IS YOUR WORKPLACE just bad, or is it potentially toxic?
Over the last several years, I have surveyed hundreds of employees and leaders from a wide range of industries, and interviewed dozens whose stories intrigued me.
From the research, several core factors emerged that contribute to making a workplace not just bad, but “toxic” — a work environment that is poisonous, damaging, and even potentially dangerous to the mental and emotional health of those who work there.
An initial sign of a dysfunctional, toxic workplace is that there are significant problems in communication, and often across multiple areas — between employees and their supervisors, from management to departments, across departments, with suppliers, and even with customers.
Problems can be demonstrated by a lack of communication (often referred to as “no communication at all!”) where employees find out about decisions after they have been implemented. Indirect communication (sending messages through others), withholding information, and giving misleading information are other variations of dysfunctional communication patterns.
Why is communication so key to a healthy organisation? Because without effective communication — working together to accomplish the tasks of the organisation is virtually impossible.
Have you ever been a customer in a business where no one really seems to know what they are doing, you get different answers to questions depending on who you ask, and eventually the employee just seems to say “whatever” and does what they want? Then you’ve experience a company which has major problems with their policies and procedures being implemented.
In some companies, this is due to the fact that the policies are not written down (often in smaller businesses). In other situations, they have a “policy manual” but employees ignore what is written because there is no monitoring or accountability. And in family-owned businesses, family members often go around the policies that “are for everyone else”.
When a company’s policies and procedures are not followed, chaos, inconsistency and poor quality follow. Customers, vendors and employees wind up hating having to deal with the company and its staff.
It is 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 (that becomes evident eventually) is their narcissism. They are “all about” themselves. They view themselves as categorically brighter and more talented than anyone else around. And, as a result, they are deserving of special treatment — the rules for everyone else really are beneath them.
Toxic leaders relate to others in a condescending manner, they take credit for others’ successes, and they manipulate others (and information) to ensure that they look good (others don’t really matter).
While they may appear “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 department, and they will eventually destroy the health of the organisation.
It is important to note that toxic leaders do not have to be at the top of the organisation; they often occur in mid-level management and even in front-line supervisory roles.
“How do I hate thee? Let me count the ways.” Just like rusty holes in the side of an old car that was driven where the streets are salted in the winter, a toxic work environment exudes negative communication across the organisation and in multiple forms.
Grumbling and complaining by employees is common — they can find something to complain about almost anytime. Then sarcasm and cynicism show up, which demonstrates a growing lack of trust of management and leadership, and turns into a low level seething disgruntlement. Making excuses and blaming others is widespread (and often reflects the poor communication and lack of accountability in place).
Eventually, team members either start to withdraw, not interact with others (except in a very defensive manner) or leave the organisation.
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 see problems with their own personal health. This can include physical symptoms such as not being able to sleep, gaining weight, and having increased medical problems.
Emotionally, we become more discouraged which can lead to depression. For some, they are more irritable, “touchy”, and demonstrate problems managing their anger. Others experience anxiety and a general sense of dread when they think about work. These symptoms then can lead to increased use of alcohol, prescription drugs, and illegal substances.
You know your work is affecting you negatively when your friends and family start to make comments on “how you’ve changed”, or “you seem stressed” and “maybe you need to talk to someone”.
When our personal relationships are impacted, it is time to take a serious look at what is going on.
By Paul White, Ph.D – a speaker, trainer, author and psychologist who “makes work relationships work”. Dr. White is co-author of “Rising Above a Toxic Workplace,” and has recently released training resources to help businesses avoid becoming toxic. For more information, visit Paul’s website.
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