When B.B. King, the King of the Blues, wrote these lyrics, “When my heart starts beating like a hammer, and my eyes get full of tears,”  he wasn’t writing about his job but many hard working Americans feel this way on Sunday evening each week.  According to research, getting ready for Monday can be a real bummer.

Have you ever had that feeling of dread come over you on Sunday evening as your mind begins to prepare for the work week ahead? Does your heart start beating like a hammer? Do your eyes fill with tears? Is the thought of Monday - the start of a new work week - so daunting that you begin worrying about work on Sunday?

This type of worry and dread cuts into your weekend.  It feels like Monday starts on Sunday. This phenomenon has been termed the “Sunday Evening Blues.”

It is a real phenomenon. For some people there is much to worry about. In fact, more heart attacks occur on Monday mornings in the workplace than any other day of the week.  When the sun rises on Monday mornings so does the blood pressure of many hard working Americans.  What is the cause of the Sunday Evening Blues?  The cause could be related to your morning commute, sleep deprivation from the weekend, abuse of alcohol, poor family relationships, or the act of returning to a toxic work environment.

When surveying employees regarding their satisfaction with work, I think it is a good idea to ask this question: “Do you experience the Sunday Evening Blues when thinking about returning to work on Monday?”  The results will be a good indicator of the health of your workplace.

As business leaders we should do what we can to make the workplace a welcoming and inviting place.  The environment should help employees perform at their highest levels.  Below are a few ideas on how to create a warm and inviting workplace and beat down the Sunday Evening Blues:

• Drive Out Fear in the Workplace - Fear stifles creativity, productivity and quality. Fear seizes up the organization’s ability to freely produce results because employees are afraid of being reprimanded.  Drive out fear by ridding your organization of supervisors who are overbearing, micromanaging, nitpicking, fire-breathing Neanderthals.
• Model Servant Leadership - The most productive teams are motivated by servant leaders. When leaders realize their job is to help others succeed, work/life begins to make more sense.  When everything and everyone has to accommodate the leader, he/she is not a servant leader but a dictator.
• Throw Out Rigidity and Embrace Flexibility - Our personal and professional lives have never been more complicated.  Many times the competing demands of our family and work intersect and create enormous pressure.  When the company forces employees to choose between work and family, the company will always lose in the end. Even if the employee chooses company over family, the company will eventually lose when the employee’s family falls apart.  It is best to work things out through flexible leadership.  In other words, focus on results not face time.
• Provide Lessons on Etiquette and Civility - Our country severely lacks some basic lessons on etiquette and civility. If a driver does not speed off at a green light within one second, hoards of cars will start honking their horns, shouting obscenities and shoving crude finger gestures at you.  These ruthless, impatient, vulgar people are driving to work too and you likely work with many of them.  It is a good idea to provide mandatory etiquette and civility training to help smooth out the major and minor irritants that cause friction in the workplace. If there is friction in the workplace it is manifesting itself at the customer level as well.
• Leaders Should Be Nice - It is amazing what will happen in an organization if the top leader and his/her executive team are simply nice people.  You do not have to be mean and nasty to get work done. That is myth not reality.  Leaders who are nice, cordial, pleasant, focused, determined, objective and fair will lead their company to greatness.  When nice starts at the top it will cascade down the organization.

Note: Please take a moment and respond to the poll question on our website regarding this subject.  We are very interested in reader responses.

This past weekend a rough looking middle-aged woman deliberately threw a rather large plastic cup full of soda out of her car window onto a retail store parking lot as we walked by. Realizing the unkempt woman littered on purpose, my wife said to her, “you dropped your cup.”  In a very hateful tone the litterbug shot back, “come over here and pick it up!”  A trash can was simply four or five steps away from the rude woman’s car door but she refused to do the right thing, trashed our environment with her uncleanliness and her unsightly rudeness.

What has happened to basic courtesy? When did it become okay to simply throw your trash out the car window while driving down the highway. When did it become okay to yell, scream and curse at other drivers on the road?  This same lack of courtesy has crept into the workplace as well.

Why do some managers find it acceptable to yell or curse at employees?  Why do some organizations allow fear and intimidation to be used as a management tool? Even non-profit groups, churches and Christian organizations have not been immune to the disease of mean.

One time I observed a blustery executive respond to a subordinate who simply asked a good question, “I am not telling you again because I didn’t stutter the first time,” the impatient executive stated to the employee who was visibly shaken by the rude response.  How creative and innovative do you think that supervisor’s employees were?

