Signs and Outcomes of a Toxic Workplace

In a recent research study shared in MIT Sloan Management Review, 𝗧𝗼𝘅𝗶𝗰 𝗖𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 #𝟭 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗳𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗷𝗼𝗯𝘀.

Bullying and toxicity in the workplace is rarely an isolated incident or interpersonal issue. 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗶𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗱𝘆𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗼𝗳 𝗼𝗯𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗼𝗿𝘀. It impacts all who are exposed to it as witnesses, either employees or customers.  

𝘐𝘵 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘵𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬-𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳.

An unhealthy workplace affects people cognitively, physiologically, and emotionally. The rude behaviors, as well as the distrust, poison a company’s culture. Bad behaviors and attitudes are repeated by the boss, employee, or organization as a whole.

Employees feel devalued, there is a lack of growth or learning opportunities, and company change management efforts or announcements are met with skepticism.

When employees feel unable to use their intellectual capital and potentials, they become unmotivated and experience low job satisfaction. Morale among coworkers is low, and the intention to quit is very high.  

With a strong sense of insecurity, injustice, or dishonesty felt – emotional responses include anger, disrespect, distress, and shame. Interpersonal teamwork - such as bonding, trust, dependability, and good citizenship - is impaired by abusive supervisors and leadership.

Organizational silence is action that is purposefully and actively enacted to keep employees quiet. This is a result of the organizational climate, culture, and management style. 

Research has shown that there is not just one single behavior that poisons a workplace. Rather, it can develop from harmful patterns that accumulate over time. 

𝗜𝘁𝘀 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗯𝗲 𝗳𝗲𝗹𝘁 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹, 𝗶𝗻 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗿 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗱𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹. 𝗜𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗮 𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘀𝗮𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗼 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀, 𝗯𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗼𝘂𝘁, 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝗿, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁.

These include:

-       𝘜𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘫𝘰𝘣 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘴

-       𝘓𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴

-       𝘉𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦’𝘴 𝘫𝘰𝘣

-       𝘙𝘶𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘦𝘴

-       𝘋𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘦𝘴 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥

-       𝘎𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘱, 𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘴, 𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘣𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨

-       𝘉𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘨𝘰𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘮, 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘣𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘦

-       𝘈𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴

-       𝘍𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘴 (𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘧𝘗𝘴𝘺𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘚𝘢𝘧𝘦𝘵𝘺)

-       𝘈𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦, 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘦𝘴

Bottom line effects of a toxic culture include absenteeism, fewer hours worked, and an increase in sick days. Dysfunctional behaviors threaten the wellbeing of the company, its members, or both. According to the CDC, absenteeism and worker illness cost U.S. employers more than $225.8 billion.

When employees can no longer take the personal and professional threats of going to work, they are desperate to leave the poisonous environment. Sadly, trauma and negative symptoms remain for years even after leaving the job.

Through the trauma of the pandemic on all of our senses, we are fragile mentally and emotionally. Our threat responses are triggered and the only seeming control we have in uncertainty is to leave. When work becomes meaningless and we cannot participate as the whole selves that we are, the impulse is to save ourselves and quitting becomes an act of self-preservation.

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