In 2018, Oxford Dictionary made toxic its word of the year. Toxic work environment, toxic culture, and toxic relationship were among the top ten \u2018toxic\u2019 collocates that year.<\/p>
Business executives, managers, and disengaged employees can all create toxicity. Spotting a toxic workplace can be simple, not only from within, but outside. We don\u2019t have to examine turnover statistics, reports, or interview anyone to know Donald Trump\u2019s White House was a super toxic environment. Here are a few signs of a toxic workplace:<\/p>
Lack of Articulated and Lived Core Values<\/strong><\/p> Leadership is advancing others, not promoting self. Leaders set the tone and create safe workplaces. Leaders set and live core values.<\/p> Values are our default position, our North Star. Doing what\u2019s right, period! Values include respect for individuals and families, trust, integrity, transparency, caring, rigor, good stewardship, and accountability.<\/p> Donald Trump and Justin Trudeau\u2019s actions showed no ethical guiding principles or core values. Trump pressured his loyal vice president\u2014among others\u2014to overturn certified election results. Trudeau pressured his attorney general to cover up his conflict of interest. Both acted in their best interests. Neither suffered legal consequences; thus, their message to compatriots: Core values are not beacons for decisions. The end justifies the means.<\/p> Without consistent application of ethical guiding principles and core values, leaders ignore trust, integrity, caring, good stewardship, and accountability in favor of a particular outcome\u2014a basis for a toxic culture.<\/p> Procedures Practices Decisions Made Situationally<\/strong><\/p> Align procedures and practices with core values. Hire people of character and train, develop, and empower them. Accept mistakes as they grow and learn. Don\u2019t micromanage or rebuke them for learning curve blunders; use them to teach and learn.<\/p> Values should include providing a safe environment. Don’t compromise and \u201ccut costs\u201d associated with core values, like safety, to \u201csave\u201d money when times get tough. Do what\u2019s right and bear the costs!<\/p> When leaders and managers create procedures and practices contrary to core values, they confuse, frustrate, and cause disgruntled employees. Employees become fearful, accidents occur, rumors abound as toxicity creeps in. Value statements need consistent decisions to affirm them.<\/p> Poor Communication<\/strong><\/p> Leaders build trust by action. Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines trust, the foundation of good communications, as \u201cassured reliance on the character, ability, strength or truth of someone or something.\u201d Telling an employee eleven months later about poor performance doesn\u2019t help. Regular feedback shows care and a desire to listen, learn, and help the employee succeed. Employees need positive and negative feedback; positive feedback alone is as bad as none.<\/p> Practice the TAP Principle:<\/p> Be transparent: what you see is who I am, which fits with core values.<\/p> Be approachable: effective managers and leaders listen, ask questions, and encourage.<\/p> Be predictable: apply core values always. If you see an error which lowered costs by $100,000. Fix it because that\u2019s the right thing to do.<\/p> When the workforce see core values applied consistently, they know who you are and what you believe in practice.<\/p> Leaders must respond to employees\u2019 legitimate issues. Share company performance with the workforce. Give them a chance to ask questions about the business, and share their challenges.<\/p> Disengaged Employees<\/strong><\/p> According to Gallup, the number one reason people change jobs today is for career growth opportunities. Yet, most firms do not engage employees.<\/p> Worldwide, 85% of employees are disengaged versus 65% in the U.S.. Disengaged employees gossip and spread rumors, which breed toxicity, lowers productivity and increases turnover. Any wonder the average length of service of U.S. employees is 4.2 years; 2.8 years for a millennials, the largest generation in the workforce!<\/p> How Employees Should Respond to a Toxic Boss<\/p> One size doesn\u2019t fit all. Dealing with a boss with a toxic attitude depends on the situation. Is she a micromanager, a bully, an ignorant and arrogant talker? Let’s look at micromanagers:<\/p> Stay one step ahead: feed them with project updates. Don\u2019t wait for requests.<\/p> Be proactive: provide solutions to improve processes and effectiveness.<\/p> When their projects swamp you, ask for priorities. Tell them you can carry out their requests, but as you have limited time, you need to set priorities.<\/p> Ask questions; playback what you grasped.<\/p> Clarify team members\u2019 roles and responsibilities. Micromanagers want to meet your direct reports alone; be present when they meet your staff.<\/p> Understand your results will never satisfy them; they want their way.<\/p> Focus on what you control. Ensure you have a solid red line you will not allow them to cross\u2014ever.<\/p> Form alliances with like-minded colleagues. When micromanagers get what they want, they might trust you.<\/p> Not everyone will work with micromanagers. Don’t stay, grumble, and accept \u201cthis is the only way.\u201d Find a channel to present the toxic situation.<\/p> Don\u2019t accept abuse. Seek help; but don\u2019t allow them to cross your red line.<\/p> How to Manage a Team Consumed by Toxicity<\/strong><\/p> This situation should be easier to fix because the basis for a healthy workplace exists at the leadership level. It needs effective intervention to learn the issues:<\/p> Unclear goals: Common goals foster cohesiveness and lowers conflicts. Clear team member roles and team goals help combat toxicity.<\/p> Lack of trust: Trust in the leader and one another is the glue in a team. People work better in a supportive, trusting environment.<\/p> Poor team leadership: Listen, encourage, and resource the team. Be authentic, humble, and fair.<\/p> Lack of recognition: Thank team members for everyday tasks; engage with team members often. Give credit when things go right; accept blame when they go wrong,.<\/p> Ensure everyone is on the same page. Inspire, motivate, and reassure team members.<\/p> Sometimes one person won\u2019t get with the program. Delve deep to find out the cause. Is something happening at home? Often, the employee has valid concerns she won\u2019t discuss because she doesn\u2019t trust you. Maybe the team member needs reassignment to workout her issues. Provide funding for counseling, if needed.<\/p> Conclusion<\/strong><\/p> A toxic work environment is harmful to your health. Seek professional help if you feel trapped in your position. But set a red line and don\u2019t allow anyone to cross it. Beware: effects of your toxic workplace will spill over to your home, marriage, and family.<\/p> A toxic workplace will cause burn-out at any level. No organization is immune. Toxicity infects businesses, government, charities, and churches. Learn symptoms, identify them early, and work to change the culture. Though some creators of toxicity won\u2019t change, try to help them even if they must leave the organization.<\/p> By Michel A. Bell<\/p> About the author: <\/strong>Michel A. Bell is<\/em> an author,<\/em> speaker, adjunct professor of business administration at Briercrest College, and founder and president of Managing God’s Money, a mission devoted to providing free Christian financial and biblical stewardship advice.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In 2018, Oxford Dictionary made toxic its word of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":29425,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,1337],"tags":[216,4517],"class_list":["post-29422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-management-leadership","category-primezone","tag-leadership","tag-workemvironment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/servidor-mxigen1.com\/ceona-antiguo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/servidor-mxigen1.com\/ceona-antiguo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/servidor-mxigen1.com\/ceona-antiguo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/servidor-mxigen1.com\/ceona-antiguo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/servidor-mxigen1.com\/ceona-antiguo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29422"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/servidor-mxigen1.com\/ceona-antiguo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29422\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29433,"href":"http:\/\/servidor-mxigen1.com\/ceona-antiguo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29422\/revisions\/29433"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/servidor-mxigen1.com\/ceona-antiguo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/servidor-mxigen1.com\/ceona-antiguo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/servidor-mxigen1.com\/ceona-antiguo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/servidor-mxigen1.com\/ceona-antiguo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}