A majority of professionals will display trust, dignity and respect among subordinates, peers and leaders.  However, there are those difficult ones who create toxic work environments due to their refusal to treat people nicely.  They litter the workplace with their toxic behavioral trash. Their behavior and demeanor smells and makes people sick.

The Power of Nice is a great book written by advertising executives Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval showing “how to conquer the business world with kindness.”  I highly recommend the brief 119 page book to all my clients, leaders and future leaders. We have all heard the adage “nice guys finish last.” Actually, this is far from the truth.  Sure, mean managers get significant press time.  But according to the authors, “The Power of Nice shows that ‘nice’ companies have lower employee turnover, lower recruitment costs, and higher productivity.  Nice people live longer, are healthier, and make more money.”

The authors Thaler and Koval go on to say, “companies and people with a reputation for cooperation and fair play forge the kind of relationships that lead to bigger and better opportunities, both in business and life.  But nice doesn’t mean acting wimpy. In fact, nice may be the toughest four-letter word you’ll ever experience,” say the authors.

Building great workplaces is not complicated work. Treating employees with dignity, trust and respect is not rocket science. Being nice, respectful and caring is powerful. These qualities are not the tools of a wimpy leader.  These are the qualities of a focused and successful leader who does not need to ruin lives while climbing the corporate ladder or building a successful company.

Will you join The People Group in making a commitment to create a trusting, respectful and caring work environment where you work?  It makes sense.  It’s the right thing to do.  And you will be financially better for it.

The benefits of creating a Great Workplace cannot be more evident than when the economy turns south.  The U.S. and World economies are subject to cyclical movements in both positive and negative directions.  It is a given; there will be periods of growth and expansion, and conversely, there will be periods of restriction and conservation. We know with certainty that each cycle, and the period in-between, is coming.  Companies ride high during times of expansion, growth and spending, and hunker down during the slow, restricted and conservative economic periods.

Unfortunately, the companies who live in a short-term world and do not develop a long-term Great Workplace strategy will eventually succumb to the enemy of average and/or economic conditions.  At best, they are only prepared for economic high times.  The moment trouble comes, however, these ill-prepared organizations eventually close their doors.

On the other hand, companies who have conscientiously developed Great Workplaces where people thrive are prepared for both sides of economic weather conditions.  They ride the waves when they are high, taking advantage of all the good momentum.  And when economic conditions turn bad - and they will - companies with great work environments seem to ride out the storm in a calm and collected fashion; even picking up business from alternative sources, adding new clients, capturing untapped markets, pulling in revenues from varied sources and innovating their way out of an economic disturbance.

Why do companies with Great Workplaces survive economic storms?

The people inside Great Workplaces make the difference because their company truly cares for them by creating a sustainable, flourishing culture.  As a result, a majority of their energized employees are engaged and running on all cylinders.

The benefits of creating a Great Workplace are numerous.  As chairman of the board, CEO, business owner or start-up entrepreneur, the proven benefits of building a Great Workplace will likely make your company a powerful force even in the most difficult of times.  Why? The benefits of creating a Great Workplace have been researched and proven by the Great Place to Work Institute:

• Higher productivity
• Higher profitability
• Better customer satisfaction
• Lower staff turnover rates
• Greater number of applicants for open positions
• Attraction of the best and brightest talent
• Less resistance to change
• Lower health care costs
• Lower workers’ compensation costs
• Lower absenteeism rates
• Lower presenteeism rates
• Higher levels of cooperation
• Higher quality products and services
• Increased innovation and risk taking
• Higher returns to stockholders

When you build a winning team with a great work environment, employees will take care of business during both good and bad times. It is a winning formula for building a long-term, growing and profitable organization.

The Good News

It is never too late to begin the process of building a Great Workplace.  Any company can get there from where they are today as long as the top business leader is the one leading the charge.  It is better to invest your time and resources to develop a Great Workplace and survive an economic storm than to carelessly leave your company culture to chance and file Chapter 11 when the next storm blows in.

Edward R. Murrow, the famous American broadcaster depicted in the movie Good Night, and Good Luck once said, “The obscure we eventually see, the completely obvious takes longer.”  In your quest to building a successful company, do not assume the creation of a great work environment is complicated.  In fact, the steps are quite simple, if not completely obvious from a people practice perspective.

Company Culture Flows from the Top

In the people practice profession, there is the tendency to over-complicate work culture and how it impacts the bottom line.  The basic principles of a great work environment are quite straightforward, and rest entirely on the leadership’s shoulders.

