It is likely that people will experience workplace toxicity at some point in their careers. It may be challenging to identify at first but small negative changes in attitudes and behaviours that may not initially raise a concern can, if left unaddressed, become culturally normalised within a company and can lead to ingrained toxicity.
Recognising toxicity before it takes hold
The warning signs vary and are unique from company to company. While there are some obvious indicators like teams having low morale or establishing cliques, toxic working cultures manifest themselves through more subtle behaviours. Micromanagement, office gossip, and harassment all contribute to creating an environment where individuals want to leave.
Workplace toxicity can also originate from anywhere in an organisation. Often, it is a systemic issue that can spread to people in all areas of an organisation. It’s important for leaders to be mindful of their words and actions, as they set the tone for communication and collaboration within teams. Senior management can easily foster and amplify toxic behaviour, as it is generally expected that these people set the standard for others to follow. And when leaders fail to adhere to the company values they promote, people may recognise the hypocrisy causing morale to shift as a result.
Cascading effects of workplace toxicity can then trickle through and begin to take a toll on individual performance and ability to collaborate with others – ultimately affecting organisational performance and success.
Ultimately, people have different working styles, professional backgrounds, and personal triggers that can clash to produce a variety of behaviours that could contribute to a toxic workplace. While there are no universal solutions to fix workplace toxicity, business leaders can take proactive steps to demonstrate that toxicity won’t be tolerated, reinforce company values and cultivate a positive work environment tailored to teams.
Eliminating workplace toxicity will not happen overnight
Addressing workplace toxicity will be a marathon, not a sprint. Merely encouraging people to do better won’t lead to long-term change and act as a preventative measure against further issues. It is necessary to create an environment that encourages individuals to address their triggers and for more senior individuals to revisit the company’s core values and work to align them with their day-to-day actions.
Facilitating an environment that promotes psychological safety, where mistakes can be learned from, instead of criticised, is also key for affecting positive change. Treat failures as “First Attempts In Learning”, rather than a setback, to encourage curiosity about different perspectives. If you help people feel safe to take calculated risks that could lead to failure, you are providing opportunities to learn from mistakes and stretch in their roles without the trepidation of losing their jobs or damaging their reputation in the company. This kind of environment has a protective effect against workplace toxicity – there is no need to throw a colleague under the bus if calculated failures are viewed as opportunities to learn. Plus, this is the environment in which innovation thrives. Never failing, playing safe means we will only do what has been already proven, which is the opposite of innovation.
Likewise, firms must set the tone from the start, by ensuring that the recruitment process is designed to find people who align with company values. For some businesses, that means defining their core values clearly to begin with. By asking questions during interviews that assess how a candidate’s values aligns with those of the business, and assessing prospective candidates for cultural fit, recruiters or HR professionals in the business can contribute to heading off workplace toxicity before it can start. This more comprehensive approach to tackle workplace toxicity across all touchpoints of the employee experience is needed to address it in the long term.
Successfully addressing toxicity also necessitates proactive measures to promote a positive, inclusive, and respectful work culture. It should be normalised that leaders communicate that change is needed, and what new behaviours are needed to drive that change. Once this has been done leaders must model these behaviours by example.
Advice for leaders
Raising awareness of the issues of workplace toxicity within your organisation is the first step to improving company culture. This can only be done through living the values your company wants to be known for and putting them into action daily, whether it is through showing respect to colleagues, being inclusive, or sharing feedback in a constructive way.
It is crucial to also prevent negative behaviours from spreading. Establishing expectations with colleagues and instilling the values in day-to-day work, along with the consequences for negative behaviour, is how this is achieved. Offering training or coaching as part of this process will also give individuals the capability to recognise why toxic behaviours run contrary to company values.
Finally, leaders need to open themselves up to feedback. Creating routes for individuals to provide feedback without fear of recourse leads to more honest and more actionable feedback, giving leadership teams an accurate perception of workforce morale before minor issues become big disputes.
Jessica Guistolise
Jessica Guistolise is an Evangelist at Lucid Software and an experienced consultant and coach with a passion for helping organisations deliver value to their customers through effective communication and collaboration. She engages with thought leaders to share their insights on the subjects of agility, facilitation, teaming and workplace culture, and also creates clarity within the product organisation about end-user perspectives and corresponding product features.
