Bad eggs | Impartiality is the only way managers can deal with toxic workers

As a manager, it’s your job to cultivate a healthy atmosphere for your team and protect them from toxicity.

So, it can be difficult to know if you should approach a team member that’s showing some toxic characteristics. This can feel intimidating, and if you’re a more introverted leader, it can feel downright uncomfortable.

But as a leader, it’s your responsibility to weed out bad eggs and protect the company and culture you’ve worked hard to foster. So, even though it might be a difficult thing to navigate, and you might be tempted to turn a blind eye, addressing bad behaviour is necessary – even if it’s not overt.

You can’t always see toxic employees from a mile away. You’ve hired people you feel would be a good fit for the business, so there’s no reason why it would be obvious that someone could damage the health of your team. Toxic behaviour can manifest as insensitivity, overconfidence, blaming colleagues for mistakes, creating a difficult work environment for colleagues or managers, or in more obvious cases, bullying and harassment.