There are six ways, as a business leader, you can avoid the hassle of recruiting a toxic employee. This section will explore a series of useful processes that can help to nurture an environment in which recruiting a toxic employee is difficult. The six stages are as follows:
- MULTIPLE INTERVIEWS AND DIFFERENT ANGLES
Get two or three stages of the interview process – you can offer a telephone interview, followed by a face to face interview and perhaps a test-based interview. This myriad of diverse investigation will be able to help identify flaws in the candidate’s personality and whether their personal values would impact on your business.
- GET SOMEONE ELSE TO INTERVIEW
You have been fooled many times. You know it. Your colleagues as individuals have been hoodwinked. However, getting a team to interview a candidate, whilst daunting for the candidate, can help to create a group mentality around the recruitment process which can lead to a group attitude towards the candidate’s suitability.
- TOXIC MINDS THINK TOXIC THOUGHTS
Ask the crazy questions! Think outside of the box. Ask a question like; “can you think of six issues relating to your previous employer?” This question is a leading question designed to get the candidate to not just answer a singular question but to explore a myriad of themes within the confines of a singular answer. If blame is appropriated into this experience, you can understand how this person endeavours. So, ask a crazy question.
- CRYSTAL BALL GAZING
The dreaded question, “where do you see yourself in ten years”, is the ultimate question for discerning the narcissist toxic employee. The purpose of the question is to understand the long-term goals of the individual within the context of the organisation. This tricks the individual into providing information about their values and the worth they have placed on their prospective employer.
- DON’T LET HISTORY REPEAT ITSELF
There are lessons from history you can learn, as the maxim goes. This is so true when it is placed alongside the context of recruiting individuals. Bad and negative experiences are central in deconstructing toxic future employees. You can ask questions that force the candidate to explore their past. If patterns begin to emerge, there is a chance this could happen again – within your organisation!
- THERE IS NO I IN TEAM, BUT THERE IS ALWAYS A WE IN RECRUITMENT
When sourcing, sorting and interviewing a candidate. There is one way you can identify a toxic employee and that is by discussing their work history and listening to their responses. Do they use the word “we”? Did they work in a team, but the interviewee sounds like it was a solo one-man project? These vanity responses hint at an altogether more troubling sub-dynamic and that is the presence of narcissism. Toxic employees are toxic because they’re more about themselves than the wider team or business goals. Listen for the “we” in candidate responses.
These six markers can help a business leader avoid the costly pitfalls of recruiting a toxic employee and by-pass the ancillary costs of such a mistake. This article has identified the science surrounding toxic employees. It has discerned the real problem a toxic employee would create and how this would impact your own business goals and objectives. Therefore, as a business leader, you need to plan. You need to strategize your recruitment process. You need to understand the vacancy. You need to understand what that role will entail. From this knowledge, you need to approach the selection as a wider team effort.
THE NEXT STEP
The six markers herald a more collaborative approach to recruitment that can help you to find the right candidate for your business. By following these six metric markers, your business can save tens of thousands of dollars and hire the best staff for your business needs.
