Toxic Workplaces (and what to do about them)

In previous newsletters, I’ve addressed the issue of unhappiness at work. Today, I want to take it one step further and address outright toxic work practices.

It has taken me a while to find the language to explain the work I do and why I set up Happier at Work to begin with, but at its most fundamental, I created Happier at Work to eliminate toxic workplaces once and for all. I work with individuals to help them manage or leave toxic work environments, and I work with organisations to ensure their workplace does not become a toxic environment from which people want to leave.

Because so many people approach me looking for help to get out of a toxic situation they find themselves in (and of course, I am happy to support them), I am now publicly letting people know about my services - working with individuals as well as organisations.

You can take this quiz to find out if you are in a toxic environment and what to do about it.

What is a toxic workplace?

A toxic workplace is one where negative behaviour is tolerated and in fact becomes embedded in the very fabric of the organisation.

I’ve been in a toxic environment that had around 50% employee turnover. That’s huge, and clearly cost the company a lot of money. And still they did nothing about it.

I’ve been in another environment that may not seem ‘toxic’ on paper, but it was certainly toxic for me. It was a company that I was unable to thrive in. Through a combination of mismanagement, not working to my strengths and a misalignment of values (not to mention unclear company values).

In what follows, I’ll be addressing both of these types of toxic workplaces. I’ll also address from the perspective of a toxic environment generally, or a toxic boss/ toxic colleague specifically (hey, we’ve all had one of those, right?).

You can listen directly below to my career path and what brought me to do what I do today.

Signs of a toxic workplace

MIT Sloan Management Review recently released a couple of articles relating to toxic workplaces, demonstrating that toxic cultures are more than 10 times more likely to result in resignation than compensation issues. Read more about that here .

From their second article , the image below outlines the key signs.?

Listen to my insights based on the article above!

Here are some examples of toxic work behaviours from me and my clients:

Toxic environment

• ‘Us & them’ culture, rather than inclusive
• Psychologically unsafe environment (afraid to speak up)
• Poor leadership generally - untrained, unclear direction and priorities
• People not held to account for their bad behaviour
• Focus is on results, not on people
• CYA (cover your arse) culture - i.e. everything needs to be documented on paper in case of any future trouble (so you don’t get blamed)
• Blame culture rather than focusing on finding solutions and learning from setbacks
• Poor communication
• No opportunities to progress

Toxic boss

• Sends emails out of hours (expects a reply)
• Micromanages or finds fault with everything you do
• Doesn’t show appreciation for your work
• Doesn’t support with your career development
• Doesn’t set clear expectations
• Compares you unfavourably to your colleagues
• Takes credit for your work

Toxic colleagues

• Undermine your efforts
• Take credit for your work
• Show bullying behaviour like exclusion, spreading gossip, silent treatment
• Behave differently around ‘management’
• Speak down to you
• Don’t pull their weight
• Are unmotivated and bringing down morale
• Tell outright lies

Why are toxic cultures bad?

If you’ve ever been in a toxic culture, you know how it can leave you feeling totally drained and lacking all confidence. From an individual perspective, it has an impact on all aspects of your life. I know in one instance for me, it took a very long time for me to regain my confidence at work after dealing with a toxic boss as well as an overall toxic environment. Some people believe that work is supposed to be hard, so they go along with it. Or they think there are no other options. This is absolutely not the case, I and my clients would totally disagree with you - there is always something better out there for you.

From an organisational perspective, creating human working environments is what I would consider ‘doing the right thing’. Beyond that, there is clear evidence that toxic work environments cost companies a lot of money, and that leaders should be on the lookout for toxic micro-cultures in their organisations. Toxic work cultures make it harder to attract and retain top talent. From my own research, I found that top talent will leave an organisation, even in times of job market uncertainty, because they know they’ll be in demand elsewhere.

What to do if you find yourself in a toxic situation

We can all find ourselves in an unintended toxic situation at some point in our careers. Despite the promises that were made during the interview, or perhaps a change in boss made everything different.?

