PWL #53: Toxic Workers

• What we'll do
Main Event: Toxic Workers by Max Payton

http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Publication%20Files/16-057_d45c0b4f-fa19-49de-8f1b-4b12fe054fea.pdf

Abstract:
"While there has been a strong focus in past research on discovering and developing top performers in the workplace, less attention has been paid to the question of how to manage those workers on the opposite side of the spectrum: those who are harmful to organizational performance. In extreme cases, aside from hurting performance, such workers can generate enormous regulatory and legal fees and liabilities for the firm. We explore a large novel dataset of over 50,000 workers across 11 firms to document a variety of aspects of worker characteristics and circumstances that lead them to engage in what we call "toxic" behavior.
We also explore the relationship between toxicity and productivity, and the ripple effect that a toxic worker has on her peers. Finally, we find that avoiding a toxic worker (or converting him to an average worker) enhances performance to a much greater extent than replacing an average worker with a superstar worker."

Dinner will be provided! We usually eat between 6:30 and 7:00, with papers starting at 7.

• Important to know

Big ups to Glympse for hosting this month!

As a chapter of Papers We Love we abide by and enforce the PWL Code of Conduct (https://github.com/papers-we-love/seattle/blob/master/code-of-conduct.md) at our events. Please give it a read, plan on acting like an adult, and involve one of the organizers if you need help.

Stop slacking and join us in the #seattle channel at https://papersweloveslack.herokuapp.com!

If you have a paper you'd like to present, or even just a mini, please hit up one of the organizers :) We're always looking for more presenters.