Why I Don't Work Here Anymore : A Leadifer's Guide to Offset the Financial and Emotional Costs of Toxic Employees

Ninety-four percent of the 400+ leaders in the author's national research study have experienced working with a toxic person, causing significant damage to their teams and organizations. The prevalence of toxic personalities and behaviors are problems that often go unaddressed. How pervasive is this problem? * 94% of victims stated they work, or have worked, with a toxic person. * 50% believe they are not competent to respond to an uncivil person’s verbal abuse * 68% reported a decline in performance; 78% stated less commitment to the organization. * 12% of victims quit. * Fully loaded costs of staff turnover are 1.5 to 2.5 times the exited person’s salary Whether readers lead a team with direct reports or lead project teams with no reporting relationships, __Why I Don’t Work Here Anymore__ will help them apply the most successful approaches for managing these toxic individuals. Each chapter of __Why I Don’t Work Here Anymore__ singles out one main issue and provides associated strategies for resolving it. Who are these toxic people? Specifically, they are individuals who exhibit any of the three categories of toxic behaviors: * Shaming * Passive hostility * Sabotage The author presents how each behavior is associated with incivility, how these behaviors get in the way of individual, team, and organizational effectiveness, and what to do about it. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Table of Contents 6 Preface 10 Acknowledgments 12 Author 14 Chapter 1: Evidence-Based Insights about Toxic Behaviors 16 A Definition and THREE Categories of Toxic Behaviors 20 Hard Data that Become a Call to Action 21 Understanding Toxic People Who Are High Performers 24 Bullying in the Context of Toxic Behaviors 24 Are You a Toxic Person? 26 The Power of the Apology 28 Chapter 2: False Myths about Toxic Behaviors 32 False Myth #1: You Can’t Calculate the Financial Cost of Toxic People 32 False Myth #2: Many Toxic People Are Incompetent 39 False Myth #3: Ignoring the Toxic Person Will Stop the Behavior 40 False Myth #4: Concrete Feedback Will Handle Their Manipulations 42 False Myth #5: Making Up Your Mind You Won’t Put Up with Toxic Behaviors Is Enough 44 False Myth #6: There’s Little You Can Do If Your Boss Is Toxic 46 False Myth #7: Keeping the Problem to Yourself Will Protect You in the Long Run 47 Chapter 3: Powerful Ways to Give Toxic People Feedback 50 Cost-Benefit Strategy 51 Direct Report Strategy 53 Peer Strategy 57 The Boss Strategy 59 Mixing and Matching Your Strategies 63 Chapter 4: How We Enable Toxic Behaviors to Persist 68 Toxic Protectors and Toxic Buffers 68 Are You a Toxic Protector? 71 Are You a Toxic Buffer? 71 What to Do if You Are a Toxic Protector or Buffer 74 What to Do If Someone Else Is a Toxic Protector or Buffer 75 Getting Out of Being Stuck 78 Chapter 5: Hiring and Exiting Practices That Address Toxic Behaviors 80 A Poorly Managed Recruiting Process 81 The Recruiting Cue Sheet 82 The Danger of Hypothetical Questions 84 Analyzing Responses from Candidate Interviews 86 Vary Your Interviewing Questions 88 Check References the Right Way 89 When Traditional Exit Interviews Do not Work 90 Chapter 6: Failures and Triumphs of Performance Management in the Toxic World 94 Values Integration as an Antidote to Toxic Behaviors 95 Three Powerful Performance Management Practices 96 A Performance Management Template 98 The 70-30 Split Performance Model 100 Protocol for Firing the Toxic Person 101 Chapter 7: A Powerful Team Assessment Method 104 Case Simulation of the Campbell- Hallam Team Development SurveyTM 109 What Happens When the Team Leader Is Toxic 114 How to Best Engage the Campbell-Hallam Team Development SurveyTM 116 Differences Between the Campbell-Hallam Team Development SurveyTM and Traditional Culture Assessment Tools 117 Chapter 8: Remain Vigilant 118 Are Your One-on-One Meetings Really Enough? 118 Skip-level Discussions 119 Case Example of a Skip-Level Conversation 121 Comparing the Skip-Level Discussion with 360-Degree Feedback 124 Chapter 9: How to Build a Culture of Everyday Civility 128 The Problem, the Action, and the Expected Outcome 128 Prioritizing Your Actions 130 Obstacles that Can Get in the Way of Action 132 Building a Culture of Everyday Civility One Action at a Time 133 References 134 Index 136 "Ninety-four percent of the 400+ leadifers in the author's national research study have experienced working with a toxic person, causing significant damage to their teams and organizations. The prevalence of toxic personalities and behaviors are problems that often go unaddressed. How pervasive is this problem? 94% of victims stated they work, or have worked, with a toxic person. 50% believe they are not competent to respond to an uncivil person's verbal abuse 68% reported a decline in performance; 78% stated less commitment to the organization. 12% of victims quit. Fully loaded costs of staff turnover are 1.5 to 2.5 times the exited person's salary Whether readifers lead a team with direct reports or lead project teams with no reporting relationships, Why I Don't Work Here Anymore will help them apply the most successful approaches for managing these toxic individuals. Each chapter of Why I Don't Work Here Anymore singles out one main issue and provides associated strategies for resolving it. Who are these toxic people? Specifically, they are individuals who exhibit any of the three categories of toxic behaviors: Shaming Passive hostility Sabotage The author presents how each behavior is associated with incivility, how these behaviors get in the way of individual, team, and organizational effectiveness, and what to do about it. "--Provided by publisher You have likely heard stories from friends, family members, and colleagues who quit a job because of a toxic person—an individual who belittles, shames, humiliates, shames, or bullies. You may not have realized that these individuals not only take their tolls on our emotional psyches, but the financial outcomes of their organizations as well. Through this book’s many case examples, as well as evidence-based practices and templates, each chapter singles out one main issue and how to resolve it with respect and clarity. Dr. Kusy presents concrete practices that will restore civility and respect into your organization as well as with increased financial performance. Some of these practices include: Calculating the real financial cost of toxic people in your organization. Providing direct and respectful feedback to a toxic peer, direct report, and even your boss. Replacing traditional exit interviews -- that often don’t work very well -- with a method for dealing with toxic chameleons who "knock down and kiss up." Hiring, engaging talent, and even firing people based on a new approach to values-based performance management. You will emerge with a newfound understanding that restores personal well-being and increased financial performance. Content: Chapter 1: Do you work with a toxic person? Are you a toxic person? Chapter 2: Are the myths about toxic people really true?Chapter 3: Does giving feedback to a toxic individual work? If so, what are the best ways to do this?Chapter 4 : Are you a toxic protector? Are you a toxic buffer?Chapter 5 : Do your hiring practices open a floodgate for toxic people? Do your exiting practices shield out valuable feedback about toxic individuals? Chapter 6: Does your organization's performance evaluation process allow toxic people to slide through the cracks?Chapter 7: Do teams excuse toxic behavior? What can they do differently?Chapter 8 : How can you keep your ear to the ground to identify toxic people before their full-blown campaign of destruction? Chapter 9: What can you do to build a culture of everyday civility that takes power away from toxic people? Includes demonstration cases, self-assessment inventories, and working templates, this book presents concrete practices that will restore civility and respect into your organization as well as with increased financial performance. -- Edited su