Strategies To Prevent Toxic Work Culture

Loud quitting, quiet quitting and great resignation have all emerged as more than trends. I see these phenomena as an indication of a bigger problem: our current work culture—more precisely, toxic work culture.

There are numerous things that may contribute to creating a toxic workplace culture, but I want to focus on how toxic workplace culture is preventable. It is better to create a culture that doesn’t let toxicity brew than wait for things to turn bad and plan remedial measures that may or may not work.

We generally trapped in ABCD' culture from top to bottom.... A means Avoid, B-Bypass, C-Confuse, D-Delay. Our efforts should be move from this culture to ROAD' where R stands for Responsibility, O-Ownership, A-Accountability, D-Discipline.

A toxic workplace isn’t just a toxic coworker or a bad day at work. It’s how the entire organization functions. And this is why sometimes it’s hard to spot a toxic work culture and even harder for employees to speak up.

According to Survey, 49% of surveyed employees in the tech industry said they don’t do or say anything because they think it won’t make a difference or because they’re afraid of the consequences. Also,”45% of employees in toxic tech companies say that leadership is unaware of the toxicity and lives in a bubble, thinking the company culture is healthy.”

No matter how committed your people are to your organization when facing a toxic work culture, they will most likely end up saying nothing. And this will result in feelings of frustration, stress, discomfort, and burnout which will lead them to quiet quitting - or actual quitting.

Provide Employee Training

The structure and success of an organization depend on how well its vision, mission and values are structured. However, with each new employee joining the organization, it is imperative that there are structured onboarding and training sessions to help them understand the culture and their responsibilities. This accountability should combine both technical skills and behavioral competence.

It is important to have an employee handbook that reflects your company's culture and philosophy. This handbook can act as a guide for your employees to understand what is expected of them and the people around them. Increased self-awareness and self-management go a long way in helping employees—from top to bottom—maintain a conducive work culture.

Prioritize Well-Being With Performance

It is natural to expect employees to prioritize their work and work-related responsibilities within a work environment. However, it is important that your organization also encourages a system with an appropriate focus on employee well-being as well. This includes qualities of social awareness and social management.

One of the most effective ways to do this is to enable a feedback mechanism for identifying toxic team members, managers and leaders. You can use employee engagement and 360-degree assessment tools to get feedback about the working conditions and work culture within the organization. Clear, two-way communication between the employees and leadership becomes the most effective tool against the development of a toxic environment and the emergence of poor company culture, alarming attrition and increasing malaise.

Link Goals To Performance And Outcome

The structure or the system you put in place must link goals to performance and the outcome. Typically, even one toxic person in the system can disrupt the functioning of an entire team and lead them to lose focus, interest or motivation to perform to their optimum potential.

It is a good idea to clearly define roles, goals and expectations while aligning tasks and responsibilities of the employees to the company’s objectives and key results. In addition to this, you must also incorporate regular mentorship or training sessions with all the employees to further identify the toxic employees or leaders. Once you know these people and the extent of damage they are causing to your human resource, take due action by either coaching them or removing them.

Give Credit And Rewards

Get involved with the team and figure out whether credit and rewards are being attributed to the right employees. Ensure that no one ends up taking credit for someone else’s work or places blame for their mistakes on anyone else. Yet another point to remember is that whenever there is an outstanding result or a goal is achieved, you should reward the credited employees.

Recognize their effort and learn to say thank you. You can reward them with incremental raises or promotions as you see fit. These rewards should not just be for skill and technical performance but also for helping build a positive and nurturing work environment that encourages employees to perform better.

Lead By Example

Be the leader who can exemplify “do as I do” rather than “do as I say." Be self-aware and incorporate behavior you want your team to mimic. If you berate or penalize your staff for making a mistake while letting yourself off the hook without any consequences, you are sending a message that it is OK for other managers to do the same. This breeds and magnifies toxic behavior among all levels of employees. The code of conduct or the system you devise for your organization is not just for one type of employee. Be the person you expect your employees to be.

Company cultures don’t start out toxic. They get that way when managers stop having the conversations that make people feel seen, heard, appreciated, and invested in. Toxicity is best treated by engaging your people in conversations that help them get their needs met, dispel their fears, uncover their core motivators, do the best work of their lives, and fulfill their purpose.

It’s only when managers stop their relentless focus on what needs to get done that their teams will feel engaged enough to get it all done.

Though I find these strategies highly effective in bringing about positivity in the workplace, they do not guarantee a miracle remedy for any toxic situation. However, I think these strategies can be a good way to start.