Workplace Toxicity Has Irreparable Consequences

All the debates on workplace stress, depression and employee welfare will lead to workplace toxicity that has irreversible consequences . ??It is the main culprit that caused Great Resignation and the Great Exhaustion that followed. Culture in the workplace seriously influences not just our work, but our finances, relationships and health, all of them are the common stressors in life.

Work is put on this list first, as it influences a lot of other things. On an average we spend 35 hours per week in an organized work environment. We spend increasingly significant portion of our lifetime at work than at home. That is why workplace culture is critical in our lives. If not handled properly, it will impact not just the individuals , but the families, communities and societies.

Now that remote work is common, the companies are already struggling to solidify their corporate culture . When it is difficult to bring employees together and run team-building activities, building the type of bonds that establish a lasting trust in the workplace is very difficult.? In a hybrid work environment, if the limited exposure to workplace leads to any kind of toxicity, it will be disastrous.

The best reference I could point out that pinpoints the elements of toxic culture is the MIT Sloan's toxic five culture attributes that are - disrespectful, non-inclusive, unethical, cutthroat, and abusive. Every leader needs to check for these attributes and work to address them. In my 35 years of professional experience, working with thousands of companies, I have seen a lot of different work cultures. I have summarized my top-10 learning on workplace toxicity here.

Workplace toxicity does not appear or disappear instantly.

In global companies, microcultures coexist. Workplace toxicity can exist in pockets even if the big picture looks perfect.

Larger impacts on corporate culture are caused by smaller attributes such as lack of role clarity, supervisor behavior, unfriendly competition among employees, etc.

Workplace culture is not a HR issue. It is a business issue, but the seriousness starts with HR that takes employees’ complaints seriously.

Don’t just look around for the toxic ones. You maybe it!!

The ones that are toxic don’t know that they have fallen into the toxic territory.

Fixing the workplace toxicity is not a one-and-done deal, it is a continuous exercise.

Toxicity symptoms may not just indicate problems with people practices, but structural problems that the organization may have.

If you go after the negativities in an organization, the sources might be one or two individuals or functions.

Active listening is the first and the best step for us to solve the toxicity problem.

When the employee engagement practices are better, it establishes effective communication. If teams operate as self-organized communities, it creates a collaborative environment that provides opportunities to build long-lasting bonds of trust. If we build a culture of respect and evaluate everyone on their conformity with the defined values, we get enjoyable work environments.