I've heard it way too many times. "Yeah, he's a bit of a jerk. But his expertise is really important and difficult to find. He give us a market advantage."
Unfortunately, other employees don't see the market value of an expert jerk. They simply see, well, a jerk. And worse yet, they observe that management tolerates jerk behavior. Over time, this encourages other people to behave like jerks. Eventually, the company develops a jerk-like culture. All because one jerk was considered irreplaceable.
According to Boris Groysberg of the Wall Street Journal,"To get the best of your top performers, maintain a 'no-jerks' policy: Stars who don't play well with others won't benefit you in the long run."
Read Groysberg's entire article here: The Myth of the Lone Star
1 comment:
I totally agree. The impact of a negative employee is just like cancer in the body that can rarely be improved with treatment.
Once the negative impact breeds through the culture, the goal of the company shifts from staying on track with the business model to putting the focus on addressing cultural issues that not only take time, but money as well. This is unnecessary if a company is constantly building a culture and expectation of "no jerks."
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