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

We explore the role of u0027Workplace Monstersu0027 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 u0027appreciating liabilitiesu0027 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. Accounting and Finance