Working with monsters: counting the costs of workplace psychopaths and other toxic employees

Rebecca T. Michalak and Neal M. Ashkanasy

Accounting and Finance, 2020, vol. 60, issue S1, 729-770

Abstract: We explore the role of ‘Workplace Monsters’ in the global burden of disease, including the $US1.15 trillion annual cost of depressive and anxiety disorders. We propose the productivity drain created by these individuals is a wicked problem, integrating several disciplines to position workplace monsters as significant corporate governance issues for organisations. Our discussion covers Monster prevalence, impacts on fellow workers and estimates of the costs incurred to business. We classify Monsters as ‘appreciating liabilities’ and call for future research to develop means of accounting for their inherent organisational costs in an effort to prompt action to address their destructive impacts.

Date: 2020
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