A toxic work environment can sap your energy both mentally and physically, affecting you in both your professional and personal life.
People don’t leave their jobs, they leave toxic work culture.
-Dr. Amina Aitsi-Selmi, Author of the Success Trap
The ideal workplace is where people feel happy, inspired, and valued. Yet, we still hear people share how they hate their jobs because of workplace toxicity. Employees need healthy workplaces. One that encourages them to fulfill their greatest potential and do their best work.
However, a survey conducted by Deloitte has shown that 77% of employees experience burnout at their current job. And because managers and leaders play an instrumental role in creating a healthy work environment, it is important to know the signs of a toxic work environment and take proactive steps to address the issue.
The Price of Toxic Work Environments
A toxic work environment is not only detrimental to productivity but also to the well-being of the workforce. Characteristics of a toxic workplace often include a lack of psychological safety. People could experience fear, hostility, intimidation, and office gossip that could potentially lead to mental and physical health issues.
It is also not uncommon for unreasonable demands to be made on employees in toxic workplace culture. Management might also perceive a lack of empathy and compassion.
Employees in highly toxic work environments are often unhappy. People are prevented from doing their best when there isn’t psychological safety. They worry more about “getting things right” or “not getting penalized” than doing a great job they are proud of. As you can foresee, burnout and employee attrition are expected high.
On top of the 77% of employees surveyed by Deloitte who have experienced burnout, this same survey found that nearly 70% of professionals feel their employers are not doing enough to prevent or alleviate burnout.
Imagine expending all the energy and resources to hire talent and have them trickle out one by one. A poor employer brand is difficult to reverse and would require significant effort to reverse, so this is an area you need to take quick, decisive action to improve your workplace culture immediately.
Common Signs of a Toxic Workplace
Here are obvious signs of toxic work environments.
1. High Anxiety about Failure
When an organization has a toxic environment, employees constantly fear failing every time. Employees experiencing this are always conscious of whether the output they submit to their managers will be accepted or rejected. Once this anxiety takes its toll, they express it by calling in sick because they’re stressed out.
Chuen Chuen’s doctoral research topic will be around the fear of failure. Contact her if you’d like to be part of the research.
2. Micromanagement
Toxic workplace practices include micromanagement when an employee’s every move is scrutinized to the extent of feeling uncomfortable doing the job. Micro-managed employees have to ask for permission for everything and constantly report to their managers.
There is little to no empowerment. They also don’t have control over their job, making them lose their confidence and motivation. For some, the psychological impact can be so severe that it impacts self-esteem.
Micromanagement was named one of the top undesirable behaviors of managers in the Leaders People Love Global Survey. Download the full report here.
3. Lack of Psychological Safety
Feeling that one’s input isn’t valued, welcomed, or respected at work is a symptom of a lack of psychological safety in the workplace. Without psychological safety, employees feel uncomfortable asking questions during meetings or are too intimidated to pitch an idea that could help the organization. These are indications of a toxic working environment.
And when employees feel like they can’t speak up, people’s creativity, commitment, and potential become limited over time. Research conducted by MIT Sloan revealed that the lack of psychological safety may be a consequence of unethical behavior witnessed by employees.
4. High absence rate affecting productivity
Beware of any signs your employees might be experiencing chronic stress: A negative work environment is not inviting. People dread coming to work and might be late for work or leave early; they may become irritable or moody and stop participating in team activities.
A toxic workplace affects your employee’s mental health. 76% of 15,00 respondents in a survey said that workplace stress affects their mental health, leading to depression or anxiety.
5. Poor Work-life Balance
Balance between work and personal life is increasingly important to the workforce, with studies showing that nearly 81% of workers experience burnout or mental health issues. However, employees who don’t have it are in a toxic workplace. Such a work environment makes employees feel like they no longer have personal space due to excessive demands from the workplace.
This issue is not isolated to employees. According to Gallup, managers have never been more stressed out where 32% of managers report feeling burned out at work very often or always.
6. Lack of Recognition
One of the most common problems in toxic work cultures is a lack of recognition. A recent Gallup study showed that 81% of leaders say recognition is not a major strategic priority for their organization. All employees who put in their best for their jobs would love to be appreciated, encouraged, and acknowledged.
However, without receiving due recognition for their hard work, this can negatively impact their morale and productivity, leading to dissatisfaction. And in this toxic workplace, employees may feel like they don’t belong to a team and there’s no point in doing their best if it won’t be recognized in the end.