One of the most important business strategy questions leaders can ask themselves is, “How do I create a great work environment that attracts, motivates and retains the best and brightest talent?”  You might be surprised the answer is not any of these; above market compensation, best in class benefits, top trends in office space design or technological superiority.  The answer is summed up in one, very important, highly-relational, powerful word: trust.

Definition of a Great Workplace

The Great Place to Work Institute, after twenty years of thorough research on the top high-performance companies in America, formulated their definition of a great workplace as a place where employees “trust the people they work for, have pride in what they do, and enjoy the people they work with.”

A leadership team who can be trusted by employees is well on its way from average performance to a great workplace where magic happens.  The good news is employees are not necessarily looking for expensive perks, like coffee bars, gyms, restaurants, game rooms, hair salons and spas, daycare, on-site doctors and nurses, media centers, theaters, dry cleaning, or concierge services.  Although these benefits are very nice options, they do not guarantee a great work environment.

When leaders sincerely care for their people and build an environment of trust, employees will believe in the company mission and develop respect for their co-workers.  Trust is like the secret ingredient found in Coke.  Without it, the recipe will not work.  Many have tried to copy great workplaces without trust and failed.  Without trust, the environment will not click, no matter how grandiose the company’s compensation, benefit and work/life programs.  It is amazing how creating an environment of trust, the missing ingredient in many average performing companies, will hasten the transformation of your company into a great workplace with the potential to outperform your competition many times over.

The Seven Leadership Principles

How does a leader create a great workplace through the simple ingredient of trust?  Robert Levering, founder of the Great Place to Work Institute, who has many years of experience researching successful companies, states there are seven principles leaders must follow to build and maintain trust in their organization:

#1 - Leaders share information. The leaders of great work environments are willing to share information with their entire workforce.  They are not afraid to provide employees of all levels important updates about the company’s status, whether financial, non-financial, positive or negative.  Withholding important company information drives a wedge between employees and leaders, creates misunderstandings, fear and distrust among employees who spend most of their waking hours at your place of business.  Since employees are investing their lives with you, isn’t it likely they deserve to know where the company has been, where it needs to go, how it’s performing and how their efforts make a difference?  Open up the internal information highway and you are well on your way to greatness.

#2 - Leaders are accessible. Leaders in great workplaces do not hide in their execu-caves.  Effective leaders get out of their offices and walk around and mingle with employees.  These same leaders allow employees to voice concerns without fear of reprisals or losing their jobs.  Many of the 100 Best Companies hold regular lunches with employees where leadership shares information, shows sincere concern for employees and listens to their concerns.  More importantly, leaders follow-up on employee concerns and improve the work environment with each interaction.

#3 - Leaders are willing to answer the hard questions. Trust is built when employees see leaders who are not afraid to stand up and field the hard questions.  Employees do not expect leaders to have all the answers, but develop strong trusting relationships with leaders who honestly state they do not have an answer but will respond at a later date.

#4 - Leaders emphasize two-way communication. Leaders who actively listen to employees concerns and engage in two-way communications earn the trust of employees.  Most management teams are good at sending communications or orders down the pipelines, but not necessarily comfortable with receiving feedback from their workforce.  Great workplaces have open, two-way channels of communication.

#5 - Leaders always deliver on their promises. Miss this one and you’re done.  Making a promise and not following through is like going thermal nuclear on your workplace; people get burned.  Employees want to know if leaders will deliver on their promises.  This includes the small things as well as the big things.  Treat your employees like your best customers and you should perform very well in this area.

#6 - Leaders show recognition and appreciation. Deep down employees crave recognition for a job well done.  Receiving recognition and appreciation is one of the biggest unmet needs employees have in today’s society.  Go ahead and make a big deal about employee and team accomplishments.  Brag on your employees in front of other employees  Then sit back and watch a special, positive, energizing, company culture develop in front of your eyes.

#7 - Leaders demonstrate sincere, personal concern. According to the most recent Towers Perrin Global Workforce Study, the number one driver leading to employee engagement is determined by whether senior management is sincerely interested in an employee’s well-being.  You can’t fake sincerity.  It shows in your attitude and other non-verbal clues.  If the leaders are not sincerely concerned for their employees as people, your best talent will likely move to a place where they are better appreciated.

Live by these leadership principles and your organization will soon be inundated with resumes from the best and brightest talent in your industry wanting to work for your organization.

* * * * * * *

This article was originally written for The Business Owner Journal and will appear in the November/December 2008 issue.

