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In my twenties, I met the most amazing salesman: if a potential buyer liked cigars and cognac, he would show up in cowboy boots with a drink and a cigarette – every part he needed to get his order. And he often did.
Yet these behaviors often spilled over into the workplace. He became so good at mixing in to get what he needed from folks that we never knew when he was being real and when he was just trying to achieve his own goals. Of course, being a chameleon in the workplace may be positive if their goals are aligned with the company’s goals. On the other hand, it may spread toxicity.
Although joyful employees create joyful corporations, working in a toxic environment could cause serious problems for employees mental and physical harm. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, lost productivity due to depression and anxiety in the workplace costs the global economy $1 trillion and Americans $192.3 billion in lost wages annually.
While the best risk comes from toxic leadership, even one toxic person on a team can spread to others and ultimately the entire company. At this point, the time and effort required from all involved to pull it out and solve it can grow to be a huge undertaking. Instead, with a little planning and preventive measures, leaders can root out toxic behaviors and maintain healthy workplaces.
What makes a workplace toxic?
Toxic behavior can take many forms – abuse, manipulation, intimidation, taunting or threats; blaming team members for personal shortcomings, marginalizing them, or pitting them against each other. The most toxic environments are often run by insecure individuals who act in their very own self-interest over the well-being of others. Toxic leaders create subordinates who reflect unhealthy relationships on their people, and the toxicity can spread throughout entire departments.
Such a toxic environment is harmful worker motivation and satisfactionresulting in poor communication and disengagement that harms productivity. In 2023 study by Mental Health Americaalmost 8 in 10 employees believed that workplace stress resulting from toxic behavior affected their mental health. The mental and physical damage caused by toxic workplacesequivalent to headaches, hypertension, anxiety, depression and even post-traumatic stress disorder all hinder performance. Worst of all, good people in the realm of toxicity could also be forced to quit to escape it.
Be proactive about workplace safety
Leaders can prevent problems from becoming toxic by creating a protected environment where everyone can do their best. This includes clarifying roles and responsibilities, setting realistic expectations, and enabling and encouraging people to think freely, make mistakes and improve.
Leaders must also be understanding when experiences outside the workplace impact our ability to work. Recently, a member of the family struggling with personal problems found it difficult to meet work responsibilities. In a toxic environment, their boss could respond by spreading the toxicity and creating one other toxic worker. Instead, their boss was patient and gave them space to heal, and they went back to work grateful.
Of course, despite our greatest efforts, toxic behavior can infiltrate even the safest of environments. So establish an motion plan to get to the source and root it out. Here are three ways to get began:
1. Ask questions
When confronting potentially toxic situations, ask yourself: Did the individuals who hired them exhibit toxic behavior, or did it develop while they were a part of our team? If it’s the former, how can we revise our recruiting process to take it into account? If the latter, where do they have problems: with colleagues or clients; peers or superiors; and how can we help them?
Learn to assess your communication style for signs of selfishness and insecurity. Are they talking to learn something, to make clear something and come to an agreement, or just to be right? Do they listen, process feedback and make improvements, or do they justify, deny and reject? Did they show respect? Interrupting or dominating a conversation may be a warning sign of toxicity.
2. Take out the last 10%
Leaders can only solve toxic behavior by learning about it, but there is so much going on in the company that leaders cannot see. Those hidden behaviors that go unchecked the longest can often do the most damage. If the environment looks good at first glance, people may feel uncomfortable raising issues that might disrupt it.
While most employees can easily start a conversation about 80% or 90% of their problems, at our company we try to make them feel protected enough to offer that last 10% – those nagging conflicts which will include unnoticed low-level toxic behaviors. severity. To some extent, this requires a persistent pessimism about what may lie beneath the surface. Still, continually searching for to disclose these concerns higher ensures our ability to maintain a healthy environment.
3. Fix what may be fixed, remove what cannot
Not all toxic behavior is a bad apple. Even the best coworkers may be toxic from time to time, and it’s still value trying to reach out. More information about roles, responsibilities, company goals or culture could also be enough to make clear any confusion.
Lead discussions and develop improvement plans. Use examples they will understand and explain what needs to change in a way that enables them to have a productive conversation. For repeat offenders who are unable to recognize their behavior as toxic, consider the value of removing them before the toxicity spreads.
Build a network of champions in the workplace
For individuals to feel protected enough to talk about toxic behavior, leaders need a network of managers who will defend these relationships. This requires the self-awareness we set as an example and our ability to receive feedback and reflection. I consider my actions through the prism of others and when I’m unsure, I ask. Our rolling review policy allows me to go directly to team members who report to my direct reports, not to step on toes, but to gain insight. In a toxic workplace, these policies can create uncertainty and discomfort, but by proactively trying to build mutual respect and a protected leadership environment in the workplace, we set the stage for healthy team dynamics and long-term organizational success.