I've just finished reading through this hashtag#Hogan Assessments Technical Brief on toxic employees. Let me break it down for you:
So basically, this research is looking at what makes someone a toxic employee - you know, the kind of person who really messes up the workplace vibe and makes everyone miserable.
The researchers took two approaches to figure this out:
First, they mapped toxic behaviours to specific competencies. They found that toxic employees typically have issues with things like:
- Self-management (they can't control themselves properly)
- Listening to others (they just don't care what you think)
- Caring about people (zero empathy)
- Integrity (they'll lie without thinking twice)
What's interesting is that most toxic behaviours come from having too little of a good competency (like caring about people), but narcissistic behaviour actually comes from having too much confidence!
Secondly, they looked at personality traits using their assessment tools (the HPI and HDS) and measured how these relate to toxic behaviours.
The protective personality traits that help prevent toxic behaviour include:
- Adjustment (emotional stability)
- Prudence (being careful)
- Interpersonal Sensitivity (being considerate)
The risky personality traits that might make someone toxic include:
- Excitable (moody and easily upset)
- Skeptical (suspicious of everyone)
- Mischievous (risk-taking and boundary-pushing)
- Bold (overly confident)
Sociability had an interesting relationship - more social people were slightly more likely to engage in things like alcohol.
So if you're looking to avoid hiring toxic people, you'd want to screen for these risk factors and look for candidates who score well on those protective traits.
Thanks to the authors for this interesting research @Hogan Assessment Systems and Jaclyn Menendez, PhD for sharing your research.
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