PWSHRM TOXIC EMPLOYEES AND HOW TO DEAL WITH THEM Presented by: Mauricio A. Velásquez, MBA President, CEO The Diversity Training Group For: Prince William SHRM

PWSHRM Meet Mauricio Velásquez Mauricio Velásquez is the President of The Diversity Training Group (DTG) in Herndon, VA. Mauricio serves as a diversity trainer, sexual harassment prevention trainer, executive coach, mentoring trainer, expert witness, and assists organizations with multicultural marketing, selling, and customer service. DTG’s clients include small and large, public and private organizations. A partial list includes Datatel, National Institute of Standards and Technology, The Brookings Institution, The United States Coast Guard, Navy JAG Corps, and the Navy Surgeon General to name a few.

PWSHRM Meet Mauricio Velásquez  Mauricio is a former human resource generalist and also served as a demographic researcher for the Internal Revenue Service where he first anticipated the rise of diversity inside and outside the workplace. He has had the good fortune to work with Dr. W. Edwards Deming, Peter F. Drucker, and Jerry Harvey. Mauricio credits much of his interest in human resource management and the earning of his MBA to their influences.  Mauricio has trained over 400,000 employees, managers, and executives in the areas of diversity, gender equity, mentoring, and multicultural marketing and selling.

PWSHRM How did I come up with this topic?  I have specialized in “hostile audiences”during my sixteen years as a trainer and change agent  As a Sexual Harassment Prevention Trainer  As a Diversity Trainer and Expert Witness  Most recently as an Executive Coach where I am asked “…Please meet with him/her 1:1 all day, coach this person (do what you do in your workshop with one of our people) and tell us whether we fire or keep him/her!”

PWSHRM My Two Favorites  “You can’t train all of us, some of us you will have to kill!”  “You must be a *%$#$ Jew!”

PWSHRM Addressing Toxic Employees What You Don’t Know You Don’t Know (DKDK) What You Don’t Know (DK) What You Know (K)

PWSHRM Intent vs. Impact I ntent (What you meant to say) MEAN TO DO vs. I mpact (What you actually said) ACTIONS/RESULTS

PWSHRM My Agenda  Understand the toxic employee  Understand the the toxic work environment  Learn how to deal with toxic employees and toxic work environments – build a tool kit/skill kit and plan of action

PWSHRM Mauricio’s Mission  Provoke Thought  Facilitate Discussion and Learning  Surprise You/Entertain You - Edutain  Add Value  Provide Subject Matter Expertise  Make it interactive and “harness talent in this room”  #1 Ground Rule: PARTICIPATE, Ask Questions!!!

PWSHRM “Toxic Employee”  When you hear the phrase - “toxic employee” what pops into your head?

PWSHRM Toxic Employee  Always unhappy and negative but they don’t keep their misery to themselves  Why? Because misery loves company!  Body language tells it all  Glass is always half empty  Incredible memory – remembers stuff from years ago  Love to say “Not my job!”  Always looking for proof

PWSHRM TE is always looking “for proof” Stereotypes: All of us must begin to address and minimize the many stereotypes that exist within our organization.

PWSHRM Toxic Employee (Continued)  Can also be bigoted – negativity is projected towards a particular group – gender, race, age, sexual orientation, religion, management or new management  Can be a bully – big, loud, angry (back of my head – potential for violence in the workplace)  Always recruiting!  TE will sink hooks in new person ASAP  “Let me tell you who to watch out for! You with me?”

PWSHRM Negative Attitudes and Behaviors… … influence all negatively! Behaviors Attitudes Values

PWSHRM Toxic Work Environment  When you hear the phrase - “toxic work environment” what pops into your head?

PWSHRM TE “Poisons” the work environment  First – we all know who they are!  But what do we do about them?  Send them to individual 1:1 coaching or  Train everyone – “dip everybody” and sometimes the TE does not even show up  Or do nothing until something happens – what I call a “moment of truth”  Too many organizations contact us with a reactionary posture or “a real sense of urgency”

PWSHRM The Perfect Toxic Storm  Toxic employee or manager is a bully (well known)  They have a false sense of security – they have never been challenged  How does TE interpret silence of peers?  Peers are avoiders of conflict or they expect “Manager to do something!” BUT  Manager is not skilled to deal with TE  Manager is the smartest and promoted for their expertise but they don’t have the interpersonal/human relations skills = DKDK and they MEAN WELL

PWSHRM Building a Toxic Employee Skill/Tool Kit “To be successful in the new and increasingly diverse century, we need new skills, new tools, and new competencies.” —Mauricio Velásquez

PWSHRM “Before You Can Understand Others….. You Must Understand Yourself First!”

