willing, and brave enough to listen.

Leaders have to be willing to hear the bad and to be able to help guide the team to a

healthy solution. This starts with understanding how people behave now and why.

• Create a Visual of Your Culture: After you've accurately determined where your

company is, create a visual of what a solid culture would look like in terms of behavior.

Create visual images of the behaviors associated with cultural goals.

• Identify What is Important to Your Employees: Your employees are individuals and may

(or may not) care about these specific things that are different from the “best” baselines.

Your job is to find out what that they do care about and implement those strategies.

Some of the most common characteristics among toxic organizations include (Appelbaum &

Roy-Girard, 2007):

• Inefficient internal communication

• Internal working relationships developed on manipulative and selfish agendas

• Difficulty achieving operational goals and commitments

• Utilizing problem solving methods which feed off of fear

These functions and characteristics lead to the managers and employees feeling (Bacal, 2000,

para. 4):

• Consistently under attack

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 • A lack of support both professionally and emotionally

• Unable to clearly identify the direct causes of pain and discomfort

• Helpless

In most normal circumstances, toxic leaders and managers are terminated from the

organization. However, in the toxic work culture, they may be either ignored or rewarded for

being toxic. In general terms, the culture of the organization is comprised of language, symbols,

behaviors, assumptions, and accepted norms which illustrate how the employees should behave

within the organization. Workplace cultures may exist company-wide as well as differ by

department. Therefore, it would make sense that if the leaders and management engage in and

encourage toxic behavior, there follows the overall workplace culture (Appelbaum & Roy-

Girard, 2007). A toxic culture includes high pressure, ruthlessness, and unrealistic demands.

Employees may feel powerless and constantly be in fear with high levels of stress and anxiety

(Colligan & Higgins, 2005).

Toxic organizations tend to not succeed at the same levels as non-toxic organizations. This

may be attributed to employees experiencing low morale, the inability to bring forth great ideas,

or higher absenteeism and turnover. Toxic organizations also experience higher costs related to

lower productivity and less engagement among their employees (Appelbaum & Roy-Girard,

2007).

In addition, toxic organizations have significant negative effects on their employees.

Employees working in a toxic work environment may suffer psychologically through effects

such as difficulty sleeping, depression, anxiety, impaired judgment, and impaired memory.

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Employees may also experience physiological consequences such as high blood pressure,

increased awareness of the environment, and muscle tension (Appelbaum & Roy-Girard, 2007).

In addition to lower productivity, damaged culture, and negative psychological and

physiological consequences, legal consequences are also becoming more prevalent. Hostile work

environment lawsuits have increased significantly and are not only limited to sexual harassment.

In the most general terms, the hostile work environment is an environment in which the

employee feels emotionally and mentally unable to work or work less effectively. This may

occur through caustic comments as well as threats.

In order to reduce, and perhaps even eliminate toxic behavior within the workplace, one has

to first recognize the toxins and/or signs and symptoms of the toxic organization. In addition to

recognizing, there must be acceptance of this problem. Depending on where the toxic individuals

are within the organization in terms of level, often the people most likely to recognize the toxic

behavior feel powerless and refrain from identifying the problem. Frankly speaking, the toxic

environment will continue unless toxins are replaced with non-toxic behaviors and individuals.

When the organization is in a state where it is possible to see what toxic behavior is and what it

is not, there needs to be someone in place who is to identify those individuals and stop their

behavior from spreading. If the CEO and upper management are not toxic themselves, they can

partner with human resources to identify the toxic behavior (Appelbaum & Roy-Girard, 2007).

When the toxic leaders or contributors are identified, it is best practice to determine the

following:

• Can they be placed in a position where their toxicity will minimally harm the

organization?

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 • Can they be coached to change?

• Do they need to be terminated and replaced because they are beyond help?

When the questions above are answered, the best course of action should be followed and

documented (Appelbaum & Roy-Girard, 2007). Unfortunately, the toxic leader is typically

unaware of his impact and is change resistant. They are usually oblivious to their unskillful or

unwholesome behavior and may become distressed when confronted with this information.

When determining how to turn the toxic culture around, a clear message of how unacceptable the

behavior is should be explicit. Any leader, manager, or employee who is only engaging in work

for non-work related gain should experience consequences (Appelbaum & Roy-Girard, 2007).

A toxic company culture takes its toll on individuals and bottom line results. Just like with

environmental toxins, some work place toxins get to employees quickly. Others take more time

to cause harm. Just because people don't leave your organization doesn't mean the culture is

constructive. In high-paying, benefit-rich industries employees can feel obligated to stay even

though they are dying on the inside. Instead judge your culture on the level of sick days taken,

the enthusiasm with which employees conduct themselves, the amount and pace of change and

innovation. If these areas are lower than the organization likes, chances are the corporate culture

is sapping the life out of employees. It's important for the organization’s leadership team to

identify what an ideal culture looks like and core values so that they can use that shared vision as

a guide towards a more positive culture. Here are a few tips:

• Develop a plan and follow through.

