Toxic workplace & How to diffuse it

No one should ever have to work in an environment that causes your stomach to go in quivers.

It’s one thing to dislike your job, but it's another to feel physically ill walking in to work. If your job just doesn't have redeeming qualities, your work environment may be toxic in more ways than one. In short, a toxic work environment is any job where the work, the atmosphere, the people, or any combination of those things makes you so dismayed that it causes serious disruptions in the rest of your life.

You know a job is toxic when you can't find joy in anything there, and the only good thing about your job is the end of the day :(

A toxic work environment is any that makes you feel uncomfortable, unappreciated, or undervalued. This can range from all out bullying, screaming and talked down to, to more subtle forms of poor communication, setting people up for failure, mismanagement and an air of hostility.

A toxic work environment can be created by a boss or coworker whose actions, communication or behavior makes doing your job impossible.

There are common characteristics that when put together make an environment unhealthy for those who work there. Here are some of the most important factors:

1. Major communication problems.  

An initial sign of a dysfunctional, toxic workplace is the prevalence of significant communication problems often across multiple areas -- between employees and their supervisors, between management and departments, across different departments, with suppliers and even with customers.

Problems can be demonstrated by a lack of communication (often referred to as "no communication at all"), whereby employees find out about decisions after they have been implemented. Other variations of dysfunctional communication patterns include indirect communication (sending messages through others), withholding information and giving misleading information.

Why is communication so crucial to a healthy organization? Because without effective communication, working together to accomplish the organization's tasks and goals is virtually impossible.

2. Your Boss Has Poor Leadership Skills

Sometimes toxic work environments are driven from how the boss treats their employees. Supervisors can take advantage of their power, and make their staff feel inferior by bullying them. When you’re working with a boss who’s a bully and/or tyrant and there’s lack of intelligent leadership, that’s certainly toxic.

3. Narcissistic leaders.

It's not clear whether toxic leaders create toxic workplaces or toxic workplaces are a magnet for toxic leaders. In either case, the two go together.

The hallmark characteristic is the narcissism of such leaders. They are all about themselves. They view themselves as categorically brighter and more talented than anyone else around and therefore more deserving of special treatment. The rules for everyone else are beneath them, they think.

Toxic leaders relate to others in a condescending manner. They take credit for others’ successes and manipulate others (and information) to ensure that they look good. Others don’t really matter to them. 

While these leaders may appear to be successful for a while, over the long term their attitudes and actions catch up with them. Trust and teamwork deteriorate in their areas. They have a high turnover rate in their departments and will eventually destroy the health of the organization.

Toxic leaders might not be at the top of an organization; they often crop in midlevel management and even in front-line supervisory roles.

4. You're Not Excited About Going To Work Anymore

OK, let's be real: there are just some days when you don't feel up to working. And while those days are completely normal to have every once in a while, it's a huge sign that you might be working in a bad work environment if you're feeling this dread all the time. You’re noticing that you don’t want to get out of bed in the morning, are constantly defending your work and simply no longer enjoy your job,

5. Inconsistency in following policies.

Have you ever been a customer of a business where no one really seems to know what he or she is doing and you get different answers to questions depending on whom you ask? Eventually the employee just seems to say whatever and do what he or she wants. In this way, you’ve experienced a company that has major problems with its implementation of policies and procedures.

When a company’s policies and procedures are not followed, chaos, inconsistency and poor quality follow. Customers, vendors and employees wind up hating dealing with the company and its staff.

6. Physical and emotional health effects.

When a workplace is toxic, it is, by definition, unhealthy and damaging to those who work there. Individuals who work in toxic work environments (especially over a long period of time) begin to experience problems with their personal health. This might include not being able to sleep, gaining weight or racking up medical problems. 

Emotionally, employees become more discouraged, which can lead to depression. Some become more irritable, touchy and exhibit problems managing their anger. Others experience anxiety and a general sense of dread when they think about work.

7. Your Employer Encourages Competitive Conflict

While a little bit of competition can be healthy, you don't want to surround yourself in an environment similar to The Hunger Games. Conflict is encouraged. Team members are driven to unhealthy levels of competition. Some motivational comparisons can be good, but when team members are thrown against each other with public repercussions, it can hit at you personally.

Toxic workplaces, or unhealthy environments that regularly upset employees, are an obvious detriment to a company’s success and can result from a number of things. These include poor recognition, overworked employees and misaligned expectations.

However, with good workplace leadership and an openness to change, the toxic environment can be easily diffused and eliminated. Here are some ways leadership can diffuse a toxic workplace:

1. Recognize employees for their accomplishments

2. Align work performance expectations between management and employees. 

3. Take a proactive approach to avoid overworked employees.

4. Deter unhealthy cliques and favoritism within the company

Last but not least, consider regular happy hours that are hosted by different teams throughout the company. This will allow all employees to get to know each team on a more informal level and is especially useful if certain teams aren’t able to mingle with the rest of the organization as regularly as they’d like.

If it isn’t possible to mix groups for client projects, create projects internally that can benefit the company or mix up groups at company events.

Even though you may work in a really toxic environment, don’t succumb to the belief that it's all just happening to you. You don't have to be a victim. Figure out what you can do to not add to the trash and help clean up the air a bit.