Toxic Workplaces: key people head for the door.
In-person, or virtual, Toxic work cultures make going to work feel miserable.
If there is no trust in your team, you are looking down the barrel of a toxic work culture.
And this is accelerated by a WFH situation we are in now due to COVID-19.
In a toxic culture:
ideas can’t thrive
people aren’t honest
bullying occurs
There’s an eerie silence at your company’s town-hall/all-hands when leaders ask for questions.
On platforms such as LinkedIn, high performers are getting messages from recruiters and competitors who are selling the dream that the grass is greener. If your company has a toxic work culture, high performers have nothing to lose by moving on and trying another company. Even NOW!
If your high performers look disengaged or show little enthusiasm, that is a red flag that your organization is toxic.
Here is what a toxic work culture looks like:
People can’t make decisions
Basic decisions that can cause team members and customers to leave, can’t be made. A simple refund for a client that never received the service they paid for takes weeks when it should take minutes.
The new WFH normal isn’t trusted.
Who else is working more at home than in the office? Me for one!
Does working from home means you’ll be less productive and take advantage of the situation? Absolutely not. In fact, research has proven that forms of work allow people to have lives and they will reward you (if you allow them) with loyalty and commitment to their work.
Entrepreneurship is frowned upon
Toxic work cultures hate entrepreneurial-type people because they are scared to death that they will to leave and steal their ideas. And if you say NO to entrepreneurs, you’re saying NO to ideas. Thriving work cultures take people that have experience owning a business and utilize them like their secret weapon. They promote entrepreneurship because they want people to feel like it is their business and make decisions.
Us versus Them culture
Front line staff refer to leaders as management. Or worse, big wigs, boss, corner office people and others unflattering names.
People on teams will say: “Management really needs to look at problem X.”
In a non-toxic culture, there are clear ways to bring ideas forth. And managers are accountable.
The less hierarchy, the more people feel included and that produces a thriving, collaborative culture.
The number of hours you work matter
Looking at when people start and leave the office is irrelevant. It has nothing to do with Quality.
Culture First companies understand that output produces results and that you will be productive on some days, and on other days, you may have suffered the loss of a loved one or be feeling unwell.
Talking down to people
People who are under-performing are treated unfairly. It could just be a rough patch - we have all had them!.
In thriving cultures, these people are helped, coached and given feedback. Leaders stand up and help them find the right role if it turns out; for example, they applied for sales and don’t really enjoy talking to customers.
Staff write positive reviews online
Toxic cultures can easily be recognized by former staff leaving negative reviews on places such as GlassDoor. Business leaders panic and try to cover up the error in their leadership by asking staff to leave fake reviews.
#1 Values are rarely spoken
They’re written on the company website, mentioned at the annual conference, but never talked about in the context of everyday work.
Values need to be a part of the everyday.
In a thriving culture, you can’t even get hired unless you can demonstrate the values. The references you provide are asked about values, you are required to provide evidence and you may even be asked to do a case study where the values will be assessed.