In the workplace, most people choose to get along with one another to achieve the mission of the business.

They choose their battles, work through significant differences, communicate, and do what it takes to achieve goals.

What happens if you have a team member who cannot get along with others? One who refuses to cooperate? Perhaps one who is good at manipulation? One who purposefully stirs the pot? Or maybe one who treats others poorly, stealing their ideas and talking down to and about them?

Many of us can identify a person like that. Either someone we work with now or have worked with in the past. Maybe you are that person (it’s not likely you’re aware of it or will admit it, though).

One of the things I have worked with several of my clients on (and expect to into the future) is what I refer to as the toxic employee.

In most cases, that person is decent or even excellent at his or her job duties. It is his or her inability to get along with others, his or her negative attitude, his or her poor treatment of others, and other negative people-related behaviors that makes him or her toxic.

My recommendation to my clients regarding a toxic employee continues to be to part ways with him or her. After all honest mentoring and coaching attempts have been exhausted, there is not a single reason why a toxic person should stay employed in the role in which he or she is being toxic.

That’s a strong statement, and some will view it as harsh. But I’m OK with that, because being direct is necessary, sometimes, even if it is harsh.

The biggest reason I stand behind parting ways with that employee is to end the negative impact he or she is having on other employees. Good leaders would never allow one person to mistreat, abuse, speak down to, or impact others with any other sort of negative behaviors.

The excuse for keeping the toxic employee is often one of two. First, the business is already short-staffed and can’t afford to lose anyone else, because the business cannot find anyone else to work. Second, business leaders feel bad letting someone go, especially if the employee has been there a long time.

Let’s look at the second excuse first.

When it is time to terminate someone from a position, the reality is that that person has already decided his or her own future. It is not easy to fire someone, but if you have done all you can to help an employee get where they need to be and he or she still refuses to get on board, that should make the decision to terminate quite easy. Turning a blind eye to bad behavior so you don’t have to deal with it does not make it go away.

The first excuse is less straightforward.

In nearly every circumstance I’ve seen, when the toxic behavior is gone, the rest of the team steps up in big ways because they don’t have the constant negativity hanging around. I’ve seen instances in which leaders realize they don’t even need to fill that empty position because it was absorbed by others who became more productive and better utilized their time once the toxicity was eliminated. A lot of mental energy is spent (productive brain power lost) on anxiety over a toxic coworker.

Recruiting also becomes easier when toxicity is gone. If that position still needs to be filled, it becomes easier to find someone through referrals — and that’s where the best employees come from. Current employees won’t refer someone they care about to work in a place where they feel miserable. Once the toxic person is gone, employees are more likely to refer someone to the role.

Another perspective is the impact on society when we allow negative behaviors to continue.

If truly toxic people were let go from their positions, it would give them the opportunity for personal growth. By keeping them around, there is zero accountability, and their negative actions will continue.

Even if you attempt to discipline them for their behavior, if they are allowed to continue working on the team, they won’t see a need to change. Nothing was painful enough to force change.

I say all of that with the assumption that the organization is doing things ethically, with sound judgement and realistic expectations. Of course, there are always outliers.

Stop letting toxic behaviors continue. Justified termination is not evil. Hard boundaries are necessary.

Toxicity must go, or it will eventually bring everyone down with it.

Accountability is increasingly becoming a thing of the past. Parting ways with a toxic team member is one step in bringing accountability back and it will help the organization, and, over time, society, as well.

Jackie Krawczak is president of Jackie Krawczak LLC. Her column runs every three weeks on Thursdays. Follow Jackie on Twitter @jkrawczak.