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8/6/15, 14:18
08/04/2015 01:11 PM
Office Beasts
http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/toxic-workers-a-10-billion-problem-in-germany-a-1046663-druck.html
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Druckversion - Oce Beasts: Venomous Employees a 10 Billion Problem in Germany - SPIEGEL ONLINE - International
8/6/15, 14:18
So what character traits can be found in a toxifier? He or she is not your occasional perpetrator who takes
advantage of a situation only when opportunity knocks. Toxifiers act in premeditated, categorical ways with
the sole goal of obtaining personal power and reaping its rewards: status, recognition, money and
sometimes even sexual relations.
"Toxifiers are drawn to power like a moth to a flame," Schler-Lubienetzki says. This is what makes this type
of person so successful and dangerous. Whenever arguments occur, the toxifier thrives. The subject matter
of the dispute is unimportant because it is only the means to an end. Toxifiers enjoy it when conflicts
escalate and they do not shy away from publicly humiliating their critics. Schler-Lubienetzki describes a
case in which a top manager threw his colleague's mobile phone into the trash can because he got annoyed
by the ringing. In truth, though, the episode had to do with power and submission.
Poor leadership provides the ideal breeding ground for toxifiers. If a supervisor shies away from conflict, it
creates an open field in which the perpetrator can operate in scrupulous ways. It would be more worthwhile
for managers to take decisive measures against the employee -- right up to firing them rather than allowing
them to create a toxic work climate. In Germany alone, the book's authors estimate, toxic employees create
10 billion ($11 billion) in damage each year.
Schler-Lubienetzki says that some fields are literally suffering from epidemics of toxifiers in the workplace.
They include the political sector, the art market, financial markets and the media. In all of these areas, the
authors conclude, "toxic skills are nearly essential for survival."
Translated from the German by Clarissa Hackbarth.
URL:
http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/toxic-workers-a-10-billion-problem-in-germany-a1046663.html
http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/toxic-workers-a-10-billion-problem-in-germany-a-1046663-druck.html
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