One ‘Bad Apple’ Really Can Kill the Company
- One “bad apple†in a team of workers really can “spoil the entire barrel,†new business research shows.
Whether it’s an office bully, team slacker or a chronic pessimist, a single employee can seriously damage an entire company, according to William Felps and Terence Mitchell of the University of Washington Business School.
The researchers define a bad apple as a toxic teammate who shows one or all of three features: dodging their work, dumping some of their responsibilities on others; persistently expressing pessimism, irritability and general unhappiness; and bullying co-workers.
The bullies have specialties: making fun of someone, saying something hurtful, making inappropriate ethnic or religious remark, cursing at someone, playing mean pranks, acting rudely and publicly embarrassing someone.
Over the past 20 years or so, scientists have conducted numerous studies of the effects of negative behaviors at work, including discrimination, sexual harassment, violence and dishonest reporting. However, bad-apple behavior has been somewhat overlooked, Felps said.
“Almost all of us have either had the personal experience of working with someone who displayed bad apple behaviors or had a friend, coworker, or spouse who has shared such stories with us,†Felps and Mitchell wrote in a report of their research detailed in the current issue of Research in Organizational Behavior.
“When this process starts to unfold at work, it consumes inordinate amounts of time, psychological resources and emotional energy,†they added.
Go to original by LiveScience Staff Writer Jeanna Bryner
