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[igotthisguitar]

One "Bad" Apple Spoils The Whole Office
By JoAnne Allen
Mon Feb 12, 2:14 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - One "bad apple" can spread negative behavior like a virus to bring down officemates or destroy a good team, according to a new study examining conflict in the workplace.

Negative behavior outweighs positive behavior, so a bad apple can spoil the whole barrel, but one or two good workers can't "unspoil" it, researchers at the University of Washington said in the current issue of the journal Research in Organizational Behavior.

"Companies need to move quickly to deal with such problems because the negativity of just one individual is pervasive and destructive and can spread quickly," said co-author Terence Mitchell, a professor of management and organization.

If a bad apple slips through screening in the hiring process, he or she should be placed to work alone as much as possible, the study's lead author, William Felps, said.

The study defines negative workers as those who do not do their fair share of the work, are chronically unhappy and emotionally unstable, or bully or attack others.

Felps said he was inspired to investigate workplace conflict by his wife's experience with a "bad apple" and what happened when the worker was out sick for several days.

"When he was gone my wife said the atmosphere of the office changed dramatically," Felps said. "People started helping each other, playing classical music on their radios, and going out for drinks after work. But when he returned to the office, things returned to the unpleasant way they were."

"He truly was the bad apple that spoiled the barrel," Felps said.

The researchers said they found that a single "toxic" or negative team member can be the catalyst for a group's downward spiral.

In a follow-up study, the researchers found the vast majority of the people they surveyed could identify at least one "bad apple" with whom they had worked and who had produced organizational dysfunction.

Hiring managers could head off the problem by being more thorough when screening potential employees, Felps said.

He recommends checking references and administering personality tests to weed out those who are "really low on agreeableness and emotional stability."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070212/us_nm/life_work_badapples_dc

[JeJuJitsu]

Screw you.

[PaperTiger]

Maybe it's some sort of morality tale for the benefit of cruel or indifferent bosses...don't make a problem and you won't have a problem.

[Gatsby]

Must have been a slow news day.

[hubba bubba]

Same thing goes in friendships too. If you have someone who seems cool when you meet them, but turns out to be really negative, you should cut them loose. If not, you will be beyatchy and hating life and not even realize it.

[ilovebdt]

[hubba bubba]

Tru Dat. I kinda have a problem going to extremes in this situation. Don't know, really. If someone is always complaining, and even likes to cut you down, I have to think, "Why are you in my life?"

I'm going to look into counseling.

[VanIslander]

Same thing happens at Dave's.

[ilovebdt]

I hear ya. I have the opposite problem, I hold onto bad things for far too long.

Let's go to counselling together

ilovebdt

[hubba bubba]

Yeah, I think my current extreme of "Prove that you're a jerk, and get the boot forever" comes from years of being too tolerant of people whose bad vibe caused havoc in my life.

I've noticed that I have a lot less tolerance for b.s. as I have gotten older. Idiots that just don't know better, fine... But people that are jerks just to be jerks, people that try to manipulate other people (esp. me), people that beyatch and moan, but never try to change anything...c-ya!!! Can't believe I used to put up with the amount of crap that I used to.


OK, time to start the counseling thread.....

[Ya-ta Boy]

[dulouz]

The problem - there is and always will be a bad apple. It has to happen. We all can't get A+'s, someone must get at least the lowest "A" score. There is always a bad apple.

[EFLtrainer]

Anyone else notice how well this mirrors the Confucian let's-all-just-get-along ethic? Many of us "Westerners" are caught up in being "right", efficiency, etc. It's not an easy transition for some to make.

[khyber]

I can attest to that. We had an evil manipulative coworker. Every day work was a chore.

It suuuuucked.

[huffdaddy]