The Ravana in the room: Ten workplace behaviours HR should stop tolerating

Every Dussehra, Ravana takes centre stage, towering above crowds before going up in flames. It is a satisfying spectacle, complete with the fireworks, the cheers and the familiar reminder of good triumphing over evil.

But what if the Ravana in your workplace does not have ten heads, a grand effigy or a dramatic entrance? What if it is the manager who takes credit for your work, the colleague who withholds information to make you stumble, or the high performer whose behaviour everyone excuses because they bring in the business?

Welcome to the corporate version of the festival, where the villains are less obvious, the damage can be harder to spot and the bonfire is usually missing.

For HR leaders, Dussehra offers a playful but pointed question: which workplace behaviours have we been tolerating for far too long, and why?

Meet the ten heads of workplace Ravana

Workplace toxicity rarely arrives wearing a villain's costume. It often slips into everyday conversations, team meetings, performance reviews and seemingly harmless office politics.

Some behaviours are loud and unmistakable. Others hide behind professional language, impressive designations or the familiar excuse of getting the job done.

Here are ten workplace habits that deserve a closer look this festive season.

1. Credit chori: The colleague who presents your work as their own

You did the research, stayed late to finish the presentation and worked through three rounds of revisions. Come the leadership meeting, someone else presents it as their achievement.

Credit theft can leave employees feeling invisible, while blame shifting ensures they remain visible for all the wrong reasons when something goes wrong. Recognition should follow contribution, not proximity to the most senior person in the room.

2. Gaslighting: When a simple conversation becomes a memory test

“That's not what I said.” “You must have misunderstood.” “We never agreed to that.”

An occasional disagreement over what was discussed is normal. Repeatedly denying conversations, distorting agreements or making colleagues doubt their recollection is a different matter. When employees cannot trust what happens in workplace conversations, confidence and professional relationships can suffer.

3. The brilliant jerk: Great numbers, terrible manners

Every organisation has people who deliver exceptional results. The trouble begins when their performance becomes a free pass for disrespectful conduct.

The star performer who humiliates colleagues, intimidates junior employees or repeatedly crosses behavioural boundaries may still receive applause for meeting targets. Meanwhile, everyone else learns an uncomfortable lesson: results matter, but respect apparently comes with conditions.

4. Micromanagement: Because apparently, even breathing needs approval

A routine email needs three approvals. A small decision requires a calendar invitation. A task assigned to an experienced professional comes with instructions for every click.

Micromanagement can turn capable employees into permission seekers. Accountability matters, but so does trusting people to exercise judgement within clear responsibilities. If every minor decision must travel upwards, the problem may not be the employee's competence.

5. Weaponised incompetence: The art of making someone else do it

One person repeatedly delivers incomplete work, avoids responsibilities or claims they cannot handle tasks others routinely manage. Eventually, a reliable colleague steps in because the deadline cannot wait.

When this pattern continues unchecked, dependable employees can end up carrying a disproportionate workload. Managers need to distinguish genuine skill gaps or capacity constraints from repeated avoidance, then address the underlying problem rather than rewarding the person who keeps rescuing the situation.

6. Office politics: The unofficial sport nobody admits playing

A little workplace disagreement is inevitable. But information hoarding, exclusionary cliques, malicious gossip and deliberate attempts to undermine colleagues can turn collaboration into a contest of influence.

The danger is not that colleagues have different opinions. It is when informal networks determine who gets information, recognition and opportunities, leaving others struggling to contribute on equal terms.

7. The blame-shifting champion: Accountability, but only for other people

When a project succeeds, the achievement belongs to one person. When it fails, suddenly there are several suspects.

Repeatedly avoiding responsibility makes it harder for teams to learn from mistakes. Healthy accountability means acknowledging one's contribution, explaining what went wrong and helping resolve the problem instead of organising an elaborate search for someone else to blame.

8. The workplace bully: Seniority is not a personality upgrade

Public humiliation, threats, personal insults and intimidation do not become acceptable because they come from someone with an impressive title.

Employees should be able to raise concerns and perform their work without fear of abusive treatment. Organisations need clear standards for respectful conduct, accessible reporting channels and fair processes for addressing complaints.

9. The exclusion expert: Everyone is invited, except when it matters

The meeting happens, but one colleague is left out. The decision is made, but the person responsible for implementing it never receives the information. The team celebrates together, while certain employees are repeatedly kept at the margins.

Not every omission is deliberate. But recurring exclusion deserves attention, especially when it affects employees' ability to contribute, access opportunities or feel part of the team.

10. The chronic excuse-maker: Deadlines are suggestions, apparently

One missed deadline can happen to anyone. Repeatedly missing commitments without communication, preparation or accountability creates a different problem.

When colleagues constantly have to finish someone else's work, resentment can build and team capacity can suffer. Managers should examine the reasons behind recurring delays, whether they involve unclear priorities, insufficient skills, unrealistic workloads or a persistent failure to meet responsibilities.

Why does workplace Ravana keep getting invited back?

If these behaviours are so damaging, why do they survive inside organisations?

Sometimes, the person responsible delivers results that leaders do not want to lose. Sometimes, managers lack the confidence or skills to address difficult conduct. In other cases, employees remain silent because they fear retaliation or believe reporting a concern will change very little.

There is also a familiar organisational contradiction: companies may celebrate collaboration, integrity and inclusion in their values statements while overlooking behaviour that contradicts those principles.

The real test of workplace culture is not whether an organisation has a code of conduct, but whether people see its standards applied consistently.

A junior employee and a senior leader should be held to the same behavioural expectations, with appropriate consideration of the circumstances and evidence. Performance should not automatically shield anyone from scrutiny.

HR's festive clean-up list

Before reaching for the metaphorical matchstick, HR leaders need more than a list of behaviours to condemn. They need practical ways to recognise recurring problems, respond fairly and prevent the same patterns from returning.

Here is where organisations can begin:

• Make the 'how' count: Performance reviews should consider how employees achieve results, including collaboration, accountability, respectful conduct and people management.

• Train managers to manage people: Technical expertise does not automatically prepare someone to handle conflict, give feedback or lead a team. Manager development should address these responsibilities directly.

• Make speaking up safer: Employees need clear reporting channels and confidence that concerns will receive appropriate attention without retaliation.

• Stop giving star performers a free pass: Apply behavioural standards consistently, regardless of designation, revenue contribution or seniority.

• Look for patterns, not office gossip: Review credible complaints, recurring team conflicts and feedback about management practices. Investigate concerns fairly rather than relying on labels or hearsay.

• Know when coaching is not enough: Some issues call for clearer expectations and development; substantiated serious misconduct may require formal disciplinary action.

The goal is not to create an office where nobody disagrees, makes mistakes or has a difficult day. It is to build a workplace where people can challenge ideas, learn from setbacks and treat colleagues with basic professional respect.

This Dussehra, let the bad habits burn

Of course, workplace culture cannot be transformed in a single festive afternoon. Nor can every difficult colleague be neatly assigned a Ravana head and sent towards the nearest bonfire.

The metaphor works best as a prompt for honest reflection. Which behaviours do managers overlook because confrontation feels inconvenient? Which employees carry extra work because someone else repeatedly avoids responsibility? And where do organisational values disappear when business pressure rises?

For HR, the opportunity lies in turning those questions into meaningful action, from better managerial training and fairer performance assessments to credible reporting mechanisms and consistent accountability.

This Dussehra, perhaps the most useful corporate ritual is not naming ten workplace villains. It is deciding which behaviours will no longer receive a free pass. The fireworks may last an evening, but the culture employees experience every day is built through the choices organisations make long after the celebrations end.