Recently promoted to Co-Director (Yay!) for my nonprofit agency. My Co and I work together great-we've got good communication and balance each other well. We are both struggling with managing the toxic soup of the employees we inherited. Gossip, high turnover, lack of accountability and general bad attitudes. Our CEO, also very supportive, has tasked us with trying to get this motley group on point or start cleaning house.

18 Comments

1. AnonymousJuly 16,2024 at 1:15PM UTC

   The toxic employees I’ve worked with had motivation and were encouraged in their toxicity. They got away with it due specifically to having zero consequences for their action. The only cure was for them to leave. Don’t be nice be strategic. Lay out the new ground rules and give accolades to those that follow the new rules and consequences to those that do not. Swift and clear PIPs work very well. Also, establish a bench of candidates to replace the toxic workers. This serves everyone. Once the toxic hostile folks leave you will see a blossoming of productivity from those who had been hindered by the bad seeds. I work in an office that was recently purged of toxic folk. They survived because they were permitted to. The purge happened because the main toxic manager (second in command of the company tragically died. Once he was gone the minions were expected to work. In my opinion they lasted longer than they should have but all left of their own accord due to the new pressures and the change in power. .

2. AnonymousJuly 16,2024 at 4:27PM UTC

   For anyone who is gossiping, I'd march that employee over to the person they're talking about. Tell them in no uncertain terms that you do not tolerate gossip and you're happy to facilitate a conversation where they can share this feedback directly with the person they're targeting. There will be no change in behavior until there are consequences. Get aligned with your co-head and attack this problem aggressively.

3. AnonymousJuly 19,2024 at 2:24PM UTC

   If I was an employee in this scenario, I'd actually really prefer my manager not put me in the situation to be directly confronted with "Hey, this person is talking about you, let's have a surprise confrontation right now". This certainly isn't the intention, but you're becoming part of the dramatic, conflict-driving problem this way.

4. AnonymousJuly 28,2024 at 6:11PM UTC

   Absolutely do NOT involve the injured party in this mess! Most of the "gossip" I've ever learned about was NOT helpful feedback for me to hear. If there's a legit issue, address it with target privately and minimize the whole "someone was gossiping about you" aspect.

5. AnonymousJuly 16,2024 at 5:46PM UTC

   I think you do it honestly and with compassion. If there is that much toxicity, it came from somewhere. A lot of it can start at the top when people are treated as servants that work for management rather than WITH them. Get each person's take on why the gossip/toxic environment started. Listen to them and don't just label them as troublemakers (or minions/bad seeds as I've seen in previous replies) and not hear. Make it clear what your expectations are. Make sure that not only these employees are held accountable, make sure management are held accountable too. In the end of course it's your decision, but in this situation and really in any, I think really hearing every voice whether you agree or not is a great place to start. Leaders that listen, consider, are open and lead with compassion are something we can't go on much longer without. Good luck. I don't envy the decisions you will have to make.

6. AnonymousJuly 17,2024 at 12:33PM UTC

   Who is the “enemy” that causes the toxicity? Are employees on your team pitted against each other somehow? Then end the “contests” and help them work more collaboratively . Is it “management” or organizational policies? See what you can dd about improving the environment (do they have all the tools and support they need to do their jobs well). Is it an individual employee (or employees) who aren’t pulling their weight and are seeing no consequences? Is there a lot of gossip because official communication channels are poor and gossip is the better (or only) source of information?

   Sometimes people are just how they are, but there’s usually a root cause of toxicity and tackling that is the best way to get rid of it.

7. CatJuly 17,2024 at 12:38PM UTC

   When I accepted my new role. I had a couple of employees who were toxic. I had a team meeting, we went over a list of expectations. Whenever, I notice that a team member is falling short of those expectations. We have a conversation, the toxic person decided our company was no longer the place she wanted to be and left on her own. This changed the culture almost over night. I also added this to my signature for in office emails: Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds discuss people. - Eleanor Roosevelt. (Gets the point across)

8. Cindy GloverJuly 17,2024 at 1:12PM UTC

   You have my vote!!

