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Strategies to deal with costly bad behavior.
Is your business saddled with employees who lack in courtesy or who are impolite with each other? Ouch, this is costly for your business.
Uncivil employees cost American businessess more than $2 billion per day, according to the Society for Human Resource Management (also known as SHRM).
Why?
Count the ways: The unnecessary costs result in legal risks, poor more morale, drops in overall employee engagement, high turnover and lost work hours.
Worse, you can bet such employees are consistent in other situations — they behave just as badly with your vendors and customers.
You don’t have to tolerate such violations of respect and consideration. Your employees need to understand that mutual respect is vital in cooperation and teamwork for strong performance.
You might have undesirable situations that don’t rise to the level of termination. But you and your organization will be better off if you take proactive action.
You might have undesirable situations that don’t rise to the level of termination. But you and your organization will be better off if you take proactive action.
For civility and collaboration, best practices on addressing toxic behavior:
1. Evaluate your staff
Consider which employees need more managing than their co-workers. Look for red flags.
For instance, some might be negative or are high-maintenance and are oblivious to how they affect others.
2. Visualize teamwork and harmony
Imagine a positive workplace. Pay particular attention to what is best for your organization. Even with annoying employees, don’t allow your emotions to guide you. Decide on what’s needed.
3. Be assertive and transparent
Clueless or oblivious employees need to be approached. They are incapable of reading your mind. So, have a discussion about your concerns.
4. Engage your staff members
This means stating the facts to each employee about behavior and performance. Don’t imagine what the person might be thinking. Invite feedback from the person.
5. Be a role model
If you need and expect change, make certain you’re a positive professional at all times. Otherwise, your employees will think you’re the proverbial emperor without clothes.
6. Schedule confidential one-on-one conversations
Never let your staff know what or when you’re thinking negatively about one of their coworkers. Have a private discussion with the offending employee about attitude, behavior and expectations.
7. Create a paper trail
Document everything that’s said and done. If you don’t, you’ll risk more problems later.
8. Stay good-natured
No matter what the employee says, don’t let your feathers get ruffled. Maintain your poise.
So, with financial and cultural repercussions for your business, a toxic workplace is very damaging. Implement the eight steps and best practices for a healthy and profitable company.
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