Are toxic workplaces raising toxic humans? A complete guide

16 June 2022
By Roger Kennedy
roger@TheCork.ie

A toxic workplace adds stress and anxiety to your daily life. However, if you feel bad at the workplace, try to improve your experience by adding new practices. We all face good and bad days at work, which all happen due to communication gaps. Later, the communication gap comes with many challenges resulting in toxic workplace culture. Apart from this, many other reasons work as fuel in this situation. For instance, favouritism, gossiping, high turnover, and a lack of recognition play the leading role in creating this culture. But if you want to deal with this situation, it’s vital to understand the basic concept. 

What is the toxic workplace environment?

The working environment adds toxicity and stress to your life and could be the biggest reason why people quit. According to the MIT Sloan management review: 

“Workplace environment is ten times more important than pay.”

The troubles in the work environment affect physical health, resulting in sleepless nights, and you feel constantly attentive. However, workplaces face these issues without a pause. Moreover, it can result in the following other troubles: 

A toxic workplace affects everyone who is around and working in the organization. As a result, the affected employees spread negativity at work and take frequent leaves. However, if they want to retain power or special status, then learn from mistakes and improve performance. 

Top Signs of a toxic workplace environment: 

If you run an organization and can’t judge a toxic workplace, few signs give hints. However, if you have the right guide, it will help you overcome and identify the problems. Here are significant signs of a toxic workplace environment: 

If you wake up with a feeling of fatigue, then you are dealing with chronic stress. According to stats, nearly 42% of employees in the USA left their jobs due to stress. Apart from this, around 43% of employees experience high overwork feelings. Besides, workplace bullying is a genuine issue, and 61% of bullies are bosses, and 33% are peers. It all starts with the office gossip that further promotes negative behaviour. Apart from this, other signs show the workplace is toxic, and employees aren’t feeling happy. 

High turnover rate: 

It is one of the most apparent indications that the working environment is toxic. If the turnover rate is high, employees leave, and the workplace becomes like a walkthrough office. However, the business can’t grow and earn profit in this situation. So, if you want people to stay, then improve processes and the working environment. For instance, the HR department can automate using tools and software like check stub maker. If you make employees’ lives easier, they will be able to pay back in the form of performance. 

Lack of confidence in leadership: 

Top-tier leadership is the main force behind the success and failure of an organization. But if leadership can’t deal with the problems confidently, the organization can’t make progress. Confidence is an essential thing because you need to make decisions daily. So, if anything wrong is happening in the company, then leadership should come forward and resolve the issue immediately. 

Writer’s view: We think that lack of communication is the main reason behind every problem. So, if you want to reduce toxicity, then try to resolve issues with the help of communication. 

How to improve the toxic workplace environment?

If your boss is hotheaded, creating a happy workplace is challenging. If your manager is terrible, it results in high turnover and makes the workplace intolerant. According to BLS, an average employee stays in the current company for 4.2 years. The situation worsens day by day, and stats have declined to 2.8 years. But if you want to multiply profitability, here are a few tips to improve the workplace environment. 

Acknowledge the problem: 

If you want to improve the workplace environment, then acknowledge the problems that employees are facing. At first, you need to spot the problem with honesty and open-mindedness. Moreover, if you are a leader, discuss the issues with employees and find relevant solutions. We can say that we learn from trial and error, and these tips help eradicate harmful communications. The primary aim is to ensure employees that you are ready to solve their problems and open to improving the workplace environment. 

Maintain work-life balance: 

It’s the company’s responsibility to improve work-life balance. If the workplace feels happy and less stressed, it will result in high productivity. A happy employee feels physically and mentally healthy. So, you can apply these tips to improve your work-life balance: 

• Offer flexible working hours to the employees 
• Offer fewer working days 
• Provide paid vacations 
• Encourage the workforce to maintain work-life balance 

These tips improve the organizational environment and help create a happy workplace where everyone is ready to participate. 

Give rewards & recognitions: 

Employees feel toxic if the organization doesn’t acknowledge their efforts. However, if you want more profit, you should treat your employees fairly. You should implement a fair reward and recognition program to help employees work better and increase productivity. Apart from this, fair compensation increases productivity, loyalty, and positivity. So, a good workplace appreciates employees and doesn’t let them feel overworked. 

Stay focused and prioritize diversity: 

A good business person stays focused and aligned the strategy with long and short-term goals. For instance, an employer should encourage teamwork and try to hire a diverse workforce. The diverse workforce comes with the following benefits: 

Above all, it’s essential for an organization not to get involved in discrimination or bullying. Such methods are harmful to organizations and increase dissatisfaction among employees. So, respect each other without passing any judgment because it will lead to a positive working setting. 

Conclusion: 

“A toxic working environment raises toxic humans, a billion-dollar problem.”

A dangerous and toxic workplace is becoming a norm because people are unaware of the basic HR rules. So, if you want to take things under your control, then think about the solutions. We mentioned tips and ideas in the above sections that could help tackle stress issues. You only need to take vital steps that will later protect you from a toxic working environment. Besides, if you are a job seeker, don’t forget to do proper research about the organizational culture before choosing any company. These are basic yet helpful tips to create a healthy working environment. So, think about the solutions instead of problems because that’s the only way to improve things.