Recently in the Wall Street Journal Robert Sutton highlighted the destructive influence of a few bad characters on an organization’s entire corporate culture. According to Sutton, “Leaders who let a few bad apples in the door—perhaps in exchange for political favors—or look the other way when employees are rude or incompetent are setting the stage for even their most skilled people to fail.” Studies have shown that having even one slacker in a group can bring down the entire group’s performance 30% to 40%.

While it is of course best to screen for jerks in the hiring process, it is critical to ensure that the culture knows how to isolate the bad apples. Like a healthy immune system, a healthy culture can surround the bad actor and generate clear messages that the “bad apple” behavior is the exception, and not the rule.

The challenge for organizations is to be able to articulate just what is positive behavior. Organizations that are not self-aware cannot take the specific steps needed to isolate the unacceptable behavior.