Do you know why patients sue their doctors? Poor bedside manner.  The manner in which doctors behave alongside their patients is the biggest predictor of future malpractice lawsuits.  A physician who treats a patient with respect and courtesy, along with open two-way communication, is unlikely to be sued, even if the doctor makes a mistake in a diagnosis or surgery.  A doctor with a toxic bedside manner who makes a similar mistake, however, should call his attorney and begin working on his defense.

In an effort to find quick, proven ways to predict the probability of malpractice lawsuits, an insurance company discovered a proven method in managing risk; quickly observe how doctors treat their patients. “Patients file lawsuits because they’ve been harmed by shoddy medical care and something else happens to them,” points out Malcolm Gladwell, author of “Blink,” a book on how we make instantaneous decisions without thinking.  These quick and perceptive judgments are quite accurate according Gladwell. The concept, called thin-slicing, is the ability of the unconscious mind to make precise judgments based upon thin slices of experience.

“What comes up again and again in malpractice cases is that patients say they were rushed or ignored or treated poorly,” says Gladwell. “People just don’t sue doctors they like,” states Alice Burkin, a leading medical malpractice lawyer.

This same concept is likely true for employers.  Companies who treat their employees with respect, dignity and fairness, earn the trust of their employees.  Employees typically will not file a lawsuit against an employer who has treated them well.  A company whose leaders have a poor cubicle-side manner, on the other hand, should make sure their liability insurance premium is paid and that they have a good labor attorney.

Toxic work environments create an atmosphere of fear, hatred, mistrust, contempt and brutal office politics. It is only a matter of time when these toxic company cultures begin springing up a crop of wrongful termination claims, sexual harassment charges, constructive discharge lawsuits, race discrimination allegations, unethical executive conduct investigations, insider trading reports by the press, and much, much more.

Pay attention to the signals, good and bad, displayed by your employer’s leadership.  Their cubicle-side manner could be foretelling the future.

CEO’s find the truth hard to handle at times.  Especially regarding employee relations issues, and their resulting effects on morale, quality and productivity.  For example, the CEO may have a hard time believing one of their top performers is a certifiable asshole who is damaging the company’s morale and causing a deterioration of trust in leadership.

The good news is there is a five step program for ridding your company of corporate assholes who have burrowed themselves inside your organization.

Step #1 - Admit assholes are bad for business. Recognize that assholes are bad for the organization. Yes, take that truth syrum and walk over from the dark side to the light.  Believe it or not, there are some CEO’s who think a few assholes scattered throughout the organization actually increase productivity. If this is the case, why not give those assholes some chains and whips to help their cause and instill greater fear.  If fear really works, why not increase the fear for greater effect? Nonsense!  You know it and I know it; assholes must be terminated.

Step #2 - Understand assholes are expert kiss-ups. Understand that assholes are masters at managing up, kissing up and brownnosing, all while causing terror down the corporate ladder.  While you are feeling good about your asshole, he is instilling fear in your organization. As the CEO, the asshole who is your direct report typically makes you feel good when you are around them.  It feels good to have your back end massaged by these clever manipulators.  They are experts at massaging your backside in order to protect theirs.

Step #3 - Adopt, model and promote your company’s code of conduct. I recommend your company also adopt an Anti-Bullying and No-Jerk policy.  Why?  The Workplace Bullying Institute and Zogby research indicate that 37% of American workers have been bullied at work.  That is almost 4 out of 10 employees.  Bullying is four times more prevalent than illegal harassment, yet most companies overlook it.  Because this has become such a prevalent workplace problem, a number of respectable companies have adoped No Jerk Hiring Policies:

“No Jerk Policy” Hall of Fame Companies

Barclays Capital | SPM Communications | Lloyd Gosselink Attorneys at Law

IDEO | Sterling Foundation Management | Gold’s Gym | van Aartrijk Group

Robert W. Baird | The Wine Buyer | Mozilla | Washington Mutual | SuccessFactors

Arup | Goldcorp | Hamilton Canada

Step #4 - Require thorough investigations and no cover-ups. Make sure human resources completely investigates claims of workplace bullying by corporate assholes.  The typical response will be for HR to conspire with or feel pressure from the asshole manager and eventually assist in the firing of the targeted employee or employees.  This allows the evidence to be terminated and walk out the front door.  In other words, assholes like to eliminate their dirty laundry.  Require HR to document the behavior, obtain witness accounts and submit a full written report to the CEO office.  Identify patterns of behavior and provide support to human resources when they recommend bullies and assholes undergo counseling.  Finally, terminate jerks if they don’t straighten up, regardless of their position in the company.

