How to Spot a Toxic Work Culture & What to do About it
The phrase ‘toxic work culture’ is used so often that it can almost lose its meaning and more importantly can become something we just accept as a normal part of our working lives. However, we need to define what a toxic work culture looks like and discern if we’re currently in one because the long-term effects it can have on us can not only be damaging to our career progression but to our personal life and well-being too.
We all face challenges at work and experience stress from time to time, that’s a normal part of how we grow and move forward in our careers and develop our character along the way. But when we’re frozen by the thought of navigating another day filled with gas lighting, passive-aggressive communication, manipulation, and the total and utter disregard for boundaries, to name just a few, it’s time to take a deeper look at the culture we’re working in.
As recruitment specialists, we speak with people daily who are looking to move on to new and better opportunities and it won’t surprise you to know that one of the most common reasons people look to leave is due to toxic traits in their current workplace. The most striking thing we hear is ‘I just knew in my gut something was wrong there’. We can’t always put our finger on exactly what is wrong but we encourage you to trust that gut feeling and to look at the results in both your career and wider life as a scale to measure if you’re in a toxic workplace.
The amount of data available is truly overwhelming and although there is no definitive study or piece of research that shows us the exact numbers, we can see that toxic work cultures are a clear and present danger. A recent study found that over 20% of the UK workforce is currently experiencing a toxic work culture, this equates to 1 in 5 people. Even more scary 60% of workers report they have worked in a toxic workplace at some point in their career. A report in 2022 found that a third of UK workers have needed to take time off work due to this and 61% of those who have experienced much more serious forms of toxicity such as harassment, bullying, or discrimination have needed to take long-term leave resulting in half of them eventually leaving their positions for good. It’s clear that a toxic work culture is no joke and can make you sick, no job is worth that!
What does a toxic work culture look like?
Here are 7 key traits to look out for in any toxic work culture. We have to stress this applies to both physical workplaces and working remotely. Although you may be protected slightly from toxicity by working remotely, it by no means protects you 100%.
Poor Communication
Poor communication and poor listening skills from both bosses and coworkers are one of the highest causes of toxicity in the workplace. This doesn’t just count for verbal communication, written communication is just as important. This can leave you feeling confused with a lack of clarity and direction. Specifically watch out for passive-aggressive communication, constant emails outside of work hours, and different employees receiving different messages.
Cliques, Exclusion and Gossip
No workplace should feel like we’re back in school or force us to play ‘workplace games’ to get along. Watch out for gossiping coworkers and clique-ish behaviour especially if you can see it goes all the way to the top. We suggest you stay away from this type of behaviour entirely.
Bad Leadership
Having a bad boss or poor leadership is another top reason why people choose to move on from their current position. There are a hundred types of bad bosses, from those who micro-manage, those who expect you to be available any time of the day or night, those passive-aggressive bosses, those poor communicator bosses, and the list just goes on. In many cases, this toxicity percolates from the top down and as you guessed it, affects the entire work environment.
Rapid Employee Turnover
A high turnover of staff can be a very obvious sign of a toxic work culture. It’s never easy leaving a job even when it’s onto something new and exciting, but even worse when it’s because we can’t stand where we are currently. People leave for many reasons but high employee turnover can be an indicator of poor opportunity for growth, bad leadership, lack of vision and direction, and many more toxic traits.
No Work-Life Balance
You don’t live to work, you should work to live, and live your life to the fullest. It’s cliche but it can be easily forgotten sometimes, especially when we are looking to push forward and reach the next stage of our career. Some obvious signs of a poor work-life balance are when you’re expected to be ‘on the clock’ all hours of the day and night or the assumption (subtle or obvious) that you should never leave an email unread, and made to feel guilty taking time to go to the doctors or your child's recital. And receiving a ‘badge of honour’ when you don’t take all the holiday you’re owed. Set healthy boundaries and don’t let your work creep into every area of your life.
Battling Burnout
We’ve all heard this term before and many of us have experienced the pain of being burnt out. Burnout isn’t just feeling tired. It can present itself in many ways such as being disengaged from the world around us, becoming cynical, developing self-doubt, being overwhelmed, and feeling trapped or defeated. As you can see burnout is no joke and it usually doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a result of a prolonged period of stress usually caused by toxic environments and bad business practices.
A Bad Gut Feeling
Trust your gut. We can’t stress enough how important it is to trust your intuition. You know that feeling that tells you ‘something is wrong here’, please listen to that. If your heart starts to race and anxiety peaks as your working day begins, maybe this happens even at the thought of work, you know something isn’t right. If not only your mental health but your physical health is starting to suffer, it’s time to get out of there…Fast!
What to do if you’re caught in a toxic workplace
Our most honest answer to what to do when you’re experiencing any one of the before mentioned traits is to speak with your HR department or speak with your boss, however, this may not always be possible, maybe there is no HR department, or maybe your boss is actually the problem.
If you’re experiencing not one but a handful or more of these traits above, we suggest you begin to look for a new job. We often believe that we can change a toxic work environment, that we can make it better, or that we can just endure it, but more often than not a toxic work environment is more likely to change you, than you are to change it.
If you’ve come this far and concluded that it’s time to ‘get out of Dodge’, if you’ve tried every available option to address the problems you’re facing and it’s just not getting better, it’s time to move on to brighter horizons. Our team of recruitment specialists are here to help you take the leap to a happier and healthier work-life balance! We’re not ashamed to share that many of our team have experienced toxic work environments in the past and know firsthand where you’re at, that is why we’re so passionate about helping you find that perfect next opportunity.
If you need help or support moving on, contact our team who are here to help you along that journey. If you’d also like to be the first to hear of brand new opportunities, recruitment tips, and tricks and to stay up to date with current recruitment trends then follow us across social media and sign up for our newsletter.
As always, we’re only a call or email away, so drop us a message if we can support you with any of your recruitment needs.