The bad apple theory: a harmful event for occupational health

The bad apple theory tells us that in every organization there is a worker whose attitude or personality can ‘infect’ the rest. through their behavior. These presences not only cause discomfort, sick leave and unhappiness in the work environment, but also represent a great financial expense for the companies themselves.

“What can I say? “I hired the wrong guy and he destroyed everything I had been working on for 10 years.” These words were spoken by Steve Jobs when he recruited Apple CEO John Sculley, a person for whom he had to leave the company he created at one point. Now, this famous case is not the only one; In fact, as a study by the Glassdoor group reveals, 95% of companies say they hire at least one bad apple every year.

How is it possible? What influence does a single person have to alter the foundations of an entire organization and generate such a negative impact? Many experts talk about a domino effect.

There are personalities so harmful that they are capable of undermining the morale of an entire work team. And that’s not all, In many cases the impact does not only reach co-workers, clients are also targets of these bad arts, little success or harmful personality.

Let’s see more data on the topic.

The bad apple theory or how one person destabilizes an entire organization

The bad apple theory has been known for years, But today we still do not know what measures to use to prevent this phenomenon. The University of Washington carried out an interesting study in 2007 led by Dr. William Felps to demonstrate and explain the causes of this theory.

It could be seen, for example, that the negative behavior of a single member in a company can have an immense influence on the entire organization. And not only that, Work problems often bypass this scenario to also reach the personal and family sphere.. Conflicts at work don’t stay at work, we take them with us. The impact is therefore considerable at all levels.

If we now ask ourselves what those people who assume the role of bad apples ‘infecting’ others are like, it is very possible that we are familiar with some of these behaviors:

People who they avoid their own work and responsibilities, even putting their own tasks on other people’s shoulders. People who are pessimistic, defeatist and tremendously critical of everything.Workers who act like real thugs. They are figures who use an aggressive attitude, applying intimidation, ridicule, criticism, etc. Also common are dishonest behaviors. They are people who use illegality, writing false reports, using deception, blackmail, etc.

Why don’t companies have filters to identify the bad apples?

Something that the bad apple theory reveals to us is the following: Companies generally follow the practice of hiring quickly and firing slowly.. What does that mean? In many organizations, the need to fill a job can force a quick and inefficient selection process.

Sometimes, this immediacy means that values ​​in important variables are not taken into account. To this is added another essential fact, and that is that frequently tests to evaluate a candidate do not allow us to intuit hidden personality factors or future behaviors in the work setting.

Thus, in many cases, we can get carried away by hard skills, by that extensive resume, by training, experience, way of carrying ourselves and assertiveness. However, There is not always time to delve into soft skillssuch as their ability to work as a team, positive attitude, interpersonal sensitivity, self-control or Emotional Intelligence.

What to do when a bad apple escapes the filters of the selection processes?

We pointed it out at the beginning: On average, each company ends up hiring one bad apple every year. The selection processes fail and the consequences are soon felt. A contaminated work environment is created, employees become frustrated, live on the defensive, stress, sick leave and productivity problems appear.

What to do in these cases? Beyond what it may seem, these situations are often not resolved quickly.. The bad apple theory tells us that, on average, it takes a long time to intervene, when the first to suffer the impact of these toxic and negative presences are the workers. As we can imagine, it is not always easy to report these behaviors or convince management to intervene.

Today, a large part of organizations continue to function vertically and not horizontally. That is to say, that flexibility, that direct communication between employees and management, is not always abundant. This business hierarchy makes the bad apples last.infect more and more scenarios and increase instability.

It’s not appropriate. Bad apples must be caught as early as possible for the good of the entire organization. After identification, information work can be carried out to improve their skills when working as a team, You may be moved to a position with a less interactive position or, finally, you may be fired.. Be that as it may, these types of situations require firm, fast and effective actions. Passivity only causes wear and tear situations, from which only losses arise.

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