There is a brilliant and toxic population of employees at various levels. They are intelligent in their subject matter, excellent in performing their duties, and excel in their specialization. Still, their brilliance comes with a measure of toxicity detrimental to the workplace culture and colleagues.
The manager must decide whether to see this problematic personality as a valuable asset and source of competitive advantage or to try in vain to eliminate its toxic effects.
Therefore, no single person can undo the damage their actions have caused to the work ecosystem. It’s left to the management to decide the best approach to their attitude at work. They should allow each employee fair warning, a chance to correct their behavior, and possibly even coaching before terminating their employment.
Ways To Handle the Brilliant but Toxic Employee
No matter the situation, there must be approaches and solutions, such as training or disciplining the employee to reduce the toxicity, promoting the employee to team leader, and providing team coaching to encourage everyone to get along. To know the right way, you have to do the following:
Keep your eyes open for flaws amid perfection.
Whether brilliant or not, you can’t ignore your staff’s worries and complaints about a coworker’s toxic or disruptive behavior. If you justify one worker’s behavior, you’re encouraging a double-standards culture of accountability and weakening your authority as a manager.
All parties should adhere to the same set of guidelines.
Even though it may be awkward to bring up an employee’s inappropriate or destructive behavior in a conversation with the resident genius, timely, clear, and constructive feedback must be provided.
When people on your team make excuses for bad behavior by saying awkward things to each other, recognize there is fire on the mountain. Treat before the public begins to see the subject as a treat, do not encourage an illicit one.
Determine the Degree of Poisoning
Instead of addressing issues requiring immediate escalation and formal investigation, you can write about behaviors that annoy others, hinder collaboration, and add stress to the culture.
From observations, a brilliant but toxic employee constantly treads on other’s toes, treats critics with disrespect, breaks team and individual trust, avoids following established procedures, alienates coworkers, and generally drives everyone nuts.
Stay away from this thread if you’re dealing with severe problems like harassment or threats of violence, and instead, contact the proper people at your company.
Become Active
Quick action will open up an opportunity to watch the person in question. Provide timely feedback, both positive and critical, and collaborate with the individual to identify specific, immediate areas for improvement in their behavior.
Don’t be afraid to praise progress when it’s necessary. Feedforward is a concept that can be used to show the person how to respond constructively to similar situations in the future.
Don’t Discount the Value of Coaching.
A debate on this subject has become a contentious challenge. Therefore, coaching is another upstanding approach. However, this brilliant but toxic employee is worthy of additional investment like coaching.
Coaching is effective only if the coached individual seizes the opportunity and tries to reflect on and alter their behavior. As long as the other guidelines are followed, there is no reason not to investigate this possibility.
Also, if you tried to implement a comprehensive feedback and coaching program but failed, in that case, you need to create an escalation program with the help of your manager.
May Lead to Negative Consequences
Potential consequences for noncompliance with this program include dismissal. It’s the last resort, but it needs to be considered, and far too many managers avoid taking it. The brilliant but toxic worker cannot be avoided. Your team’s success and reputation as a manager are on the line.
Fair play, active participation, a systematic approach, careful documentation of actions following the company’s policies, and successful resolution of incidents are the best ways to keep going in a business environment and keep all eyes on them.
Contact Information:
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 6024139544
Bio:
Molly Raymond is an entrepreneur who has built a reputation as a successful businesswoman and environmental advocate. Over the years, she has launched numerous ventures across a range of industries, each with a unique focus and purpose.
Molly’s passion for environmental causes has been a driving force in much of her work. She is particularly dedicated to ocean conservation and clean-up efforts, and has launched several ventures aimed at supporting these initiatives.
Despite her busy schedule, Molly is also committed to giving back to her community. She is actively involved in several local charities and organizations, and regularly donates her time and resources to support their causes.
