culture

Subscribe to culture via RSS

EyeWhen it comes to managing bullying in the workplace, the focus tends to be on dealing with the bullying behaviour after it has occurred or at least after the bully has started work. But are there ways to stop bullies from being recruited in the first place?

One place to start is screening during recruitment. There are certain personalities who deliberately inflict harm or lack the ability to understand the harm they are doing to others. These personalities fall within a category that psychologists call the ‘Dark Triad’ which comprises three sub-personalities: Machiavellianism, sub-clinical narcissism and sub-clinical psychopathy.
Continue Reading Screening for psychopaths – managing the front end of workplace bullying

Many thousands of car fanatics are mourning the loss of Jeremy Clarkson from BBC’s internationally successful Top Gear program. But the case is a good illustration of a common tension in many business – that of a high performing and ‘successful’ employee who engages in controversial (and sometimes unlawful) behaviour.

Clarkson is renowned for behaviour which might be called ‘edgy’ by some, and ‘offensive’ by others. Often high-performing employees are excused for ‘quirks of character’ that, in other employees, might lead to a swift exit from the business. These quirks are often seen as part and parcel of the person’s high performance nature – ‘oh, that’s just the way he is’ or ‘that’s what you get with her’. Managers can be reluctant to take action for fear of losing a person responsible for bringing in significant customers or high volumes of sales.
Continue Reading Have you applied the ‘Clarkson test’?