The vicious Circle of Workplace Toxicity

?? Employees ranked #recognition and #rewards programs at the top of their list of what makes a balanced work culture, showing how much they long to be heard and recognized for their #work but believed that their leadership and senior management are mostly responsible for the #toxic work environment in tech companies and most alarming they think that #leadership is unaware of the toxicity and lives in a bubble, thinking the company #culture is healthy but almost half of the employees don’t do or say anything in face of toxicity, according to a new interesting research published by TalentLMS and Culture Amp - using data from 1,000 employees who work in US #tech companies?conducted online on February 23, 2023.

? Leadership and management mostly responsible for Toxic Culture

This #research found that as employees are holding their #leaders liable for the toxic work culture in their companies. The disconnect is wide and concerning:?43% say that the leadership is turning a blind eye to toxic behaviors, and 45% say that senior #executives promote unhealthy competition among managers and employees.

Close to half of employees (47%) agree there’s a lack of leadership and accountability within their company. Regardless of if the leadership actively contributes to a climate of #toxicity or is simply out of touch and interacts only with a few select people, the consequences are deeply damaging. They open a way for toxicity to spread throughout the organization.

?Silence of employees in a Toxic Work Environment

When faced with toxic behaviors or situations, almost half (49%) of surveyed employees said they don’t do or say anything.

?The vicious circle of Workplace Toxicity

Leaders have a vast and disproportional influence over employees according to researchers. Employees look up to their leaders, who are setting an example and modeling social norms and everyone’s behavior. Leadership that’s accountable, considerate, and open to #feedback will inspire and foster these same traits throughout the workforce. And vice versa: a?leadership’s lack of accountability and consideration will be reproduced and magnified across teams.?

Employees often mirror executives’ behavior and attitudes. So, if leaders are turning a blind eye to misconduct, employees will too. And that's what we saw above, almost half of the employees don’t do or say anything in face of toxicity.

And this chain reaction feeds what researchers called the vicious circle of toxicity.

?The top 5 Toxic Culture attributes

Another interesting research published last year by MIT Sloan Management Review found that the "Toxic Five attributes" poison corporate culture in the eyes of employees. Donald Sull ? Charlie Sull Caio Brighenti ?

Researchers observed that this Five attributes have by far the largest negative impact on how employees rate their company’s culture in Glassdoor reviews.

These attributes are:

1?? Disrespectful,

2?? Noninclusive,

3?? Unethical,

4?? Cutthroat,

5?? Abusive

?Soft Skills training for Leadership

Researchers observed that workplace #training can help in fostering a more positive and healthy work environment.

Employees ranked?#softskills training?for leadership as the second most important ingredient of healthy workplaces, right after recognition and reward programs. Furthermore, soft #skills training for all employees ranks in fourth place. The data showed that soft, or #people skills are credited with fostering a positive and collaborative atmosphere at work.?

?Eliminate Toxic work culture

Researchers investigate how to eliminate toxic work culture and found that 43% of employees think managerial and leadership training for leaders and managers would be helpful.

46% of the employees found applying a #360feedback policy helpful in eliminating toxic #workculture . This is the tool that gives employees an opportunity to express their opinion, as opposed to just being evaluated. With 360 feedback, they can evaluate the #performance and behavior of their managers, and highlight any problematic areas.

? Repairing company culture: Healthy Workplace Culture

Researchers noticed that employees ranked recognition and rewards programs at the top of their list of what makes a balanced work culture, showing how much they long to be heard and recognized for their work. Specifically, employees ranked?soft skills training?for leadership as the second most important ingredient of healthy workplaces.

?Another powerhouse training type that helps build a healthy work environment is?bystander intervention training. It's specifically designed to prevent harassment and discrimination, by educating people on how to react proactively when witnessing others facing discrimination or harassment.

?? Finally researchers conclude that the next step for leadership is to actually listen to what the employees have said, and utilize this valuable data in the day-to-day workings of their organization.

Thank you ??? TalentLMS and Culture Amp ?researchers team for these insightful findings:? Ana Casic Christina Pavlou Giota Gavala Dr Joel Davies

#peopleanalytics ?Dave Ulrich ?George Kemish LLM MCM MIC ?#futureofwork