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• Conduct an Employee Attitude Survey and measure the level of satisfaction and then take

action to make improvement. This can be helpful if the senior leadership team is in denial

and thinks everything is wonderful.

• Recognize that depending on the current level of toxicity, the time it takes to fully make

changes could be 2-5 years.

• If a manager or leader is part of the problem, that manager/leader should get executive

coaching. If the team needs help, perhaps group training makes sense.

• Create and Maintain a Transparent Environment.

• Create an environment where employees feel comfortable sharing their thoughts, ideas,

and discovering new solutions.

• Create a culture that celebrates differences as strengths.

• Create opportunities to express core values around inclusion.

• Communicate. Communicate. Communicate.

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REFERENCES

Aasland, Merethe Schanke, et al. "The Prevalence of Destructive Leadership Behaviour." British
Journal of Management 21.2 (2010): 438-452. Business Source Alumni Edition. Web. 17 May
2016.

Boddy, Clive R. P., Richard Ladyshewsky, and Peter Galvin. "Leaders Without Ethics in Global
Business: Corporate Psychopaths." Journal of Public Affairs (14723891) 10.3 (2010): 121-
138. Business Source Alumni Edition. Web. 17 May 2016.

Cornerstone OnDemand, New Research Exposes the Hidden Costs of “Toxic Employees. (2015).
Retrieved from https://www.cornerstoneondemand.com/news/press-releases/new-research-
exposes-hidden-costs-toxic-employees

George, Bill. "The Massive Difference Between Negative and Positive

Leadership." Fortune.Com (2016): 40. Business Source Alumni Edition. Web. 17 May 2016.

Gaul, Patty. "Toxic Employees Are Unliked, But Often Keep Their Jobs." TD: Talent
Development 69.10 (2015): 18. Academic Search Alumni Edition. Wb. 17 May 2016.

"Having A Toxic Worker Costs Employers Minimum of $12,500." HR Focus 93.2 (2016):
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"How A Climate for Incivility Affects Business Unit Performance: Testing A Linkage
Model." Academy of Management Annual Meeting Proceedings (2011): 1-7. Business Source
Alumni Edition. Web. 17 May 2016.

Mawritz, M. B., et al. A Trickle-Down Model of Abusive Supervision. No Date. Retrieved from
http://webuser.bus.umich.edu/dmmayer/Published%20Articles/Mawritz,%20Mayer,%20Hoobler
,%20Wayne,%20&%20Marinova,%20in%20press%20%28PPsych%29.pdf

McCafferty, Dennis. "How to Work Effectively with Difficult Colleagues." Baseline (2014):
1. Business Source Alumni Edition. Web. 17 May 2016.

Mehta, Sunita, and G. C. Maheshwari. "Consequence of Toxic Leadership On Employee Job

Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment." Journal of Contemporary Management
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Reynolds, Molly. 5 Steps to Detoxing Your Company Culture: Is your company culture feeling a
little toxic? Time for the master cleanse. 2015. Retrieved from http://www.inc.com/molly-
reynolds/5-steps-to-detox-your-company-culture.html

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Sanz-Vergel, Ana Isabel, Alfredo Rodríguez-Muñoz, and Karina Nielsen. "The Thin Line
Between Work and Home: The Spillover and Crossover of Daily Conflicts." Journal of
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Nicole L. Turner is the CEO of The OYAT Group. Nicole is a Strategist and Thought

Leader committed to helping organizations achieve excellence. Nicole analyzes complex

environments or problems and designs a pathway and/or business solutions to achieve

organizational objectives. She is an informed opinion leader and "go to" person in the fields of

organizational health, strategic planning, diversity and inclusion, and change management.

Nicole is referred to as the Detox Strategist because she helps organizations identify the

toxicities that are affecting their bottom line and partners with them to achieve organizational

excellence. Nicole assesses the overall health of an organization, while also identifying areas of

strength and deficiency, and work with an organization to develop a strategy that will result in an

improvement in efficiency and maximize productivity. A healthy organization is more efficient,

effective, and successful. Nicole can be reached at http://www.oyatgroup.com/ or

https://www.detoxstrategist.com/.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Special thanks to Dr. Monea Abdul-Majeed for your editing expertise. Dr. Monea Abdul-

Majeed can be reached at http://moneatamara.com/

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 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

No part of this distribution might be duplicated, put away in a recovery framework, or

transmitted in any structure or by any methods, electronic, mechanical, photocopied, recorded,

filtered, or something else, aside from as allowed under U.S copyright law, without the former

composed authorization of the creator.

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