By now, we should all be well aware of the best personality traits to bring to work – good communication skills, honesty, flexibility, and teamwork, to name a few. But have you thought about what not to bring to work? It can be difficult to spot and address signs of toxic traits in the workplace. Here is How to Address Toxic Traits at Work.
The success of a business is hugely reliant on the personalities of the people who work for it. And while some personalities may show up great on the surface, they can even be damaging to the company culture, reducing productivity, and harming sales for your business. No matter how innovative your ideas can be, if you or someone you work with exhibits these toxic traits, they might be doing serious damage to your company.
Toxic Workplace Culture
When it comes to working in a modern office, there are some things that we take for granted. We all expect our colleagues to act with professionalism and timeliness, and to avoid conflict in the workplace. But what happens when something’s not quite right? Some traits are hard to spot and easily overlooked but can turn an idyllic work life into a toxic workplace culture before you even notice. As they say, one bad apple can ruin the whole bunch. That’s why it is a good idea to be able to recognise these toxic traits in yourself and others and address them before they completely take over.
Toxic Trait: Narcissism
Narcissists – every workplace has one. According to one study, between 20 to 30 percent of employees have had bosses with narcissistic personality traits. This is because narcissism is often mistaken for leadership potential. A person with narcissistic personality traits has a deep need for attention and admiration. They may exaggerate the significance of their work, or believe that their job is more important for the company than others.
In a workplace environment, it’s all about them – how other people’s work reflects on them or affects them. In other words, there is no ‘I’ in team, but there is an ‘I’ in narcissist. This can be damaging to the business because narcissists won’t listen to anyone with contradictory ideas to theirs and will always go for what they want – even if it harms other people or the business on the way. Unfortunately, this is one personality trait that is difficult to navigate.
If you encounter a narcissist in the workplace, it is important to set clear boundaries. Don’t allow them to take the credit for your work, and if they are nice to you, don’t assume that they are genuinely interested in you or your work.
Toxic Trait: Lack of Emotional Intelligence
Having good emotional intelligence (EQ) will help you solve problems and navigate personality clashes in the workplace. Unfortunately, not everyone has good EQ, and it’s not something you can switch off and on as you arrive at work. Emotional Intelligence is defined as – “someone’s ability to perceive, understand and manage their own feelings and emotions”. This means that a person with low EQ will demonstrate poor self-awareness, low emotional self-regulation, poor empathy and a lack of social skills.
If your colleague is moody, creates conflict in meetings, and cannot properly express themselves – it will result in more than just a ‘bad day’ – you actually have a higher chance of having poor job satisfaction. If you are someone with low EQ, you probably also demonstrate poor performance at work. But don’t worry, having EQ is a skill that can be developed through improving communication skills, strengthening teamwork, practicing reflective learning, and managing your emotions through techniques such as meditation.
Toxic Trait: Distracting or Gossiping
We all have that one colleague who seems to spend more time talking than they do actually working. However, while a healthy level of professional chit-chat does wonders for teamwork and productivity, people who gossip unchecked are distracting at work, strain professional relationships, and can even harm the mental health of those around them. So, why do people gossip and distract others?
Research shows that most people gossip because they are seeking attention or feel insecure about themselves. Without being rude to the gossiper, the best course of action is to limit participation in the conversation. If this can’t be avoided, it is best to explain (nicely) to the gossiper that their behaviour is toxic and distracting. And if you just realised that you are the office chit-chat, try to keep your gossip down to your scheduled breaks as much as possible.
Toxic Trait: Can’t Own Up To Their Mistakes
Blaming other people for your mistakes, or just refusing to admit a mistake was made, is a classic toxic trait that is difficult to spot straight away. The toxic person might shift the blame to others, become upset at criticism, change the topic of conversation, or make excuses for their behaviour. This is also a person who cannot take any criticism of their work. If you know someone who does this, they might not be doing it on purpose. Perhaps they learned this behaviour through working in a fear-based workplace culture in the past.
Often in a ‘fear culture’, no one wants to own up to their mistakes as they are afraid of punishment or reprimand. It is important to a well-functioning workplace to be able to admit when you are wrong, so if you notice that you are unable to own up to your mistakes, learn to apologise and move forward. That way you will be able to learn from your mistakes and do better in the future.
Toxic Trait: Controlling or Micro-Managing
While we usually assume that successful people are those who are well-organised and manage their employees effectively, there is such a thing as taking it too far. Some bosses need to exhibit control over every aspect of their staff’s work, while not allowing them to actually do the work. This is because people with strong planning and organizational tendencies often find it difficult to trust that someone else can complete the task they are delegating within the timeframe they expect.
That said, being too controlling or micro-managing makes it difficult for employees to demonstrate self-reliance and effective decision-making, harming productivity, and leading to frustration and conflict down the line. If you are dealing with someone like this (or you recognise these traits in yourself) it is important to build trust and communication, by setting clear boundaries and expectations at work.
Toxic Trait: Too Independent or Uncooperative
Behind every overly-controlling boss is an uncooperative staff member. This is one personality trait that can cause trust issues in the workplace, and seriously harm a team environment. This toxic trait can be hard to spot – as there is a fine line between self-reliance and being uncooperative.
While demonstrating self-reliance is a good sign when it comes to completing projects to the necessary quality with minimum supervision, being too independent or uncooperative can result in conflict, easily avoided mistakes, and poor productivity for the rest of the team. It can even go as far as the person being unable to take constructive comments or unwilling to listen to advice.
If you are dealing with someone like this, or you notice that you do this yourself, it is important to try and improve workplace communication in order to reduce this in the future.
Toxic Trait: Impatience
While being eager and determined is a good thing, making snap decisions is not. If you find yourself making hasty decisions that end up putting you in a bad place, this is probably a sign of having an impatient personality. While it is important in an organisation to set clear goals and manage your time effectively, pushing others to complete work at a pace that is too fast may result in mistakes and errors that could have easily been avoided.
If you work with someone who is impatient, or you notice this trait in yourself, it is important to address the toxic traits as soon as you notice them. Impatience harms productivity and can result in mistakes that are irreversible for the business.