7. Limited Career Growth and Progression
It’s tough to visualize a future with the organization if you feel stuck in a job with limited career growth. It occurs when an organization does not prioritize developing employees. Moreover, an SHRM study found that 52% of workers said learning new skills is a priority, and would continue working with the same employer if there is an opportunity to learn.
Not investing in employees’ careers hinders their potential and talent retention, as the lack of career development/advancement is often cited as a common reason for someone to resign, according to this article by McKinsey & Company.
Personal growth is named one of the top factors employees look for in organizations. Download the Leaders People Love Global Survey for the full picture.
8. Workplace Incivility
Workplace incivility can be rude, disrespectful, or any toxic behavior directed at an employee by a co-worker or supervisor. Research conducted by Zippia shows that 68% of workers around the world do not feel safe at work. The same study also shows that there are approximately 2 million victims of workplace violence every year.
Toxic cultures, if present in your company, need to be addressed as soon as possible as the MIT Sloan Business Review states that employees who experience workplace incivility perform worse in their jobs and are less helpful to their colleagues. A company’s practice should be changed due to its psychological impact that can lead to attrition.
Photo by Ahmad Gunnaivi on Unsplash
9. Lack of Communication and Clarity
Poor communication in the workplace is one of the signs of a toxic work culture. This means that employees have no idea what their managers think about how they’re doing because they don’t get feedback or managers refuse to communicate with them.
When there is a lack of communication, deadlines can be missed, resources wasted, and mistakes committed. All these can result in frustration, confusion, and friction in the work environment, eventually leading to attrition.
10. Resistance to Change
In a toxic workplace with resistance to change, the organizational culture is often unhealthy, characterized by a strong aversion or reluctance to adopt new ideas, processes, or ways of doing things.
This environment fosters a blame culture where employees fear taking responsibility, lack empowerment, and face rigid hierarchical structures that stifle innovation. Office politics and favoritism contribute to cliques forming, while high-stress levels and burnout are common due to constant tension and negativity.
After identifying signs of a toxic environment, let’s now explore solutions for leaders to address toxicity in the workplace to foster a healthier workplace culture.
By understanding the detrimental effects of a toxic environment, leaders can proactively implement strategies to cultivate a more supportive, inclusive, and productive workspace.
Let’s explore ten actionable steps leaders can take to remedy toxic workplace dynamics and foster a culture of growth, collaboration, and well-being.
How Can Leaders Fix a Toxic Environment in the Workplace?
Toxic work culture exists, but there are many ways that leaders can help fix a toxic culture in the organization. Leading by example by demonstrating healthy workplace behaviors is often one of the best ways to start.
Like encouraging open communication with all stakeholders – management included – about problems and potential solutions. It may make the leaders and HR life more complex but reduce burnout and increase commitment.
Here are some ways leaders can go about fixing a toxic work environment.
1. Focus on Employee Experience and be Human-centered
There is a spectrum of how bad the problems are in a workplace, and it is important to take a closer look at the specific needs of your employees when it comes to dealing with workplace problems. Put in structures to engage your employees in safe conversations, ask them for honest feedback, and act on the feedback.
You want to create a workplace culture that invites employees to come to work, so listening to their needs is important. This eliminates a toxic work environment.
For more strategies, read the Theme: Creating Human-centered Workplaces in Leaders People Love
2. Promote Diversity and Inclusion
People tend to be more creative and innovative when they feel they belong and understand each other better. It is only possible if there is diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
Look into meeting routines and how to facilitate inclusive conversations such that all voices are heard, and new ideas can be shared safely.
For more strategies, read the Theme: Encouraging Neurodiversity and Inclusion in Leaders People Love.
3. Create a Psychologically Safe System where People can Speak Up
Eliminate toxic culture by allowing employees to air their complaints without fear of retribution or negative consequences. Make sure your company has policies in place for employee engagement and feedback.
Train your leaders and managers to be curious and open to new ideas and alternative perspectives because their initial disapproval often reduces psychological safety.
Need to equip your managers with facilitation and coaching skills. Talk to us.
4. Develop a Strengths-focused Collaborative Culture
People have an advantage if they’re already good at what they’re doing. Finding ways to use their strengths will allow them to do what they excel at and often result in the best outcome for them and the company. “Employees who say they use their strengths every day are 8% more productive and 15% less likely to quit their jobs.”
Research conducted by Gallup suggests that leveraging strengths contributes to improved health and wellness outcomes. It reveals that 52% of Americans who utilize their strengths for three hours or less daily experience stress.