Step #5 - Communicate to stakeholders your company is a Jerk Free Zone. Communicate to employees, applicants and stakeholders your company is a Jerk Free Zone.  Don’t even permit customers to treat your employees terribly.  If you want to create a high-performance team environment, protect your employees.  Sure, develop lofty goals for your team members and create high performance expectations.  Driving out fear in the workplace will almost ensure your organization will be successful. Do this and success will follow you wherever you go.

Most American workers want to put in a good day’s work. There is a deep desire created in all people to be productive, creative, innovative, inventive, and to leave this world in a better condition. However, our American corporate culture is losing the battle for the hearts and minds of employees and has fallen far from the mark. Rather than working to win the hearts and minds of employees, corporations are driving a stake in the soul of the American worker.

After a two-year feasibility study, the non-profit organization Winning Workplaces identified in their Case Prospectus the cruel realities we face in our current work environment.

• The American workplace, a source of our nation’s strength, is also at the root of considerable burdens for many individuals, families and communities.
• Trust and respect in the workplace is breaking down, with less than 40% of employees believing or trusting their senior managers.
• Employees are feeling less control over their jobs.
• Opportunities are shrinking in the workplace.
• Employees are often forced to choose between work and family due to company demands.
• Workers are becoming more detached from their employers due to globalization and outsourcing.
• Work is dominating the life of the American worker.
• Employees spend, on average, 46 hours a week on their job, not counting time online at home or linked to a BlackBerry away from the office at night or on weekends.
• When jobs are satisfying and challenging, it invigorates employees in other areas of their lives.
• When the workplace deflates, frustrates and demeans people, workers are robbed of their energy and desires needed to optimize performance as spouses, parents and citizens.
• Up to 66% of employees say they regularly experience high levels of stress on the job, a significant and growing public health concern leading to drug abuse, mental health problems, accidents and absenteeism.

There is no better time than today to help companies create great workplaces.

Our citizens need great workplaces to be fully productive. Our children need their parents to work in physically and mentally healthy work environments to prevent toxic workplace residue from coming home. Our society needs great workplaces to reap the rewards of successful employees and organizations. Non-profit organizations benefit from the increased volunteerism that happens as a result of great work environments. The health of our nation depends on the creation of great workplaces where employees are treated respectfully. And business owners need great workplaces to survive global competition and enjoy long-term financial success.

Organizations where the employees have identified their workplace as a great place to work are far superior economically and socially. The Great Place to Work Institute has shown in its research it pays to provide a great workplace.

Win the hearts and minds of your employees and you will outperform your competition and increase the return to your shareholders.

There is an erroneous business idea that one must be edgy, short-tempered and tough to get things done. Here’s a news flash for those who have operated under this paradigm; jerks are out - nice people are in. Toxic workplaces are out - great places to work are in.

For a business to enjoy long-term financial success, leaders and employees must restrict their inner evil desire to beat people down in order to lift their egos up. Long-term success is derived from treating people kindly and respectfully. Work with others the way in which you want to be treated. We have known this truth since grade school but some difficult personality types have suppressed this right way to live and work.

I won’t return to a hotel where the staff is rude. Although I usually stay at a hotel for only one or two nights, I will not go back if one employee is rude to me. Yes, one employee!

A restaurant can have the best food in the city but if their employees are edgy or rude, I won’t go back. I don’t need the aggravation.

We avoid cranky people in the service business. How about when you are looking for an employer? When you are interviewing, researching and selecting a new employer, you may work for the company ten years! You want to know if that place is filled with friendly or angry people, don’t you?

In the very near future, it will be common for employees to avoid companies whose leaders and/or staff are rude. Toxic work environments will be measured and reported online. The dirty secrets that companies used to conceal will soon become public knowledge.

The work climate is changing in a positive manner because great workplaces are part of a healthy workplace component. Employee productivity is directly tied to environmental factors, including the toxicity of the culture. In the near future, jerks will find themselves out of business or unemployed.

Before going on vacation, my wife researches hotels and resorts by utilizing www.tripadvisor.com. This valuable site rates a destination’s hotels, from best to worst. The site provides actual guest photos and comments. The site has saved us from bad properties a number of times. It prevents us from selecting the wrong hotel. In many cases, TripAdvisor.com has helped us select the best hotel.

Similarly, in the distant future, job applicants will likely be granted access to a website that rates employers from best to worst. Why? The best employers need a place where their excellent qualities can be showcased. Companies who employ bullies and tyrants need to be made public so the best people don’t take positions in toxic work environments.

