1 in 10 workplaces have a psychopath!

Don’t you love the shock headlines. The Dom Post reports:

Look around you at work – that annoying habit of your workmate could be the telltale sign of a psychopath in your midst.

Up to one in 10 workplaces “harbour a psychopathically oriented worker”, according to Giles Burch, a psychologist and senior lecturer in management from Auckland University.

A psychopath displays antisocial behaviour and a chronic disregard for ethical principles.

Wow we had a few of them at Parliament 🙂

Dr Burch points to character traits such as superficial charm, an inflated sense of self-worth, pathological lying, cunning, manipulation, lack of remorse or empathy and a sense of impulsive non-conformism.

These individuals were capable of functioning within normal society but psychotic traits showed up in victimising workmates with their “dark side”, he said.

His research shows psychopaths create “toxic” workplaces rife with bullying, manipulation, sexual harassment, lying and fiddling the books. “We all come across people at work from time to time who are difficult, devious and troublesome,” Dr Burch said.

My motto: fight fire with fire 🙂

Jason Walker, managing director of Hays Specialist Recruitment, said the ability of staff to work well together was increasingly important to businesses. The best way to avoid hiring psychopaths was to use behavioural questions in interviews such as asking for examples of teamwork then checking those with referees.

Psychometric testing is also on the rise for mid and top-level roles.

Post in comments your suggested questions to weed out psychopaths!