• Firstly, you can decide whether it is toxic for everyone or just for you. Are you in the wrong place, your values don’t align with those of the organisation.?
• Next, you can have a look at whether you’re in a toxic environment, have a toxic boss, or toxic colleagues.
• Decide whether or not you want to stay - you don’t have to stay in a toxic environment, there are other options
• If you decide to stay, see if there are some processes in place to try to get your issue resolved - is there someone you could talk to (your boss/ their boss/ HR/ a trusted colleague)? Will mediation be required?
• Remember to go easy on yourself - look after yourself mentally and physically
• Focus on what you can control, and the things you like about work
• If you decide to leave, you can reach out to a recruiter, work with a coach to guide you through the process - you’ll need to work on your CV, LinkedIn profile, and be clear on what exactly you want so as to avoid the trap of entering another toxic environment elsewhere
• Look at your strengths and try to rebuild your confidence which may be through the floor!
• Remember: you are not a failure for leaving an environment that is toxic for you

What companies can do to avoid becoming toxic

As always, when I say “companies” what I really mean is what leaders can do to avoid creating a toxic environment.

• Stop rewarding people for bad behaviour - if an employee tramples over others to get their job done and then is recognised or promoted, this sends a message that it’s ok to treat colleagues this way
• Focus on putting people first - that means demonstrating empathy and putting people ahead of profits. As Richard Branson says, if you look after your people, they’ll look after the customers
• Train managers before they become managers, and keep training them. Managers usually represent people’s direct experience with the organisation, and it’s crucial that they are equipped to deal with people management issues, self-awareness and emotional intelligence
• Provide alternative career paths, so you don’t have to become a people manager if you don’t want to or wouldn’t be that good at it
• Create rules and boundaries around work and communications - no out of hours emailing, texting - I’m sure it can wait
• Encourage people to rest and take breaks - they will return to work more refreshed
• Ensure the organisation is resourced properly. I worked in a company where management deliberately chose not to hire in order to maintain a high level of profitability (to be able to report to shareholders) - this put a strain and decreased morale among the team
• Make a deliberate effort to ensure everyone feels included and that their voice is heard and their opinion matters
• Check for psychological safety - are you surrounded by people who just agree with what you say, or do some challenge and share alternative perspectives or play devil’s advocate?
• To build psychological safety, treat mistakes as a learning opportunity and not a blame game. Vulnerably share bad news, and be authentic in your communication.
• Set clear company mission, values and objectives and ensure they are understood at every level
• Have an open door policy/ a clear procedure for people to report toxic behaviours
• Address toxic behaviours quickly, i.e. speak to the person involved in private to let them know this type of behaviour is not tolerated

Final thought:

If you plant lettuce and it does not grow well, you don’t blame the lettuce

Thich Nhat Hanh

Have you ever experienced a toxic work environment? I’d love to know in the comments, join the conversation.

What to look forward to

In the next edition of this newsletter, I will talk about remote working. Available in 2 weeks.

On the Happier at Work programme, we focus on 3 pillars: workplace culture; empowerment; and balance.?

You can take this quiz to find out if you are in a toxic working environment and what to do about it.

Happier at Work partners with business leaders to support them to create and maintain happier working environments by focusing on the pillars of: workplace culture; empowerment; and balance. We offer speaking, training and workshops; happiness audits; research; and corporate programmes.

Aoife O’Brien is the founder of Happier at Work, a business with the mission to support organisations in retaining top talent. She is passionate about ‘fit’ and specifically how creating the right environment can help individuals to reach their full potential and support organisations to thrive. She is a self-professed data nerd, with a 20+ year career in market research in the fast-moving consumer goods industry working with clients like Coca Cola, Unilever and Heinz to solve marketing problems using data analytics. Aoife has been featured by several media platforms and public speaking events talking about imposter syndrome, fit, employee engagement, and productivity. She has lived and worked in Dublin, London, Perth, and Sydney and has a MSc in Work and Organisational Behaviour, a Diploma in Executive and Life Coaching and a Certificate in Career Coaching.?

The Happier at Work podcast , features a combination of interview-based episodes as well as solo podcasting, and has more than 65k listens in more than 50 countries. It was recently runner up for 2 awards. You can sign up to the Happier at Work LinkedIn Newsletter to receive the podcast straight in your LinkedIn notifications when it goes live every Friday!