Bad Attitudes Are Contagious!

by Carol Pocklington

Workplace attitudes influence every person in the organization, from team colleagues to the leadership. Attitudes can control the workplace environment by impacting morale, productivity, and team effectiveness. Understanding and recognizing the behaviors that are at the root of poor attitudes is essential to the ongoing success and security of the business.

It only takes one person with an unchecked bad attitude to bring down an organization. The power of such an individual to cause destruction will stem from a variety of places: fear, anger, dissatisfaction, jealousy, or bad attitude. Whatever the trigger, the danger, if this behavior is left unchecked, can become a weapon of mass destruction to the business.

What part do you play in ensuring inappropriate behavior is challenged? If you hear or are part of an exchange that begins with. “just between you and me,” or “I know you won’t tell anyone.”, it’s clear a confidence is about to be broken. So, what is your reaction?

Low-level gossipy stuff is every bit as important to identify and stamp out as is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. You know what I mean – the one who presents as committed, loyal and trustworthy, but, under pressure, this shallow behavior can turn lethal.

A person who intentionally sets about leaking classified information (for example), and not always for monetary gain, but simply because they have been passed over for promotion, or they have some ideological position that they think legitimizes them to leak information. These are the people that CEOs are crying out to identify to limit the damage.

I read this article in BuzzFeed News: Reality Leigh Winner, a 25-year-old Air Force veteran, was arrested on Saturday after the Department of Justice alleged that she printed out a classified document on her work computer and mailed it to The Intercept. Winner served in the Air Force for six years, where she worked as a linguist specializing in Arabic and Farsi. She had recently worked for a government contractor in Augusta, Georgia, where the NSA also has a facility.

I’m sure you’ve read many more such examples!

Only time will tell as to her motivations, but the question to ask is this – could managers and supervisors have read any signs to alert them to a rogue in their midst? The answer is yes.

The 2016 Global Fraud Study by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) estimated that the typical organization loses 5% of revenues in each year because of fraud. The total loss caused by the cases in their study exceeded $6.3 billion, with an average loss per case of $2.7 million.

These statistics expose the need for robust and validated analytics to be the foundation for identifying/managing behaviors that can become a potential threat to business.

Investing in understanding people, and getting below the surface of what is seen, to discover inherent behavior will, in the end, safeguard the organization and keep the bottom line safe 

Monitoring employees through the collection of Big Data can provide insights into social networking, relationships and even reveal how perceived normal behavior can turn malevolent: but falls short.

Readily available psychometric assessment tools bridge the gap. The DNA Behavior Discovery process identifies, who, when placed under pressure, is most likely to cause disruption to the business. Further, the outcomes reveal the environmental catalysts that provokes such behavior.

In the current theatre of world politics, opinions are heightened. 80% of future lone wolves are known to take politics personally and claim that they have been wronged enough that action would be justified.

But creating rogue behavior does not necessarily require a change in government or some other significant change – the threat within can be a team member who cannot cope with pressure or are dissatisfied with the environment in which they work. It’s that simple. This kind of behavior can be revealed and managed.

The solution is the deployment of a validated personality discovery process, providing insights into hidden, hard-wired traits and a reliable prediction of where security or compliance risks exist. Based on external research, employees with the following measurable behavioral traits are more likely to engage in rogue behavior when emotionally triggered:

1. Innovative – bright mind, which turns into curious and devious thinking

2. Ambitious – desire for success, leading to cutting corners

3. Secretive – working under cover and not revealing key information

When every member of a team knows, understands and is comfortable with each other’s behavior, it not only builds trust, but such effective teams give companies a significant competitive advantage. High-functioning teams would identify and weed out malevolent behavior instantly. They are alert to any sign of inappropriate behavior and challenge it.

Becoming a behaviorally smart organization is as simple as using a highly validated behavioral discovery process. Armed with the depth of insight such a discovery provides, management can dynamically match employees with specific environmental conditions to determine their potential response. They can also discern the degree to which such responses could create damaging behavior and negative actions towards the business.

Lastly, management can apply these insights towards talent re-allocation, employee evaluation, team development and improved hiring processes.

Better to know your potential rogues in advance rather than dealing with any fallout at a later date.