How to Avoid Hiring Toxic People

Toxic workplace behavior has become a somewhat “normal” part of today’s work environments but it doesn’t need to be. With the rising cost of doing business – regardless of the industry and company size – toxic people in the workplace result in avoidable costs. Some costs are tangible such as lower sales while others are not such as decreased concentration and focus from employees.
Do we simply assume that toxicity in the workplace is part of the “new normal” in this fast-paced, technologically-enhanced business environment? Not at all.
During this special session, you will learn how to spot symptoms of toxic behavior in applicants before they are welcomed as new employees to your organization. You will learn foundational and actionable steps to ensure that you are building the best structure to protect your company’s culture. By the end of the session, you will be empowered and informed about what to look out for, what to do, and how to ensure a healthy workforce.

• Enumerate examples of toxic behaviors that can undermine an organization.
• Describe the cost of hiring toxic people.
• Describe the foundational pillars of a robust recruiting process to identify toxicity.
• Define the behavioral interviewing best practices to identify potential toxicity in applicants.
• Identify questions to ask references when assessing candidates.
• Recall behavioral watch-outs during the interview process.

• Tangible and intangible costs of toxicity in the workplace.
• Importance of culture and values.
• Establishing / refining hiring best practices.
• Why hiring for personality is important.
• Interview panels and peer interviews.
• Structured and behavioral interviews.
• Red flags and watch-out’s.

Hiring employees is one of the riskiest processes in growing an organization. The wrong hire can result in catastrophic results. While hiring managers and recruiters have high hopes during every step of the recruiting process, if they are not looking for red flags and assessing against the right criteria, they may miss or overlook specific data points. This could lead to not only the immediate cost by the dysfunctional person, but could lead to spread of toxicity, litigation costs, lower employee morale, and unwanted attrition.

• Human resources professionals at all levels
• Talent acquisition and recruiting professionals
• Hiring managers
• Department managers
• Project managers
• Executive leaders

Melveen Stevenson is the CEO and founder of M.S. Elemental, LLC, a human resources and business advisory firm. As a certified HR professional with a background in accounting and finance, she helps companies to navigate the human resources “jungle” of compliance, human capital, and leadership challenges. In doing so, she empowers companies to strengthen their infrastructure from the inside out, specifically through leadership development, operations, training, employee engagement, and executive coaching.

Melveen speaks on key topics to empower companies with the latest research and best practices for increasing engagement, enhancing leadership presence, and optimizing diverse workforce groups.

Over the last 20 years, Melveen has held leadership positions in human resources operations, supply chain, and talent management at international companies in food manufacturing, medical devices, and consumer products. She has spent most of her career in California, and has expertise in the state’s complicated employment regulations.

Melveen is certified through the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM-SCP) and the Human Resources Certification Institute (SPHR).  She is also a faculty member at California State University-Dominguez Hills.