We've been hearing the term "culture" significantly more in the last few years and did a research:

Forbes (2016) vs. LinkedIn (2019)
“The biggest problem for many working people is that the actual work on their desks is the easiest part of the job. Nothing they are responsible for doing at work is especially challenging." - Liz Ryan, Forbes
Ultimately, the price of a toxic company culture is Failure, which can be conceptualized in terms of the three Fs: Frustration, Fear, and Financial setback. - National Business Research Institute
Most leaders have a hard time frankly acknowledging problems with their company cultures. It is hard for them to look in the mirror and see how they personally have contributed to the toxic culture in their workplace.
What might a CEO be afraid of? They are afraid of missing their goals, so they bluster and threaten to chop heads. They are afraid of looking stupid in front of their direct reports, so they pontificate on their soapbox when they should say "I actually don't know what we should do. What do you guys think?"
Anybody can begin a conversation about the elephant in the room -- a broken culture -- but everybody also has an excuse that lets them off the hook when the question "Why don't you say something about the toxic culture?" comes up.
Low-level employees can say "I can't speak up! I might get fired." Mid-level managers can say "What can I do to change the culture? I'm just a first-level manager." Vice presidents can say "I can't jeopardize my position! My CEO doesn't want to hear the truth." Even the CEO can say "My team doesn't tell me anything. What am I supposed to do if people won't communicate?"
"High performers quit toxic work cultures. Every day on platforms such as LinkedIn, high performers are getting messages from recruiters and competitors who are selling the dream that the grass is greener. If your company has a toxic work culture, high performers have nothing to lose by moving on and trying another company." - Tim Denning, LinkedIn
1. People can't make decisions. It’s easier to make no decision than it is to make a decision that admits things need to change.
2. Working from home or part-time work is seen as lazy. Being chained to a desk in an office does not make you high performing or a profitable asset; being allowed to be flexible and treated like a human does.
3. Entrepreneurship is frowned upon. Toxic work cultures hate entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs because they are scared to death that they are going to leave and steal their ideas. Entrepreneurs are the reason that businesses are created in the first place — remember that.
4. Management vs. Us culture. Leaders are referred to as management and the front line staff are told that the company is cutting costs. In a non-toxic culture, management and staff are one and people are accountable. Sentences like “Management needs to do…” are not relevant because staff can make decisions and the two sides of the business are one.
5. The number of hours you work matter. Judging people by when they start work and how late they work is irrelevant. We all know that the number of hours we work has nothing to do with output.
6. Preferential Treatment. These are people that are given extra privileges for enforcing the leaderships toxic culture and talking behind people’s backs in order to gain something. Instead of being part of the solution, they make the problem bigger and are rewarded for it.
7. Talking down to people who have found themselves in the wrong role. People in the wrong roles can be some of the best staff you have in your business if you can be compassionate enough to give them a second chance in a different role.
8. Shaming low performance. If there are punishments for low performance, you have a big problem.
9. A rotating door policy. When people decide to leave or mention they are thinking of leaving, they are talked about as traitors.
Having people leave regularly is normal and acceptable in toxic work environments. There are no exit interviews or questions around why a particular leader has had so many people leave in a short space of time.
10. Asking staffs to write positive reviews online to cover up toxicity. Yes, it happens. Toxic cultures can easily be recognized by former staff leaving negative reviews on places such as GlassDoor.
1. A feeling you will pick up when you spend time in a workplace where people don't communicate, don't smile, don't joke and don't reinforce one another.
2. People are very concerned about titles, job descriptions and levels in the hierarchy.
3. Rules and policies are very important. It's more important than the good judgment of your teammates, their combined decades of experience or the rich context of the situation you're dealing with.
4. Managers and employees make up two completely separate groups that seldom interact.
5. While it's well known that employees are unhappy, nobody talks about it openly. HR people may be off-site or just not involved, or they may be frustratingly chirpy and ineffectual as they pretend along with everybody else.
6. Much talk about infractions and demerits but little to no recognition of extraordinary effort or triumphs.
7. People do not speak up even when they are presented with impossible goals, ridiculous plans or patently stupid ideas they are expected to implement. They say nothing, but later they complain.
8. The informal grapevine is many times more effective as a communications network than any type of official company communication.
9. Employees have little to no latitude in performing their jobs. Every procedure is spelled out for them. If they are rewarded at all, they are rewarded for hitting their goals and following the rules, but never for having breakout ideas or pushing for much-needed changes -- activities that could get them fired.
10. Fear is palpable in the environment. Doors slam and whispered conversations take place in stairwells. Everybody is concerned with his or her own spot on the company's constantly-shifting, internal stock index.
“The final sign of a toxic workplace is that there is no community. The few people who laugh and joke with one another get suspicious sideways looks from people who are too afraid to let their hair down. Outspoken employees and non-traditional thinkers don't last long. They get disgusted and leave or they are invited to leave when their style clashes with the status quo.” - Liz Ryan, Forbes
by National Business Research Institute
Regardless of the source, a toxic culture will flourish when there is no PACT between leadership and employees, or Professionalism, Appreciation, Consistency, and Trust.
Professionalism gives structure and order to the organization by developing a set of standards that employees are required to adhere to.
Appreciation is necessary to ensure employees feel content, valued and willing to put in the extra effort needed to make the organization succeed. It may be intangible – taking the form of praise for work well done, or tangible – such as financial rewards or remuneration for specific accomplishments.
Consistency is essential to nurture a feeling of security and attachment to the organization. It provides a stable foundation that allows employees to focus their attention on work and creating added value.
Trust is the final component of a healthy and productive workplace. Without trust, employees do not feel secure revealing their weaknesses, and as a result, insecurities fester. Employees become eager to blame others for their mistakes and focus more on building defenses rather than building the business.
Ultimately, the price of a toxic company culture is Failure, which can be conceptualized in terms of the three Fs: Frustration, Fear, and Financial setback.
A Failing Grade
Frustration is both rampant and inevitable in these circumstances, because employees will end up working in different directions and at odds with each other since there is no harmony or consistency in the organization. Due to low employee morale, accomplishing the simplest tasks may become difficult. As a result, the organization becomes sluggish and unresponsive, a state that will greatly impact the customer service experience.
Fear is a powerful motivator, and in toxic companies, the motivation is simply to keep one’s head down and stay out of the firing zone. As a result, employees only feel capable of doing enough work to get by. Their energies are consumed by worry, and they are afraid to attract attention to themselves because attention is never positive. This means they are unlikely to have the confidence to deal with customers effectively or push the strategy of the company forward. Ultimately, this will lead to considerable lost opportunity costs, because the focus becomes not innovation, but stagnation.
Financial setbacks are unavoidable for organizations with toxic company cultures. Substantial fiscal losses are incurred due to absenteeism, lower productivity, turnover costs, lost opportunity costs, and withholding of effort due to a lack of enthusiasm. As a result, more resources will be required simply to maintain status quo, and all the while, competitors will gradually gain the upper hand. As time passes, the organization will dig itself deeper and deeper into an emotional and financial pit, a fate that could have been prevented by a simple PACT.
"If we were all determined to play the first violin, we should never have an ensemble. Therefore, respect every musician in his proper place." - Robert Schumann
"In teamwork, silence isn't golden. It's deadly." - Mark Sanborn
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