Employment lawyer shares insights on managing high performers who damage workplace culture
A recent American Psychological Association work survey reveals a troubling reality: 15% of employees consider their workplace “toxic,” while nearly three out of five respondents say their employers overestimate the mental healthiness of their work environments.
This workplace toxicity often stems from challenging dynamics, with some high-performing employees exhibiting these problematic behaviors. While they drive value through their achievements, their conduct can damage team morale and expose companies to legal risks.
As awareness of workplace mental health grows and movements like #MeToo reshape professional standards, companies must weigh the benefits of retaining top talent against the costs of tolerating toxic behavior.
"Unfortunately, there are some ‘toxic’ high performers who think that they are the ‘hottest shot’ around, and that the company cannot survive without them," says Zhao Yang Ng (pictured), a local principal in the employment practice group of Baker McKenzie Wong & Leow in Singapore.
"And as a result, they start to act like they’re bigger than the company, or the teams that they work in, and they attribute in their minds [all of] their successes to themselves, without thinking and without realizing that… it's a team effort."
Management's response often compounds the problem.
"In the neutral scenario, the manager basically buries their head in the sand and hopes it will go away. In the worst example, the manager actively encourages it because they believe they had to keep this high performer happy above everything else," Ng explains.
Power dynamics require special consideration in senior-level investigations. In one case, Ng's team investigated a C-suite executive after complaints about public berating of employees.
"The complainant said that this C-suite person was unnecessarily harsh, and what she would do is berate employees, not in a private space, but rather in an open space office... where people around them could hear whatever she said."
"Because she was really at the C-suite level, it was just not practical to investigate internally," Ng says: “The disparity in power caused things to be difficult.”
"And the complainant had doubts as to whether this would be taken seriously, because this person is at C-suite, and best friends with top management people."
In such cases, engaging third-party investigators helps ensure objectivity. When they asked this C-suite employee why she felt it was appropriate to do this in an open space, he says: "She defended her actions as ‘This is not harassment’... ‘If something is done wrong, I will say it as it is.’"
The investigation highlighted how senior leaders must hold themselves to higher standards.
"And in that case, someone with 30 years of experience should know that if you're going to have a harsh conversation with someone, bring that person into a private area, have that private conversation, instead of humiliating the individual in an open space," Ng adds. "The more senior [you are], the more aware you need to be of your responsibilities as a leader and a good corporate citizen."
Ng emphasizes prevention through clear policies and regular training.
"What I always tell HR and legal [is] to work together [and] to ensure that you do training on a regular basis, to educate the employees about what is acceptable and not acceptable, especially in the changing norms of the workplace these days," he advises.
Training should explicitly reference company policies: "Please refer to your code of conduct or your other workplace policies when you do this training. Because, let's face it, most of the folks probably wouldn't think about the code until it becomes an issue."
"Companies should establish clear reporting channels," Ng says.
"You should have a hotline in place for employees to share their grievances in a safe environment, and encourage them to use it, without fear of retaliation."
He adds that some organizations even create "a positive obligation to report" toxic behavior.
Employment contracts also need robust termination clauses. "The most important advice I will give is to make sure that the termination clause is well drafted, and there’s specific cause for termination," Ng says.
"Misconduct should be very clear as to what kind of misconduct it may be... we normally typically state very clearly that [it] means breaching the code of conduct."
When investigating complaints, following proper process is crucial: "Investigation must be done properly. It can't be just, 'Oh, I heard overheard someone at the water cooler,'" Ng explains.
"Before using the nuclear option, you need to make sure that you have done your due diligence... following [the] standards of natural justice."
This includes interviewing witnesses and giving the employee a chance to respond, he says: "You should also give the chance, after you [present] the findings, for the employee to properly explain and defend themselves."
Social media has amplified the stakes of workplace conflicts. Ng recalls another case where, after one unsatisfactory investigation, an employee went to LinkedIn, and named everyone. Ng notes this is particularly common with younger employees who "are very open about sharing their lives on social media.”
He also reminds employers that legal liability extends beyond traditional workplace safety.
"The traditional idea of workplace safety before was to have no flammable materials, no slippery floors," Ng notes. "But it's come to be taken to be safe from a mental perspective as well... Your employees could argue that their mental health has been affected... You can be held responsible if you did not do anything."
The emphasis on values reflects a fundamental principle. "I think it's uncontroversial to say that we should be respectful to your fellow man," Ng notes.
"[Employers] do place a lot of emphasis on values these days," he says, "If you're not having the right values, you're not going to be able to contribute properly to the company. So, no matter how much of a top performer you may be, it's just not worth the negative impact that you would have in the workplace."
This perspective represents a crucial shift in how organizations view the relationship between performance and behavior – one that prioritizes sustainable, healthy workplace cultures over short-term business results.
As workplace standards evolve, particularly in what Ng describes as a “collectivist business culture” in Asian societies, companies have increasingly recognized that no level of performance justifies behavior that damages team dynamics and organizational health.
