
It’s Better to Avoid a Toxic Employee Than Hire a Superstar - JoshTriplett
https://hbr.org/2015/12/its-better-to-avoid-a-toxic-employee-than-hire-a-superstar
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existencebox
At the risk of something it may be wise to not connect to my employment
history, I worry about this sometimes. (and selfishly, it's effect on
me/people like me.)

Despite what I like to think of as a rather fortuitous career path, I've
definitely run up against hiring managers who have told me explicitly such
things as "We avoid hiring nonconformists like you" (a verbatim quote from an
employee at a F100) and worry that if we start becoming even more vague and
sociological with our hiring, we'll merely discriminate more against
mental/social diversity.

Seeing many articles that pop up nowadays on this topic makes me worry for
younger generations of "Weirdos"(like younger me :) ), that they may not be
lucky enough to find someone open and gracious enough to give them an
opportunity and teach them how to fit in better, lest they be "toxic". (I
really hate that buzzword too, it's become such a catchall for "behavior we
don't like", almost a standin for "culture fit". HBR was more constrained in
their definition, so I certainly don't want to paint with a broad brush, but
the tone of the conversation on the whole makes me raise an eyebrow for where
it'll move in the future)

~~~
JoshTriplett
Someone saying they "avoid hiring nonconformists" is entirely the opposite of
what this tries to achieve; that's another kind of cultural problem, and a
good sign of a workplace to avoid.

This is just about selecting for people who treat others decently. That's not
an unreasonable criteria, and hopefully not one you'd have a problem with.

Avoiding/removing toxic people is entirely different than avoiding
noncomformism and selecting for "culture fit"; if anything, removing the toxic
people helps clear the way for _more_ diverse teams and companies, and
organizations that are just more fun to work in.