This will be a win-win situation. Great workplaces will win by showcasing the actual work experience of their employees. Employees will win by having the tools to prevent a job change to a toxic work environment.

Before taking a position with a new company, how does one avoid a toxic company culture? Applicants are well within their rights to interview current employees to obtain honest feedback on the company culture. If you are not allowed to interview existing employees of your choice, this could be a sign your future employer is hiding a toxic workplace. For those in the job market, the following are potential clues a workplace has a noxious work environment.

• Employees are not allowed to voice their honest opinion on workplace issues.
• Employees fall in or out of leadership’s favor without explanation, and as a result, are included or excluded from company events, projects or meetings.
• Employees with opposing viewpoints are not welcomed visitors to the executive suite.
• Employees are fired without warning or explanation, nor are they given the opportunity to address the real issues leading to their departure.
• Receptionists and assistants tend to be beautiful, attractive eye-candy for chauvinistic executives.
• Overweight people are routinely urged by leadership to exercise and made to feel inferior to their slender coworkers and leaders.
• Employees are expected to assume heavier workloads and work excessive overtime while legitimate requests for headcount increases are denied, all while the company is promoting the importance of work/life balance.
• Employees with excellent reputations are abruptly fired or transferred because their performance is suddenly unsatisfactory.
• The human resources department is viewed by leadership as an administrative function or transaction facilitator rather than a partner in developing great people and work environments.
• The human resources department merely follows orders from leadership and is afraid to question company practices.
• Rude behavior is routinely allowed.
• Employees who treat people with trust and respect are considered weak and not management material.
• Tough, no-nonsense supervisory behavior is rewarded.
• Executives are assigned reserved parking spaces.
• The CEO and his/her executive team rarely walk around the office to visit with employees.
• Company information or news is not consistently shared with the entire workforce.
• Employees routinely read breaking news about their company in the local newspaper or online news services rather than from internal company publications.
• Press releases are distributed to public media outlets prior to employee distribution.
• Political views of the leaders are expressed to employees, and the employees are expected to blindly support and/or vote for those causes.
• Executives have their own restrooms.
• The company has a code of conduct policy but does not provide regular training to leaders or employees.
• Employees are expected to intuitively know what is expected from them without explanation and can be disciplined for not following these unwritten rules of conduct or performance.
• Employees who raise legitimate company issues are summarily terminated without cause.
• Executives hire C-level and professional staff outside the approved recruiting process and do not carefully consider the recruit’s management style or their potential impact on company culture.

Anyone can have a bad day and lash out at a coworker. Civilized people will later apologize for their poor behavior. On the other hand, there are certifiably rude people in corporate America who have made incivility, rudeness and verbal abuse a way of life in business. The companies who employ these violent neanderthals in business suits should beware of their negative consequences.

In a recent behavioral study reported by Harvard Business Review, it was determined that workers on the receiving end of verbal abuse became impaired in their ability to perform tasks. According to researchers, “their studies indicate that after exposure to rudeness, people think hard about the incident—whether just ruminating or trying to formulate a response—and those thought processes take cognitive resources away from other tasks.”

“The mere thought of being on the receiving end of verbal abuse hurts people’s ability to perform complex tasks requiring creativity, flexibility, and memory recall,” according to Christine Porath of the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business and Amir Erez of the Warrington College of Business Administration at the University of Florida.

The study also found the environmental impact of rudeness to be very profound and overreaching to even those outside the receiving end of the abuse. Researchers stated, “Verbal abuse affects more than just those who experience it directly; it apparently can harm innocent bystanders.”

If you want your company culture to deteriorate with increasing doses of fear, risk aversion, inability to make decisions, and lack of communication, employ or promote rude people. In other words, trying to create a great workplace while employing rude people is a recipe for failure.

It is common for business leaders to allow executives, rainmakers, and movers and shakers to behave in a rude manner, including verbal and psychological abuse. Leaders falsely believe the rude rainmaker’s contributions overcompensate for the toxic venom they spew in the office. Some mistaken leaders believe a toxic tyrant’s abuse causes employees to work harder.

Do you want to build an energized, profitable and high-performance organization? Require your leaders to take a stand against rude behavior. At times doing the right thing is difficult—it calls for strength of character—but it brings great rewards. The CEO must weed out abusive employees no matter their position in the organization. By doing so, the organization can return to an environment conducive to creativity, flexibility, productivity and profitability.