29 Jun 2017
What kind of Work Environment is consider Toxic
A toxic work environment is one where people at the bottom are experiencing corrosive pressures, and these corrosive pressures are draining them and making them wanting to leave.
Sometimes a toxic relationship develops from a misguided belief that this kind of behavior leads to better performance. Leaders can get confused between being demanding and being inappropriate in how they handle someone. One can put a lot of pressure on someone to perform well, but there is a place where this is no longer putting pressure on you and this is about hating you, or undercutting you, or diminishing your control and undermining your ability to perform.”
The Price of Incivility
Many people feel stretched and overwhelmed by the 24/7 expectations of work and answering to short message service (sms), which tends to make them less mindful in their interactions with others, and, as a consequence, less civil. I have wondered why it is tolerated, because there are such negative effects on people and which affects the organization (you may not be surprised as the bosses are doing it themselves - they are the toxic spreaders themselves).
And what has been concluded over the course of time is that the vast majority of it stems from people not recognizing the effect they have on others or they simply care less about others. They are just not attentive or rather very much kpi focused. They just don’t realize they come off as negatively as they do.
Incivility exacts a cost. The balance of power is very much in favor of the organisation (they are banded together or singing the same song). So the only recourse is to leave and potentially not find another job. Employees who chose not to leave exhibit certain behavior that could be detrimental to the organization they worked. They are generally not motivated to work (no doubt about it).
Researchers Christine Porath and Christine Pearson spent 14 years asking more than 14,000 workers how they are treated. An unbelievable 98 percent of respondents said they experienced behavior that crossed the bounds. In one study across 17 industries, they found that, of those who experienced workplace incivility, 48 percent intentionally decreased their work effort, 47 percent intentionally decreased the time they spent at work, 38 percent intentionally decreased the quality of their work, 63 percent lost time avoiding the offender, 80 percent lost time worrying about it, 66 percent said their performance declined and 87 percent said their commitment to the company declined and 12 percent reported leaving their jobs because of the uncivil treatment. The tab for incivility can run into the millions.
To be abusive, someone has to have the power over you or attempt to have power over you, and then you have to in some way authorize them to behave in that way.
Individuals who find themselves in a toxic workplace do have options. Documenting and reporting the conditions, approaching the human resources department, confronting the abuser, confronting the abuser’s boss, etc. There is a technique for dealing with these people (but in reality, most of the time, goliath overpowers david). But they can always be otherwise depending on the (culture of the organization and the one person up the echelon who will command the respect (hopefully so but quite doubtful).
You may like it to have stopped but if it doesn’t stop here, this is what you can do about it. And it may mean putting it all in writing by letter and/or an email and cc it to HR (sometimes HR is part of the game), as well as hand-delivered it. You can look at confronting or reporting an issue as a series of actions. It also depends on the severity and frequency of the offense and the toxicity.
Still, there are potential dangers. Always be aware that you can be fired, backstabbed, set up, physically attacked and people may commit slander, libel and assassinate your character.
The Art of Office Politics
Thumping a subordinate manager (victim) down, finding faults about his performance, removing the manager's coworkers and getting the coworkers to work against the manager and messing up the department work flow by changing the ways the department works to undermine the quality of service delivery by using your authority to cause confusion and disruption are all of a toxic act against someone, turning it upside down and worst of all, penalise the person for all the above mentioned - a well directed conspiracy. These clever ploys could render the subordinate manager inability to conduct himself professionally and optimally. Remenber, this practise is in the real working world, so real that you do not believe it has come to the extent of satisfying the hunger of the perpetrator's senior officer with such off-integrity of one's character, has caused a person to devote taking such irresponsible misdoing and it seems to be quite a cruel and disheartening act of the perpetrator to the recipient with such toxic office-politics in existence.
Sometimes, if it comes to a point where one can no longer support the work functions, particularly if one is in a position of leading the team, the only honourable cause is sometimes to make an exit which may seem to be the best option. It is not factually wrong but proves that it's time to go. There are always a new place for a new job, or work for yourself and start your own business with friends instead of not leaving the toxic boss and workplace. It will only get worse as you are the target. Nothing stopped them from pursuing these little wickedness of theirs so much so as to protect their pants from getting too loose as to drop off the waist but having to live with such a low lying dignity of theirs.
Is HR always impartial?
By virtue, HR should be a department with impartiality and working things out fairly without losing integrity of acting in cahoots with them and following along the instruction of the senior leaders. If this happens, there is no avenues for an employee to grief over the unfairness of a toxic boss and environment. Such is a sorry state of an organization which practised toxic office politics.
You may be in for a surprise as everyone is quite fearful of losing their family coffers as not listening to order will mean that you aren't part of the team working in concert together. So in life, there is no certainty that you will be treated fairly even from the HR department. HR department has in this way become influenced by the senior leaders (senior leaders govern by inflicting fear) and could no longer act clear headedly but manipulated by fear of losing their jobs.
Conclusion
No leader can call himself/herself a leader if he or she turns a blind eye to a toxic work culture and worse practising toxicity. Ignorance of what is going on is not an excuse. A leader worth his/her salt keeps his/her finger on the pulse of the organization and ensures that it's a good place for people to do their work best. There is more to running a business than watching the financial metrics and making money. Some leaders preached to be "the best organization to work for" but do not responsibly practise it. This is such a shame!!!!!!
Ref: Porath & Pearson
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