In my world view, most people are half-way decent human beings. They try to do what’s right and get along with others as they go about their work. Most, however, doesn’t mean all. And if you are unlucky enough to have one of the exceptions working in your department, you are well aware of the problems these folks can create.

In dealing with this issue, there are two challenges. First, you’ve got to figure out if the person really is a bad apple or is just temporarily behaving badly due to a wide range of causes that might include home life, health, or bad working conditions. If you decide the person is rotten to the core, you need to figure out what to do about it.

Identifying Toxic People

First things first. How do you know if the person really is a bad apple? You examine the evidence. In their book, The Orange Revolution, Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton offer the following behaviors you are likely to witness in a truly toxic employee:

• Constantly complain about other employees.
• Others are at the worst when this person is around.
• Attack people rather than issues.
• Have plenty to say in hallway conversations, but won’t say anything in the room when it counts.
• Extremely disagreeable.
• Words don’t match actions.
• Claims to understand own bad behaviors but never changes any of them.

Options for Dealing with Problem

If several of these behaviors describe your person, then you can be reasonably sure this isn’t a temporary problem. It’s time to act. You have several options.

1. Do nothing and hope it goes away. You shouldn’t and it won’t. Far too many leaders choose this option out of a sense of hopelessness or fear of confronting the person. This option is bad for the team, bad for you, and even bad for the person creating all the problems.
2. Coach the person. This is always a good place to start. But due to the last behavior in the indicators list, it isn’t likely to succeed. The bad apple isn’t lacking skills or dealing with some temporary difficulty. The person is choosing to behave badly, but won’t admit to the behavior or the negative impact it is having. Chances are he or she has no intentions of changing. Still, everyone deserves a chance to get back on track. The trick is not letting this go on too long.
3. Enforce the expected behaviors. Your organization already has plenty of policies and behavioral expectations on the books. Hopefully, you have been clear about the behaviors you expect from members of your team. If this person violates them and hasn’t responded to coaching, enforce the rules. Use your progressive discipline process. Provide other consequences that will get the person’s attention. Sometimes people won’t change because they don’t think they have to. If you can demonstrate that bad behavior has consequences, you just might get the person’s attention.
4. Fire the bad apple. If your gut is screaming that this person is wrecking your team and you’ve already done 2 and 3, it’s time to send this person on his way. Organizations typically have a process for terminating an employee. Sometimes that process seems overwhelming. It doesn’t matter. It’s worth the effort. Work the process. You’ll be glad you did and the rest of your team will be too.

Nobody wants to deal with a bad apple on the team. The reality is that they do exist. If you find yourself needing to deal with this issue, my advice is simple. Plan your approach and get on with it. Things are not going to improve unless you act.

The second, while typically louder and nastier, is actually easier to deal with. The reason is that you have lots of people who don’t appreciate the behavior. There is strength in numbers. If collectively the group provides the bully with unpleasant consequences, the person may decide that the bullying behaviors aren’t working and try something new (and hopefully less nasty).

The first is the bigger problem. If you are on the receiving end and are the sole target for the bad behavior, you may feel more vulnerable to attack. In these cases, you have three actions you can take in the following sequence.

1. Talk to the bully. Be direct and respectful. Describe the behavior. State clearly that you don’t like it and that you want the behavior to stop. Hopefully for many people who weren’t completely aware how their actions were affecting you, this conversation might be enough to stop the behavior. As an option, you could add a final component to your message. And this would be stating what action you will take next if it doesn’t stop.
2. Report the behavior. If the person is too scary to confront or you have already done so without a positive result, it’s time to tell someone who can help you. In most cases, discussing the matter with your supervisor is the logical first step. Alternatives include an HR rep, union rep, or another trusted manager. It usually helps to have details about the behavior: What, when, how often, impacts, etc. This sort of documentation makes it easier for them to take action on your behalf.
3. Remove yourself from the situation. Sometimes the person just won’t stop the bullying. And in some of those cases, people aren’t able or willing to help you. It’s then that finding a way out becomes a viable last resort. This could mean asking for another assignment or to be physically moved to a work location that’s farther from the bully. It could mean transferring to another department. If all else fails, it could mean looking for work in another organization.

Bullies do a tremendous amount of damage. Typically they won’t change their behavior without some sort of intervention. If you are on the receiving end of this bad behavior, it’s up to you to get the ball rolling.

There are plenty of difficult behaviors we have to deal with when working in a team environment.  One that is particularly challenging is passive-aggressive behavior.  Some common forms of this include:

• Sarcasm
• Backstabbing
• Subtle innuendo
• Jokes that are meant to hurt
• Gossiping
• Foot-dragging
• Eye-rolling

What makes these behaviors difficult is that the person doing them is hard to catch.  They are slippery like a snake.  That’s actually the whole purpose for the behavior, to make the point (usually anger or opposition) indirectly so that they don’t look like a bad person.

The next time someone pulls one of these on you, say these words, “What are you trying to say?”  The person will likely deny any hidden message.  This is when you come back with, “No, I think you are trying to tell me something.  I’m just not sure I understand what it is.  Please be more clear with me.”

With those two comments you’ve told the other person that you’ve caught them (they hate that), and you’ve invited them to communicate more assertively.  Respond in this manner consistently and chances are some of the people who most often use passive-aggressive behaviors will go find another target, and maybe even change their methods.