Discover strengths-focused leadership under CAPTAIN in our five-part Agile Leadership Framework. Check it out here.
5. Prioritize Mental Health and Work-life Balance
Mental health is an important topic that any business should take seriously. It doesn’t only negatively affect individuals but also the workplace and employees. This is why businesses need to ensure their employees are mentally healthy.
Some small actions you can start with are being sensitive to people working across time zones, offering to support others, demonstrating self-care, and creative management of schedules to ensure optimal performance. For example, you could share some of your self-care strategies and how to negotiate deadlines with your team. Institute code of conduct policy. These will create a better work-life balance.
6. Make Safe, Fair, and Inclusive Workplaces a Priority
By establishing workplace discrimination laws, you can help create a positive work environment for everyone who works at your company. Reducing office gossip to the minimum is one possible goal. Another one is to eradicate all unfair workplace practices, protect workers, and abolish poor behavior by making sure that everyone is treated with respect.
You don’t want physical violence, workplace harassment, or verbal abuse in your workplace culture. Institute a system where employees, even senior leaders, who exhibit undesirable behavior are called out and counseled promptly.
7. Develop Leaders to Lead by Inspiring, not Micro-managing
Leaders’ mindsets are a core part of a good work environment. Many toxic workplaces result from outdated leadership models where leaders believe they need to lead by command and control.
This manner of leading is no longer effective in the current context. In some ways, forceful managers are often seen as toxic employees. But to expect a change overnight is impossible and unreasonable.
Instead, support the managers and all employees in developing their leadership so that you get more good and loyal employees, elevate the employer brand, and become the employer of choice.
Enhance your Agility and Leadership Skills with ACESENCE Executive Coaching. Click here.
8. Make Career Development Part of your Strategy
Employees need to be equipped with the appropriate skills to thrive in their careers. Training can help employees learn how to communicate effectively and handle difficult situations. It can also help them understand their rights and what they can do to improve the situation.
Explore ACESENCE corporate training courses to increase Agility in Leaders and Managers. Click here.
Photo by Alexander Suhorucov from Pexels
9. Make the Workplace a Place where Civility is Valued
Contrary to incivility, civility is the ability to treat others with respect even when you disagree with them. If leaders want their company to be seen as a place where civility is valued, they need to work on how they interact with employees.
Make mutual respect a core value. Leaders can listen more than they speak and ask curious questions instead of giving orders. Leading with the coaching mindset is one good way to start. This way, you take your organization off the list of toxic workplaces.
10. Encourage Vulnerability and Authenticity
Foster a culture where employees feel safe to express their vulnerabilities and share authentic experiences. This openness cultivates trust and strengthens interpersonal relationships, mitigating toxicity stemming from fear or insecurity.
Additionally, fostering a culture of vulnerability and authenticity can have profound effects on employee well-being and organizational resilience. When employees feel empowered to share their authentic selves, it creates a sense of psychological safety that encourages collaboration, innovation, and creativity.
By acknowledging and embracing vulnerability as a strength rather than a weakness, leaders can set the tone for an inclusive and supportive workplace culture where individuals are valued for their unique contributions and perspectives.
This sense of belonging fosters greater job satisfaction, employee engagement, and ultimately, organizational success. Through intentional efforts to nurture authenticity and vulnerability, leaders can inspire a positive cultural shift that promotes mutual respect, empathy, and resilience in the face of adversity.
Managers Must Take Action to Abolish Toxic Workplaces
Ignoring the signs of toxicity in the workplace not only jeopardizes the well-being of your employees but also undermines the overall culture and reputation of your organization. Left unchecked, toxic behaviors can permeate every aspect of the work environment, causing long-lasting damage to employee morale and company performance. Additionally, a toxic workplace can tarnish your employer’s brand, making it challenging to attract and retain top talent in the future.
The bottom line is that a toxic workplace can negatively impact your employees. If you don’t address the problem, it could lead to a variety of issues like stress, burnout, and even physical health problems. If you notice your workplace is becoming toxic, take action today and act on the issues before it’s too late.
Ready to Take the Next Step?
Take advantage of Chuen Chuen’s extensive experience coaching leaders worldwide. Her deep expertise in designing agile leadership corporate training will benefit your teams. No matter which stage of leadership you are at, we’ll partner with you and meet your business needs.
Explore our executive coaching programs, and corporate training courses. You can also hire Chuen Chuen as your speaker at events so that your organization will become agile, adaptive, and future-resilient.