9. Cindy GloverJuly 17,2024 at 1:06PM UTC

   I left a company last year because of the toxic environment- I can’t believe I lasted as long as I did - quick example - a coworker (bosses wife whom was my only confidant) said I was bright red- went next door to UCC and my BP was 190/216

   All I did was walk in the door

   I’d fall asleep driving to and from work (I don’t have children so I was always nominated for IT upgrades etc…

   I left my house at 6:30 and didn’t get home until 9:00-10:00(on a really bad day - average was no sooner than 7:30 while my boss and wife left at 500 to go make dinner with the family

   i could go on and on and it blows my mind how I felt so committed to them - didn’t want to let them down - I truly don’t think I’d be here had I stayed

10. AnonymousJuly 17,2024 at 8:08PM UTC

    Congrats on your promotion! Low morale often breeds a toxic culture. You may have to deploy a combination of things like surveys and team building activities to get an idea of the root cause.

    Having leadership present also makes everyone perk up and take notice, check egos or set bad attitudes aside. It's nice to have supportive, but present leadership in the trenches (when possible) has a way of resetting purpose, roles and morale. You could also set some open office hours or one on one's and ask for candid feedback or pick brains during those conversations. Peer to peer shoutouts are nice ways to lift each other up as well. I had a boss who would send me a quick "Hey! I see you working hard over there. Just want to share that I'm so thankful you're part of the team". Sometimes those also came with a meme and helped me stay positive and even reorient me back to my purpose or service on rough days.

    You're gonna be great! You got this!!

11. AnonymousJuly 18,2024 at 12:47PM UTC

    I agree Group activities can be beneficial, Sometimes it points out individuals that choose not to participate bc they are the root of some of the issues. I think a survey is a great idea especially if you keep it anonymous.

12. AnonymousJuly 18,2024 at 12:51PM UTC

    With that many employees who are supposedly toxic, I wonder if the previous leadership caused the toxic environment. You need to bring a new culture in immediately by setting a good example. That said, if morale is low, anything you do might be too little too late and the employees need to leave anyway because nothing can be done.

13. AnonymousJuly 18,2024 at 1:00PM UTC

    I've been there, not with a co-manager but with the toxic group I inherited. Begin with the worst offender(s), and you will be surprised how eliminating one toxic person changes the entire team's energy.

    I took over after a hard-handed manager, who, whenever he walked into the workspace, people started trembling because they knew someone was about to be publically ridiculed and chewed out. He had his favorites, one of whom was the most toxic team member.

    Once I eliminated that person, the entire team's productivity doubled, and the "aura" within a staff meeting became collaborative. Everyone started having a good time and enjoying the job they did. Just make sure you follow company rules (and state law if you are not in a right-to-work state) to set expectations for the whole team and put people who are toxic on performance plans. If you witness toxicity in person, call it out.

    One other thought: If turnover is high enough, you can let attrition do this for you. The only problem is that you might end up with only the most toxic performers rather than the good ones.

14. AnonymousJuly 28,2024 at 6:15PM UTC

    IME, you can't count on attrition. The people leaving are rarely the crappy people who are getting away with slacking or generally toxic behavior. They usually understand on some level that what they're doing is unprofessional and they worry they wouldn't get away with it elsewhere, so they stay as long as they aren't called out.

15. Leader135412July 20,2024 at 1:41PM UTC

    The old methods were the best. If we knew an efficiency manager was brought in to clean house, the warning notices and employee interviews happened, it would be only 2 weeks and the difficult ones were let go. And new employees would be trained by that manager. And the old ones were warned if they demoralized the new hires instead of working with them, they would be fired.

16. AnonymousJuly 21,2024 at 12:23PM UTC

    Often, it’s one or two bad apples that are poisoning the bunch. Start there. Sometimes, removing a be person changes the group dynamic immeasurably.

17. AnonymousJuly 21,2024 at 2:53PM UTC

    I find the best way to manage toxic personalities is to call them out on their behavior immediately. You can professional and direct and not sugarcoat things. As a manager, you can be friendly, but you shouldn’t be friends. People may not like the message, but you gain a lot of respect from the employees who are being impacted by the unprofessional, toxic behaviors. People act like this because they are being allowed to get away with it.

18. AnonymousJuly 21,2024 at 7:02PM UTC

    You do need to hammer out the toxic employees/behavior or you'll look weak and not be successful.