How to tell when an employee is toxic for a company

Toxic employees can be detrimental to companies. Toxic employees are those that decrease other employees’ performance, attitude, and morale. How can you tell if an employee is problematic to the company as a whole? A recent Inc. article highlighted some of the most destructive qualities:

1. They lead the meeting after the meeting.Toxic employees will attend meetings but not voice their opinion during the meeting. Rather, they will express notions of disagreement and lack of support after the meeting. During the meeting, toxic employees will be agreeable, but will not follow through post-meeting.
2. They say, “That’s not my job.” Toxic employees will not complete tasks that are outside of their job description, especially if the job duty is “below” them. This contrasts with great employees, who are always willing to step in when needed to get the job done, despite their roles.
3. They act as if they’ve already paid their dues. Toxic employees believe that they’ve already paid their dues because of a great accomplishment a year ago, a month ago, or a day ago. However employee value is measured by daily performance at the job–not just a one-time event.
4. They think experience is a tangible commodity. Toxic employees think that their experience is invaluable and should be the only factor considered. Experience that does not translate into better skills and performance is worthless. Experience should never trump wisdom, logic, and judgment.
5. They love gossip. Toxic employees gossip about their coworkers behind their back rather than address issues face-to-face. Gossip is just wasting time when productive conversations could be occurring. Gossip also causes employees to respect their colleagues a little less.
6. They use peer pressure to hold others back. Toxic employees bring others down. They want others to do less so they are not viewed in a negative light. They criticize their colleagues who go above and beyond. Toxic employees are constantly comparing themselves to others. Great employees, on the other hand, do not compare themselves to others. Rather, they seek to improve themselves by doing better today than they did yesterday.
7. They rush to the glory. Toxic employees hoard all the glory for themselves. They believe the world revolves around them and they want everyone to know this. Good employees are those that share the glory, give credit, and show appreciation for others on the team.
8. They rush to throw others under the bus. Toxic employees quickly blame someone else when something goes wrong, despite whose fault it was. Whereas, great employees will take responsibility and ultimately, the accompanying criticism, regardless of who was at fault.

If there is an employee that has many of these qualities, maybe it is time to reconsider whether he or she should be a part of your team and your company.