The Corporate Asshole: A Human Resource Time Bomb

Filed in archive Human Resources on June 12, 2007

Also called the office bully, teaser, or nuisance a Harvard Business Review essay says that assholes affect the health of employees and affect the ability of the business to perform. With Human Resources so scarce restraining your 'inner jerk' is a good idea.

In a landmark Harvard Business Review essay, Stanford Professor Robert Sutton showed how assholes weren't just an office nuisance, but a serious and costly threat to corporate success and employee health. In his new book, Sutton reveals the huge TCA (Total Cost of Assholes) in today's corporations. He shows how to spot an asshole (hint: they are addicted to rude interruptions and subtle putdowns, and enjoy using "sarcastic jokes" and "teasing" as "insult delivery systems"), and provides a "self-test" to determine whether you deserve to be branded as a "certified asshole." And he offers tips that you can use to keep your "inner jerk" from rearing its ugly head. Via Human Resource Executive Online by way of BNET

To see how you rate, take the test then read the Bad Blood article. You might also want to buy the book, The No Asshole Rule or better yet ask someone to buy it for you as a gift. Hah!