The hum of an office can be deceiving. To the outside world, a team may look seamless, efficient, and united. But inside, one disruptive employee can feel like a stone dropped into still water, sending ripples of tension through every meeting, email thread, and collaboration.
Managers often find themselves walking on eggshells, unsure whether to confront the behavior or hope it fades away. The truth? It rarely does. Managing disruptive employees is not just about fixing behaviour but protecting the culture, morale, and productivity of your entire workplace. And how you handle it can either make you the leader your team trusts, or the one they quietly resent.
Why “Managing Disruptive Employees” Matters Now?
Disruptive behaviors spread faster than gossip. A single toxic person undermines morale, productivity, retention, and even safety. One disruptive employee can infect an entire team, leading to low morale, bullying, and a spiraling workplace culture.
Gallup data shows only 31% of workers stay actively engaged, while 17% actively disengage, a climate that fuels problematic conduct. Managers bear the responsibility of not just fixing outcomes but managing emotions, norms, and trust.
Spotting the Behavior, More than Just Attitude
Disruptive employees display behaviors that go beyond mere underperformance. TriNet defines them as those whose conduct damages team cohesion, productivity, or respect for leadership.
Often, the person may be a high performer. Proformative shared one situation where an “eccentric” yet highly productive employee violated dress norms, but peers’ grievances grew. The key lies in behavior, not identity.
A 5-Step Framework to De-Personalize Conflict
Insperity’s 5-step plan emphasizes early action:
- Don’t ignore the behavior.
- De-personalize the dialogue.
- Seek to understand before judging.
- Suggest measurable improvements.
- Monitor change and follow through.
This aligns with Harvard’s Program on Negotiation (PON), which recommends listening to learn, conducting empathetic, fact-based conversations rather than assigning blame.
Real-World Case Study: Johns Hopkins Medicine
When it comes to managing disruptive employees, few examples are as telling as the one documented by Academic Medicine in its study of Johns Hopkins Medicine. The institution faced a widespread issue: disruptive physician behavior that was quietly corroding trust and collaboration across departments.
In confidential interviews with 67 staff members, researchers uncovered that many organizations struggle with a culture of silence. Team members feared retaliation, avoided reporting incidents, and often suffered in silence rather than risk confrontation. The hidden cost was enormous: eroded morale, poor communication, and compromised psychological safety.
Instead of burying the issue, Johns Hopkins took a bold, structured approach. Their multi-phase intervention included:
- Making the invisible visible: Leadership openly shared the findings across the organization, proving they would no longer ignore disruptive behavior.
- Creating formal reporting channels: Employees were given safe, clear avenues to report without fear of backlash.
- Equipping leaders: Managers and department heads were trained to recognize, address, and prevent disruptive conduct while fostering respect.
- Building conflict management skills: Staff across levels were given tools for having tough conversations, turning silence into dialogue.
The results were transformative. Not only did reporting improve, but the cultural norms themselves began to shift. Fear was replaced with trust, silence with open communication, and tension with renewed psychological safety.
This case underscores a critical lesson: addressing disruptive behavior is not a one-off event, but a system-wide commitment. For any organization, whether in healthcare, corporate offices, or startups, the Johns Hopkins model proves that structured interventions, rooted in transparency, training, and culture change, can turn a toxic environment into a thriving one.
Psychology Tools: Why People Misbehave and How to Respond?
- Loss aversion & fairness: People more often react to perceived unfairness or powerlessness than to policy. Listening breaks this spiral.
- Psychological safety: Disruptive behaviors thrive in silence. Sharing findings and opening channels rebuild trust.
- Modeling: If a manager tolerates toxicity, that signals weak norms, and others follow it.
Step-by-step Strategy for Managing Disruptive Employees
| Step | What to Do |
| 1. Observe & Document | Notice disruption patterns, like decision-making avoidance, conflict starting, sarcasm, and gossip. |
| 2. Private Inquiry | Schedule a neutral, empathetic talk. Ask: What’s driving your behavior? |
| 3. Empathize & Align | Show care and align on shared goals. From SHRM: “I care about you as an individual…” builds trust and engagement. |
| 4. Set Behavior Goals | Co-create specific, measurable behavior goals (e.g., adopt a respectful tone, respond calmly). |
| 5. Offer Support | Provide coaching, resources, or peer support. Offer manager or HR-led coaching. |
| 6. Monitor & Reinforce | Track progress and praise positively altered behavior. |
| 7. Escalate If Needed | If behavior persists, involve HR. Insperity recommends disciplinary steps or reassignment if needed. |
| 8. Share Culture Norms | Reinforce values through formal communications and culture-building efforts, like Johns Hopkins did. |
Risk & Impact: Why is this not Optional?
Unchecked disruption damages more than one employee. Wikipedia warns that toxic environments lead to distraction, stress-related illnesses, declining life expectancy, and potentially violent incidents.
Managers who ignore problematic employees signal that divisive behavior is allowed. That undermines trust, degrades performance, raises turnover, and normalizes poor conduct.
Expert Perspective
- SHRM underscores building connection through regular check-ins, helping prevent employees from turning difficult.
- CoachHub reminds us that sometimes the workplace frustration lies not in the employee but in management style. Harvard Business Review research shows leadership quality affects “going the extra mile” behavior from 20% (poor leadership) to 60% (strong leadership).
When All Else Fails: Culture Reset and Structural Action
If behavioral interventions fail repeatedly, leaders must consider culture-wide actions:
- Reset expectations organization-wide,
- Conduct leadership training,
- Clarify values and code of conduct,
- Reconsider role alignment or remove the employee as a last resort.
Healthy organizations take timely action, and removing toxic individuals can actually boost engagement and reinforce healthy norms.
Summary: Why Investing in Managing Disruptive Employees Pays Off
Managing disruptive employees involves more than confrontation; it demands diagnosis, empathy, clarity, follow-through, and sometimes culture-building. Real-world examples like Johns Hopkins show that structured, transparent interventions restore psychological safety and performance.
When leaders commit to understanding root causes, setting respectful boundaries, and monitoring change, they stop disruptions, not with force, but with purpose.
Mastering Managing Disruptive Employees doesn’t just fix one person; it safeguards your team’s wellbeing, productivity, and trust.
