Toxic work culture is a result of many factors. In such conditions, organizations won’t be able to perform their best. It can also lead to serious issues, such as loss of employee productivity, lowered morale, increased disengagement, etc.
That’s why business owners or leaders must ensure their work culture stays away from toxicity. To do this, they first need to identify the signs of toxic work culture and immediately act on it.
Signs Your Work Culture Is Toxic
Workplace culture often turns toxic when senior leadership fails to identify the situation. So, if you don’t want the same for your organization, you need to look for the telltale signs.
Certain signs may appear that indicate your organization is toxic, such as
- Your employees are demoralized and unproductive
- There isn’t much transparency from the top down
- Your organization has an atmosphere of rumors and gossip
- There is fear-based leadership, favoritism, discriminatory policies, etc.
- You may feel that the organization’s future is stressful and uncertain
- Your expectations are unclear across all levels of the organization
- Your employees lack healthy work-life balance or are workaholics
- There are significant instances of employees calling in sick or absenteeism
- Your employees lack commitment and/or engagement in the organization
- Your organization is unable to adapt to the changing environment
How Do You Fix a Toxic Work Environment?
Here are a few effective approaches to fixing your toxic work environment.
- Pay attention to employee concerns
Not paying enough attention to employee concerns is one of the major causes of a toxic work environment. So, consider carrying out a survey focusing on specific areas of improvement.
You can also ask an unbiased observer to spend some time in your organization and provide a fresh perspective. The person can either be a third-party individual or is from a different team within the organization. It will probably help you to identify the gap in the expectations of unhappy employees so that you can figure out the way to get things back on track.
- Improve your leadership skills
In the hectic day-to-day life, business owners often forget that employees watch them. Everything they say or do impacts their staff’s behavior.
For example, if you are not staying in touch with your staff, it may disengage your employees from work, which will result in a loss of productivity. Thus, you should focus on your leadership abilities to effectively communicate and inspire them. Try communicating with your employees regularly and ensure that they are valuable to your organization.
- Embrace openness
Gone are the times when senior leadership used to keep the information related to finance or hiring policies to themselves. In today’s era, not sharing information with employees is potentially detrimental. They will unlikely appreciate it if kept out of the loop.
On the other hand, sharing information could lead to a more cohesive and stronger team. It could flatten the company’s hierarchy, facilitate goal setting and make employees happier. However, when it comes to sensitive or confidential information, it must be withheld.
Try incorporating some or all of these tips to fix your toxic work culture. However, do know that it may take time to see changes. But by addressing the toxicity, you’ll probably see tangible results in the future.