How To Deal With Toxic People In Your Startup

Every company will have that one individual who will spew negativity and spread an aura of toxicity to the people around them. At any given moment you might find yourself dealing with an employee who does not fit in with the dynamic of your startup and ends up pulling other employees down with them.

Identifying such people and understanding how to deal with them is essential for any startup to grown and for the company to perform well. Here are a few simple steps to learn who is spewing negativity in your company and how to handle such people.

1. Complainers and Whiners
An easy way to recognize who is responsible for spreading negativity is to look for people who complain about every task and every project they are given. This includes everyday work requirements and basic skills you’d expect from any person holding that position. A simple way to handle such toxic people would be to set limits that even they can’t say is unachievable and set them to work with overachievers of your company.

2. Look into complaints
Don’t simply label someone as toxic if they start complaining about their job or the job environment. Look into why the complaint was made in the first place. Ask multiple employees if they also have similar issues with the company or if it’s just one individual facing problems. Sometimes problems can stem from deeper issues and complaints can become constructive feedback for the company to learn and grow.

3. Communication and Feedback
The majority of the time employees don’t realize what they’ve been doing in the company. They are more focused on themselves than on what’s happening around them. Directly and objectively communicating with them about the negative environment they are creating in the workspace might help them learn and change for the better. You don’t owe them a huge explanation but it still is your duty to fix anything that affects the productivity of the startup.

4. Self-assessment and self-evaluation
Many big companies employ this method by having the employees assess their own work. Self assessment and self-evaluation methods refer to making employees analyze and interpret their strengths and weaknesses. This way the employees realize what needs to be improved and what can be changed to better their work performance.

5. Accept, Document and Separate
Sometimes it is best to accept that some people cannot change and such people need to be removed from our lives. While firing someone does feel extreme, working with a toxic person might just burn your startup to the ground. But if removing such kind of people does not seem to be a possibility, then document everything they do. Maintain a detailed folder dedicated to the employee with everything they’ve done so far and the responses you’ve given them. Include formal complaints and issues raised by the other employees. You can present this document to the employee at a later date. Sometimes a metaphorical slap in the face is exactly what someone needs. Till the time the employee changes or is fired try to separate the from other employees. If you can’t eradicate toxicity then at least contain it.

A startup needs all the love and affection it can get to grow. Toxicity, negativity and toxic people will only hamper the growth. Recognizing and dealing with such employees as early as possible is the best help you can give your company.