Workplace Wellbeing: The hidden cost of toxic behaviour in the office
According to the Toxic Workplace Report carried out in Britain in 2023, the majority of workers — some 75% of the 2,000 employees they surveyed — have experienced a toxic workplace culture.
Our recent LinkedIn callout for examples of toxic workplace behaviours generated a broad range of replies.
One person shared their experience of putting hours into a project only for their supervisor to write their own name on the subsequent report and take all the credit.
Another remembered working for someone who micromanaged to the extent that nobody felt trusted to do their jobs.
A PhD student wrote about their research with trainee doctors who spoke about colleagues conspiring against one another for professional advantage, shifting the blame for mistakes onto others and being subjected to verbal abuse from consultants.
According to the Toxic Workplace Report carried out in Britain in 2023, the majority of workers — some 75% of the 2,000 employees they surveyed — have experienced a toxic workplace culture.
The figures are similar in the US, where a survey of HR leaders and full-time employees found that 77% witnessed some form of workplace toxicity.
Two themes emerged from the replies to our LinkedIn callout. One was that it often took people time to realise such behaviour was unacceptable, and the other was they struggled to know what to do about it.
Mary Connaughton is the director of CIPD Ireland, a professional body for HR and people development. She understands why people might find it difficult to know when to draw the line between a bad day at the office and a toxic work environment.
She points out that this can be particularly challenging for those new to the workforce. After all, they have been told that work is supposed to be hard and it will take time to find their feet professionally.
“Because they don’t have much prior experience to draw upon, young employees could easily think bad behaviour is the norm,” she says.
“People who come in from outside can find it difficult, too. Often, people who have been in a workplace for a long time become blind to the problems within it. They have learned to live with and work around those problems for so long that they no longer notice them. If you’re a newcomer in that environment, it’s easy to question whether you’re the one with the problem.”
There’s a rule of thumb that Connaughton believes helps to determine whether you’re the unreasonable one. “Ask yourself how safe you feel to raise your views and express your opinions,” she says.
“Do you feel you can trust those around you to listen to what you have to say? In a toxic work environment, the answer to those questions is likely to be no.”
Dr Wladislaw Rivkin, associate professor of organisational behaviour at Trinity College Dublin, worries that our use of the word ‘toxic’ may be confusing.
“There is a difference between the bad management practices that many now define as toxic behaviour and a truly toxic organisational culture,” he says. “In the latter, the goal is to keep certain individuals in power even through illegal action. There is also an intent to engage in unethical behaviours with a clear benefit for those at the top.”
Toxic workplaces share characteristics, according to Rivkin. “Their leaders can be autocratic, narcissistic and manipulative,” he says. “Some susceptible followers may conform or even reinforce the environment created by the leader. That then leads to the creation of circumstances such as instability, perceived threats or questionable values.”
Some of the same red flags might be raised when you experience toxic behaviour or toxic culture in the workplace. What’s different is the response you will get when you make a complaint.
“Take the example of being overworked,” says Rivkin. “In a company with bad management practices, the toxic behaviour might be that you are not given adequate support for your work tasks. But if you approach a more senior manager, you’re likely to find that there’s an opportunity to change that behaviour with the proper training and development.”
This is not likely to happen in a company with a toxic culture.
You might be told that you will get fired if you don’t work overtime, says Rivkin, but when you approach management with a complaint, you’ll find that you won’t be taken seriously. That’s because making such unreasonable demands of employees has become engrained in the organisation.
So, under what circumstances should you take a stand in the workplace? Connaughton lists a few.
“If you hear people making derogatory remarks about colleagues, if people’s views are overlooked and their voices aren’t heard, or if there’s bullying or discrimination, even if it’s micro-aggressions like people being undermined, none of these are acceptable behaviours,” she says.
Work tasks should be outlined appropriately and provided with the support you need to complete them.
The issue of overwork can be thornier to resolve because the workload tends to vary in most workplaces, with some periods being busier than others.
According to Connaughton, the problem arises when people feel they haven’t been adequately trained to do their jobs, are overworked for a prolonged period, or have too few employees to complete the work.
“In a healthy workplace, when you raise this issue, you’ll be listened to and told that the problem will be resolved once new employees come on board or that you’ll get recovery time once you meet an upcoming deadline,” she says.
“But in a toxic one, you probably won’t be listened to and even if you are, very little is likely to change as a result.”
You might be told to put up and shut up, but doing so won’t help you. ‘The Toxic Workplace Report’ found when people experienced a toxic workplace culture, it negatively affected their mental health in 87% of cases.
Nor will it benefit your organisation. “It’s in an organisation’s best interests to create an environment where employees feel they can grow personally and professionally and perform to the best of their abilities,” says Connaughton.
“A toxic environment works against that. There’s also data to show that it leads to increased absenteeism and employee turnover. Allowing toxic behaviour comes with huge costs.”
So, how do you go about challenging such behaviour? Connaughton recommends starting by discussing the issue with colleagues that you trust.
“Find out if the behaviour was a once-off or part of an ongoing pattern,” she says. “And ask them if they also find it problematic.”
You could decide to approach management or HR based on the outcome of this conversation. “Remember that there is legislation to protect your rights in the workplace,” says Connaughton.
“Go to HR with facts rather than feelings. Describe exactly what you have seen, and once they have been presented with those clearly identified behaviours, they should be able to put measures in place to change them.”
Rivkin believes change is possible in most organisations. “Mismanagement may be harmful to individuals and their organisations, but it’s often due to a simple lack of competence by managers and employees,” he says. “This can usually be resolved with the right training and development.”
The organisations with a toxic culture are the exception. If you find yourself in a workplace where people are dishonest or certain personalities or behaviours cannot be questioned, it’s Rivkin’s opinion that “provided you’re in a position to leave, changing jobs may be your best course of action”.
