Manage Workplace Chaos by Dealing With Toxic Employees Directly

RCS Influencer Charles Antis says that managing a crazy work environment starts with evaluating if each employee is bringing a positive or negative energy into the workspace. 

Editor’s note: The following transcript came from a video sent to RoofersCoffeeShop by Charles Antis, founder and CEO of Antis Roofing & Waterproofing, and Susan DeGrassi, their vice president of administration and cause.  

Charles Antis: Hi, I'm Charles Antis, the founder and CEO here at Antis Roofing in Irvine, California. And I'm super excited because this month for Roofers Coffee Shop, I get to have my VP over admin, Susan DeGrassi, here. And Susan, we have a topic this month that's exciting, but it's also kind of scary. You know how I like chaos. I love positive chaos and I love ooh, there's chaos in the room. Something good's going to happen, so long as nobody toxic is there. And the question this month is, what do you do about toxic employees? 

Charles Antis: And I want to start with, at Antis, when we bring somebody in, we are coming in, and we're going to love them. We're going to love what's different about them. But if in this position of working together to try to create, they're either sabotaging or creating smoke screens or not being kind, then it's our job to manage them. And that's why Susan is here. Susan, how do we do that? 

Susan DeGrassi: Well, I'm in charge of HR, so I've dealt with it many times in my career. I think, first of all, to remember that the other employees are watching to see what you're doing about the situation, and so you don't want it to last too long because they're going to judge your leadership ability on how you respond and act. And I think it's important to recognize that sometimes employees haven't always been toxic, but something is occurring that they're bringing that into the organization. 

Susan DeGrassi: So your job is to perform. It's up or out. And in that conversation, in trying to performance them up, the best thing you can do is to deal with it directly, address what the behavior is that needs to be corrected, give them some time to correct it. And that timeline can be a couple of hours to a couple of weeks, depending on what's going on. And if it's not corrected and things don't change, have the courage to separate the relationship from the company. 

Susan DeGrassi: And sometimes it is the kindest thing to do for your employee to get them unstuck from whatever is bringing them into this behavior that's so negative toward the organization. They're able to move on with their life and maybe make a positive change for the best. 

Charles Antis: I think that's wonderful. So our job is to take care of them and love them. And by the way, we're able to do that when we bring things like principles and cause together, and we bring that into the company. We can love them, but if they're not going to be happy here and that doesn't bring the best of them, then we can love them out the door to find joy somewhere else. 

Susan DeGrassi: I agree. There is always a way to end a relationship with dignity and kindness. 

Charles Antis: High five. Thank you. 

Susan DeGrassi: Thanks. Bye. 

Charles Antis is the founder and CEO of Antis Roofing & Waterproofing. See his full bio here.