One of the worst jobs I ever had was in high school. I was a door-to-door salesman for our local newspaper. It seemed like a great job in 1983 -- just three hours a night, and I got paid $4.50 an hour plus $5 for every subscription I sold over 15 a week. We didn't even really have to sell subscriptions -- we got credit for a sale even if the customer just signed up for a free trial month.
Believe it or not, most people were nice to me when I knocked on their doors -- that wasn't the problem with the job. The problem was the other salesmen. We were all driven around in a crew van by our supervisor -- 6 or 7 in a crew. Most of the other salesmen were high school dropouts, and they hounded me mercilessly for being a "preppy nerd." The more I worked with these guys, the more unhappy I became, and eventually it became difficult for me to do my job. I had trouble selling 10 subscriptions, let alone the required 15.
A new review of research on teams suggests my situation was not unique: Even one bad employee can destroy morale and productivity for an entire work team:
For example, in one study of about 50 manufacturing teams, they found that teams that had a member who was disagreeable or irresponsible were much more likely to have conflict, have poor communication within the team and refuse to cooperate with one another. Consequently, the teams performed poorly."Most organizations do not have very effective ways to handle the problem," said [Professor Terence] Mitchell. "This is especially true when the problem employee has longevity, experience or power. Companies need to move quickly to deal with such problems because the negativity of just one individual is pervasive and destructive and can spread quickly."
In a sales crew, power is measured in one way -- dollars. The guys who were harassing me made more sales than I did, so the crew chief wasn't about to make a change. But I suspect that in this environment, any number of salesmen would have been defeated. It's entirely possible that ultimately my employer lost money by retaining the bad apples -- because they discouraged the good apples who could have ultimately made more sales.
After a few months, I left the job for one in which I was much happier -- a dishwasher at a Mexican restaurant. The pay and status of the job weren't as good, but I had great co-workers, and I learned to make a fantastic chicken enchilada!
Do you have any workplace nightmare tales? Let us know about them in the comments.
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The toxic co-worker is generally a sociopath who knows how to play the rules to his advantage while sabotaging other people's careers and sanity. For a deeper insight into this type of personality, I recommend the following books (most, if not all, of which will be familiar to those involved in the psychiatric field):
Harrington- PSYCHOPATHS
Cleckley- THE MASK OF SANITY
Reid, et al- UNMASKING THE PSYCHOPATH
Kellerman- SAVAGE SPAWN
Salter- PREDATORS
Stout- THE SOCIOPATH NEXT DOOR
Since sociopaths are ruthless individuals who achieve positions of power, any thoughts on how to deal with toxic bosses?
This finding is not the least bit surprising to me, as it is the exact situation I experience at work every day. There is ONE bad apple, and everyone else is ok. But his attitude makes the rest of us (especially the women -- he is quite sexist) unproductive and demoralized.
In the specific case of sales, I think it's entirely plausible that assholes make the best salesmen. What is sales but imposing your will on the mark? If people actually *wanted* to buy your product you wouldn't need salesmen; you have them to push the product on people who *don't* want it.
So they may have been more productive than you not just because they were sabotaging your productivity, but because their overbearing personalities were well suited to the job.
Mmmm. The rest treated you the same? Did they consider you the bad apple?
Lord: Good point. However, I think there were really only 1 or 2 bad apples, and the others went along with it because it was easier that way.
Our "bad apple" is the store manager. A number of people called in to work today, due to a blizzard we are having, only to be belittled, some to the point of tears. Also, instead of being gracious and thanking those employees who did risk their safety to come to work, he chewed everyone out who did not want to stay later (and drive home in blowing drifts after dark) to cover for those absent.
I'm a lecturer (university) in a language department. My bosses, all the way up to the department chair (the highest officer with whom I have direct contact) are absolutely marvelous. Our department is almost like a big (non-dysfunctional) family. We're not a tiny university either.
To the study: I can see this phenomenon more in real family: when one person is angry and loses it, it tends to infect everyone.