Tackling toxicity

Many will have come across colleagues who are ordinarily good at their job and technically competent but who are, in all reality, poisonous to those around them. Typified by a negative attitude, disruptive behaviour, and an air of arrogance that can radically affect how a practice operates, their presence can lower both morale and productivity.

Such behaviour has the potential to spread and lead colleagues to look for positions elsewhere. Worse, patients are not stupid; they soon pick up on negative atmospheres. Practices need to be alive to toxic employees; they need to learn to spot such individuals and take action to staunch the poor behaviour as soon as the problem becomes known.