Characteristics of a Toxic Workplace

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What It’s About: I write a lot about the importance of creating a thriving versus toxic workplace. So, how does one know whether you’re in a toxic workplace or not? With inspiration from an Atlassian newsletter on the topic, the following are things to watch out for:

High, unintended turnover. People don’t like to leave great workplaces. When top talent quits, people left behind wonder why they should stay.
Little enthusiasm and fun. You can feel when morale is low. The predominant mood is dour. People grudgingly participate, and are cynical about almost all initiatives.
Psychologically unsafe. People are fearful about mistakes, and there is little understanding about why people are leaving. People seem to disappear in the middle of the night without explanation.
Incivility. Jerk-like behavior is not called out. Respect is highly variable depending on the boss and/or area.
Negative conflict and confusion. People feel like things are chaotic with constant head scratching for clarity. Functional fiefdoms have open warfare (for example, fights between sales and engineering).
Drama and gossip. People are often huddled around (including virtually) talking about others and rumors.
Poor housekeeping and quality. There is little pride in the way the workplace looks and service quality is mixed (for example, average or low performance scores on Yelp).
Scores on social media platforms like Glassdoor or Comparably are less than 3.0; CEO approval less than 80 percent; less than 70 percent would recommend the company to a friend.
Leadership variability. People get promoted to leadership mostly for technical capability.
Highly political. Success depends more on who you hitch your wagon to than meaningful contribution.

So What?: Organizations will never be perfect, of course. However, if the trend on any of these toxic characteristics is going in the wrong direction, top leadership needs to be concerned and take urgent, intentional action to move towards thriving. If not, these behaviors will ultimately show up in loss of talent, revenue, customers, market share and reputation.

Now What?: Thriving organizations have great and even acute listening. When things are going sideways, they are honest in their assessment and take immediate, focused constructive action. If an organization is negative on most of the toxic characteristics above, it likely needs a massive shakeup at the top. The Board Chair and CEO should resign or be fired.

Think Thriving, Start Small, Act Now,

Lorne

One Millennial View: Let’s say I accepted a job to literally shovel the world’s most toxic waste. There are still ways leaders could make the experience where one might thrive: Give us comfortable, safe equipment to wear/use, hire a team we like working with, play our favorite music/podcasts, remind us it’s a good form of exercise, recognize we’re doing an important task that cleans up valuable land, let us develop a higher appreciation for working outdoors, and compensate us handsomely. My point is, even cleaning up poison can be thriving, not toxic, under the right leadership.

- Garrett

Edited and published by Garrett Rubis.

Characteristics of a Toxic Workplace

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