PWSHRM What Your Scores Tell You Naive Acts with no knowledge or awareness of biases and prejudice and their impact on others. What they don’t know they don’t know. This person has no clue as to the impact of their actions on others Perpetuator Aware of biases and prejudices, but continues behaviors and actions that reinforce and support stereotypes and intolerance. This person is aware of the impact of their actions on others, but continues with such behaviors nevertheless, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” Avoider Aware of biases and prejudices, but makes a conscious choice to ignore inappropriate behavior or withdraw from it. This person would rather turn and walk away than understand and address inappropriate behaviors or that bias that can appear or be misinterpreted as support. “If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.”

PWSHRM What Your Scores Tell You IWE Change Agent Acts as a role model. Takes action when appropriate and addresses behaviors when important. IWE Change Agent will take risks and use the many tools available to him/her. IWE Change Agent will take peers aside and provide feedback and coaching with the intent to improve work relationships and personal productivity Fighter Attacks all actions and confronts all behaviors. Always on the lookout for injustice but is often too confrontational, sometimes in public settings. Although a very important role, too often these individuals are labeled as “troublemakers.” If you have this energy, this fervor, please consider the change agent approach to problem-solving and inclusivity. From: Winning Balance

PWSHRM It is in the approach

PWSHRM Start Message Start with a Positive Please stop_______________________________________ (describe negative/unproductive behavior) Start_____________________________________________ (describe new, more appropriate/positive behavior) Continue_________________________________________ (describe ongoing positive behavior) End with a Positive

PWSHRM I-Statement How do I coach someone when I feel my differences are being held against me? (Start with a Positive) When you ___________________, I feel ______________________ (describe behavior) (impact of behavior) I would prefer ___________________________________________ (new behavior – more appropriate/productive) OR I feel _____________________, when you ____________________ (impact of behavior) (describe behavior) I would prefer ___________________________________________ (new behavior – more appropriate/productive) OR When I see ______________, it makes me feel ____________________ (describe behavior) (impact of behavior on you/group) I would prefer _______________________________________________ (new behavior – more appropriate, more productive) (End with a Positive)

PWSHRM Behaviors that….  WE WANT TO SEE  PREFERS  WE DON’T WANT TO SEE  NEVERS

PWSHRM The Toxicity Can Self Perpetuate

PWSHRM Using Communication to Solve Problems StepActionExample Identify and agree on the problem (consensus) Ask the right questions.  Ask for the facts  Verify the information  Decide what else you need to know  “Help me understand exactly”  “Let me make sure this is recorded correctly”  “I will be able to help you better if I know…” Conduct problem- cause analysis to identify a specific problem and its cause  Restate the problem in simple terms  Get agreement on the problem and its importance/impact  “So, the basic issue is…”  “It seems we agree it is important to fix this because…” Identify solutions/alternatives  Ask what can be done to solve the problem  Suggest other options for consideration  Tell them what you can do  “What ideas do you have on how this can be fixed?”  “In similar situations we have..”  “I really wish we could do exactly what you suggested. However, according to…, we must…” ?

PWSHRM Using Communication to Solve Problems StepActionExample Implement solutions/take action with the help of the customer  Ask for their cooperation  Tell them what you will do  Suggest how they can help, now and the next time  “I’ll need your help to…”  “Here is what I can do…”  “To get this resolved quickly, I’ll need you to…, and if this should happen again, please…” End with an agreement and a thank you. Monitor and follow up on the situation  Summarize what will be done, and by whom  Thank the customer for cooperation and help  Promise to follow up to ensure the solution really worked  “Can I assume that we agree on…?”  “Thank you for being so cooperative in helping us to solve this problem.”  “I will call you in a week to be sure the situation is resolved.”

PWSHRM Action Plan  How can I create a more productive and less toxic work environment?  How can I use what I have learned in this class in my organization and beyond?

PWSHRM THANK YOU FOR…….. YOUR TIME YOUR CONSIDERATION and your PARTICIPATION “If you loved the class – tell everybody you know about it. If you didn’t like the class – keep it to yourself!”

PWSHRM To contact Mauricio, DTG Mauricio Velásquez, MBA President, CEO The Diversity Training Group 692 Pine Street Herndon, VA Tel Fax WWW:diversitydtg.com