Is a Jerk-Free Workplace Truly Possible? 10 and a Half Keys to a Happier, Less Jerk-Filled Workplace
Since the release of my latest book, The Jerk-Free Workplace: How You Can Take the Lead to Create a Happier, More Inspiring Workplace, the #1 question I have been asked is this: Is a jerk-free workplace realistic? Is it even possible?
Of course it is!
And given the enormous toll and costs associated with work jerks, aiming for a jerk-free workplace is definitely a worthwhile goal! Here are 10 and a half ways to move toward a jerk-free workplace.
10 Ways to Create a Jerk-Free Workplace
Ever since the release of my wildly popular book, The Jerk-Free Workplace: How You Can Take the Lead to Create a Happier, More Inspiring Workplace, the number one question I’ve been asked by journalists is this, “Is it really possible to create a jerk-free workplace? Isn’t that a pipe dream? What have you been smoking?”
Okay, nobody asked me that question, but it was implied I think in their tone.
Of course, I think it’s possible or I wouldn’t have written the book!
In fact, I’ve seen jerk-free workplaces in my travels around the world researching inspiring workplaces. And if you don’t think it’s possible, we might as well give up right now because you’re giving up before you even started.
It’s a pretty important goal and a worthwhile goal to aim for a jerk-free workplace because we know from so much research that jerks are costing you a lot of money, a lot of stress, and they are demoralizing everyone in your workplace. So, we better be aiming for a jerk-free workplace because life is too short to work in a soul-sucking, fund-sucking, jerk-filled workplace!
And let’s be honest: If you have jerks in your workplace, it’s because they’re tolerated! You put up with them, or worse, you reward them for their behaviors, and that’s why they behave like jerks! Your culture is only as good as the lowest common denominator behaviors that you tolerate. So let’s make it a goal. Let’s make it our primary mission in any workplace to create a rocking, inspiring, fun, jerk-free workplace.
Here are 10 and a half ideas on how to do just that.
#1. Don’t hire jerks to begin with. That’s a pretty good starting point! Many companies around the world embrace some sort of motto along the lines of “we do not hire brilliant jerks. We don’t care how smart you are, how great you look on paper. If you’re a jerk, we’re not going to hire you. You are not welcome here.”
And you need to send that message through your hiring practices and how you promote and how you recruit employees. You need to make it crystal clear the kind of employee you are looking for in terms of their attitude, but also spell out what you aren’t looking for. Make it fun, make it conversational, but include it on your website, “Hey, we are not interested in jerks! If you fit any of the following criteria, please take your services somewhere else!”
#2. Onboard and train employees with a jerk-free workplace in mind. You’ve got to set the expectations right from day one that you’re a jerk-free workplace and this is what you mean by it. And you’ve got to, just like with any other value, make it a line in the sand so that all your employees are aware that this isn’t just some unattainable goal, some namby-pamby thing you put on a poster. This is a line in the sand and you’re going to hold employees accountable for their behaviors, for their attitudes. (For great ideas on this front, check out my book Hire, Inspire and Fuel Their Fire).
#3. Define what you mean by “jerk.” It stands to reason if you’re not going to hire jerks and you’re going to train people on not being a jerk at work, that you probably should know what 
you’re talking about when you use the term ‘jerk.’
So talk about it in an open way. What does it mean to be a jerk in your workplace? Define it. Define it in a fun way but bring it to life with stories and through examples. There’s over 50 synonyms, as I point out in my book, for the term jerk. So explain what a jerk is in your workplace, but also again, define what it doesn’t mean. That could be just as important. After all, is it jerk-like behavior if I disagree with your idea passionately in a meeting? Well, I would hope not because if we want to get the best possible ideas in our meetings, then I have to be able to express myself. And sometimes I get a little passionate. That doesn’t make me a jerk!
So, define what jerk-like behavior looks like and what it doesn’t mean to be a jerk.
#4. What if YOU are the jerk? I talk about this a lot in the book, always take the position, “What if I’m the jerk!?”
Because it starts with us, right? It’s the old joke: If one of the three of you is a jerk and you look to your right and you look to your left and they aren’t jerks, maybe it’s you! So as a starting point, ask that tough question, “What if I’m the jerk? Or what if some of the behavior behaviors I’m doing in the workplace are kind of jerk-like and I’m just not even aware of it?”
#5. Share surveys and top-10 lists. A safe way to talk about some of the jerk-like behaviors that people might be engaging in at your workplace is to share those top-10 lists of the top-10 things that drive people nuts in the office. Share surveys. Do your own surveys and share them. Share them in meetings, share them on your internet site, via email, or on a bulletin board. Keep sharing them! It becomes a really safe way to raise awareness without having to single anyone out.
#6. Coach the jerks. You’re going to have to at some point coach the jerks. You’re going to have to help educate them on what jerk-like behavior is and what maybe they’re doing that is contributing to a jerk-like workplace.
#7. Encourage honest feedback. Related to coaching one another on jerk-like behavior is this: you really need to intentionally foster an environment that encourages everyone to both give and just as importantly, receive honest feedback from everyone, which means you need to train everyone on how to give and receive honest feedback. It doesn’t work if you just open up the barn doors and say, “Okay, everyone, start being honest with each other.” That can lead to a few issues. So, make sure everyone is trained and coached in how to conduct challenging, honest conversations, and how to give and how to accept feedback from their co-workers.
#8. Hold regular good neighbor meetings, where you talk about what are some of the positive behaviors that everyone needs to remember to do at work? What are some of the positive examples of how people have behaved in your workplace? Raise awareness in an incredibly positive, constructive way during a good neighbor meeting, because really when we talk about not being a jerk at work, it’s about just being a good neighbor to the rest of your co-workers.
#9. Use the “wheel of change” formula to have this conversation about jerk-like behavior where you frame it around that topic of what you need to do to reduce jerk-like behavior at work:
“What is one thing we all need to keep doing that will help us keep jerk-like behavior at a minimum?”
“What is one thing we maybe need to start doing?
“What is one thing we need to stop doing?”
“What is one thing we need to all learn to live with if we are going to continue towards creating a jerk-free workplace?”
#10. Up the fun factor. Because I’m all about the humor at work and the fun, I have to say it: infuse your workplace with a lot of humor and fun! Humor is the enemy of jerkiness behavior, humor and fun can help squash that jerk-like behavior. You can smother out the jerks if you get enough positive energy and humor and fun infused into your workplace.
And I did say there were 10 and a half ideas. So here is my half idea:
Buy my book!
In fact, buy a copy of The Jerk-Free Workplace for everyone on your team because it’s packed with ideas on how everyone can step up as a leader, how everyone can not just stop behaving like a jerk, but more importantly, how everyone – starting with you – can step up and take more of a leadership role on your team.
And what about you? What has worked for you in your workplace on your team to create a jerk-free work environment? I would love to hear your comments on this topic. Please leave a comment in the comments below. And as always, if you liked the video, please hit the like button. If you haven’t subscribed yet to my Inspiring Workplace YouTube Channel where we talk about inspiring, rocking workplaces that are jerk-free, then please hit the subscribe button and join our growing community.
And until next time, I wish you a jerk-free day!
Michael Kerr is a Canadian Hall of Fame speaker and the author of 8 books, including The Humor Advantage, Hire, Inspire, and Fuel Their Fire, and The Jerk-Free Workplace.
