Signs You’re in a Toxic Work Environment

Signs You’re in a Toxic Work Environment

Toxic work environment is a setting which is full of negativity, where employees are undervalued making them unable to perform their duties well.

Workplace is the second family of a person and so it should be full of joy and happiness. A positive work environment allows someone to grow. Sometimes, the opposite is also true, one may find themselves in a toxic work environment. And instead of personal growth, their work performance drops.

So what are the signs that one is working in a toxic environment? This blog will share various signs of a toxic work environment and ways in which they can be addressed.

Related Reading: How Does Home Work Affect Student’s Mental Health?

Signs You’re in a Toxic Work Environment

Inferiority complex

When the senior leadership feels threatened by their employees performance, they tend to put obstacles along the way to prevent them from shining. The old rule is that you should never outshine your master and this a mantra which the management of every organization live by. When your boss feels that you are doing your work well, he will feel that your putting him in the backseat while you take the lead. No man ever wants to be the last in the line of recognition and your boss will slow down your progress if he feels he will not earn credit for the success that comes with it.

How to address

Everyone has a role to play towards achieving the objective of the organization. No leader should be uneasy when their team members performance is high. In fact, they should encourage them because the benefits will be reaped by everyone in the organization.

High staff turnover

When you find yourself in an organization where employees don’t stay on the job know that something is amiss. Frequent resignations by employees is a sign of a toxic work environment. It shows a weak structure that doesn’t give room for growth opportunities or career development.  Sometimes the system is slow in addressing the workload which might be overwhelming to the employees. The effects of employees exiting the service increases the operational cost of an organization as recruiting and training new employees can cost a arm and a leg.

How to address

The employer should listen to the grievances of the workers and put measures to address them. Employees thrive where they feel comfortable and they will perform well. By creating a positive environment, the leadership will make employees feel secure.

Poor communication

Where the work environment is healthy, communication channels are open. The leadership embraces suggestions from all employees and likewise informs everyone on decisions that have been made. In a toxic work environment however, information is withheld from some employees and given to others. This puts you in the dark as you are not aware of the direction the organization is taking. When you don’t have information, you feel isolated and you cannot realize your full potential nor give out your opinion.

How to address

The management should understand that communication is key to success of every organization and everyone should be informed about the important decisions the leadership is making about the present and the future.

No assigned roles

When you are not assigned specific duties, then you will be a jack of all trades. Working like this means when an issue arises, you might find yourself being blamed because there is no specific role you handle. Your colleagues might take advantage of this and make you a punching bag for every task that goes wrong. Having no specific role makes it difficult for you to measure your performance and therefore unable to know your strong and weak points.

How to address

The management should set clear roles and realistic goals for each employee. Then everyone will understand where their power ends so they don’t operate in other’s jurisdictions. It also promotes respect amongst the employees.

Unsupportive leadership

Leaders offer guidance and mentorship in every organization. Their efforts are manifested in the resulting positive environment that encourages employees to thrive. But when they fail to offer support to their employees, then the workers perform their duties blindly. As a worker, it becomes difficult to work in an environment which lacks support from both leadership and other colleagues.

How to address

Let the leadership and colleagues understand the importance of supporting each other. It not only makes the tasks easy to carry out but it rids the mistakes that can occur. Through supporting each other, the family bond is strengthened. By giving constructive feedback to employees,, the leadership become the role models.

Backstabbing by colleagues

You cannot thrive where there is unhealthy competition. Some colleagues will use any means to dirty your reputation so that you are in the management’s bad books. When they see you do well, instead of collaborating with you, they go behind your back and soil your name because the want to have an edge against you. For personal gain they will sabotage you, making sure you are in constant conflict with other colleagues or leadership.

How to address

Promote the culture of teamwork as opposed to personal gain. Let everyone know that sabotaging a colleague’s work means delaying the overall success for the organization. For it is when everyone finishes their task, that we can say the objective has been met.

Being undervalued

When you are not appreciated for a job well done, then it lowers your morale and self esteem. There seems to be no reason of working hard and performing highly when no one seems to notice your efforts. When you find yourself in such a situation, you feel no need to waste your energy when no one seems to care.

How to address

First, understand that you are not doing it to make them happy but because you want to achieve something that makes you feel good. By fulfilling that task, it means you will be at peace with yourself.  If it makes you happy then do it, do not wait for someone else to appreciate you.

Domineering bosses

When the leadership boss you around, they make you tense and suppressed. You cannot speak out your feelings in any way. When the boss micromanages you, you loose your autonomy and you cannot be proactive. Some bosses interfere with the work of the employee through unnecessary inputs that prevent them from being creative or independent enough to carry out the tasks on their own. This makes the employee feel untrustworthy and their morale is negatively impacted.

How to address

The leadership should let the workers perform their tasks independently.  They should not unnecessarily interrupt them but only offer guidance when they feel the employee is not performing their duty rightly. By trusting the abilities of the workers, the leadership will be creating room for their growth.

Unresolved conflicts

When you raise a concern or a grievance and the management fails to address it, it makes you feel detested. Unresolved conflicts amongst the employees creates a hostile environment where success cannot thrive.

How to address

The Human Resource department should set policies that address conflicts speedily. The policies should be unbiased. They should provide room for mediation, and once the concerned parties resolve to forgive each other, the leadership should leave it at that, not using the case against them in future.

Discrimination

Discrimination at workplace creates a toxic environment. When someone stereotypes you based on gender or ethnicity it not only creates resentment negatively affects your relationship with them. Such an environment makes you irate and with unfocused personality because it gives room to those who stereotype others.

How to address

Not giving chance to any type of discrimination as it affects the organization negatively. Everyone should refuse to promote a climate where discrimination is tolerated. And for those encouraging it, legal action should be taken against them.

Lack of a well balanced personal and work life

The workplace with long working hours and unscheduled shifts tend to take a toll on a person’s relationships. It affects their time with loved the ones, as they take longer time at workplace than with family. Long working hours also result in burnouts affecting one’s physical and mental health. Eventually this leads to lack of focus and increase in human errors due to fatigue.

How to address

Getting rid of unrealistic deadlines and unplanned schedules unless it is really necessary. Encourage employees to take leaves, promote a balance between work and family life. Give incentives like paid vacation for employees. Allow also flexible work arrangements or hybrid work system(on site and remote) where possible.

Conclusion

When the organization recognizes early the aforementioned signs, it will guide it in making resolutions that will promote a healthier work environment. The management as well as the employees should be encouraged to point out anything that seems to promote negativity in the workplace, every opinion should count. By addressing the issues above, the organization will benefit twice, first, employees will work hard and secondly the organization will have positive results. In contrast, when left unaddressed its effects will run down an organization.

To achieve this is no walk in the park as no organization can  address all these signs at once. However the leadership should be able to demonstrate to the employees that they are committed to it and involve them in every step of the way. The channels of communication should be open, both for top-down and down-top information. Encouraging employees to give suggestions is a sure way of building their confidence and loyalty towards the leadership. It also encourages teamwork which in turn contributes largely to the overall success of the organization.

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