Communication
Communication is ineffective, or employees feel like they’re being lied to.
Passive-aggressive communication is common.
Tempers are frayed and people argue, rather than debate.
Miscommunications fester – rather than being resolved.
Employees regularly get involved in unhealthy conflicts.
Mental Health
People feel like they never get a break.
People feel like they’re ‘walking on eggshells’.
There’s a culture of tactic, or explicit, bullying.
People are defensive a lot or behave aggressively.
Employees show signs of stress or depression.
Lack of motivation is common.
Culture
Metrics matter but people don’t seem to.
People are treated unfairly.
Employees feel unappreciated.
Employees behave as if they’re under threat.
Office gossip or ‘cliquey’ behavior proliferates.
Unnecessary micro-management is common.
Employees don’t feel like they’re important.
Employees don’t perceive they have control over their actions, the ability to make decisions, or the ability to make a difference.
Behavior
It’s not always clear who’s responsible for work and people are afraid to ask.
Employees miss deadlines, and deliver work late, or to a lower standard.
Companies create unrealistic KPIs, or metrics that are impossible to achieve.
Teams fight against each other, rather than collaborating.
The boss behaves irrationally, or unreasonably.
Promotions and pay rises are inconsistent.
There’s high employee turnover.
Often, the saddest sign of a toxic workplace is that employees just don’t want to go to work. They’re demotivated, lethargic, and ambivalent.
5 replies (most recent on top)
I can BS as well as anyone in there LOL
"That last part about turnover describes the toxic work environment this individual has created perfectly"
Well spill the tea!
I see these behaviors (many of them at one time) at play most days. A lot of this can be traced back to the rampant outsourcing that continues to happen. A lot of the times contractors and consultants, although disposable by nature, are treated like gods among managers, directors and executives. In the last 5 years, to stay ahead of sourcing I've moved positions 4 times as a direct result. In most cases, after layoffs the position you are left with is mainly being the go between for management (whom tend to think of a sourcing as free ride to coast on a gravy train under the radar) and an inflexible and undedicated external contracting firm. To match the quality of work you used to deliver in the position pre-sourcing requires 10x the input just to get the contractors to a deliverable. And then, to make matters worse management then praises the turnaround the contractor did to rectify the situation - most times not realizing it was the internal employees that had to step up to cover the gaps. After a few months of this most people fall into the list this post(er) has provided .... leading to turnover, or moving to a new position to escape sourcing he-l.
"Metrics matter and but people don't seem to", should be the new Enbridge slogan. It sums things up perfectly.
If this company was running like clockwork, then yes, you can invest your time in to perfecting things and analysis.
To get to that point, it's going to require a complete overhaul. Judging by how badly change happens at Enbridge, I think we are left to work within this broken system.
That last part about turnover describes the toxic work environment this individual has created perfectly.