Toxic work culture…
…and signs to tell you, you are being exploited.
Have you ever felt guilty for leaving on time? For taking a break? For saying ‘no’ to a request of a manager/colleague because it’s outside your scope?
Toxic work culture is far more common than you might think. Not only in countries that are commonly known as every capitalists wet dream, but even in countries with supposedly good work-life balance such as Sweden. However, it can have many facets and many smaller issues can easily be invisible to one’s attention. When a feeling of burnout sets in, it usually already took its toll. Let’s dig deeper into some rather common and subtle traits of a toxic work culture.
First of all, it’s important to set the stage. There is a major difference between smaller companies (start-ups and established) and larger corporations when it comes to the work culture. The latter usually feels much more stiff, but has many rules in place both for the employees and the employers sake, while the former tends to ‘wing it’. It might seem quite promising to be more in control of the work culture in a smaller company, but in my experience and in my research for this article I have found that especially smaller companies are much more likely to have a toxic work culture. In all fairness, I believe it to be often unintentional and rather a result an unreflected idea of a good work culture mixed with lack of experience.
But first, let’s get into some signs that you are part of a toxic work culture:
- You feel guilty for leaving the office earlier than the others.
We all know the feeling. You came in early, barely had any break because you were in the zone and you start crashing towards the end of your work day. You have had a productive day, feel good about your effort and have nothing left that needs to be done today. But when you want to pack your things to leave, you feel like it’s “too early”, especially since all of your colleagues and/or your manager who arrived later and had more breaks will still be in the office for a little while longer.
Absolute classic, and a sign that your work results are probably not seen or cared for (for a variety of mismanagement reasons) and your presence takes priority. You simply don’t feel free in the execution of your work.
2. Your employer schedules fun activities for team building — but only during break time or after working hours.
A popular one, especially in smaller companies. It is important to get the team together and do something as well outside of work focus. This could be a running group, yoga during lunch or some afterwork activities connected to the office space. But even internal conferences or webinars outside your work scope might be part of it. Generally a great idea, but if they are only scheduled outside of your working hours, e.g. unpaid time for you, then your employer doesn’t care for the team building or internal knowledge transfer.
It’s quite simple: if it is an important part of the working culture, then it should be part of the working time. Everything outside of it is a result of guilting employees into spending their own time off-work to be part of work.
3. Working from anywhere is bound to specific rules or not allowed at all.
Okay, this is a bit of a complicated one, but bear with me. During the Covid-19 pandemic, working from home became the norm for many companies for a short duration. It was a wild mess and everyone was confused, and that’s okay. After an adaption period, companies started to develop solutions for their working style, often resulting in the hybrid 3–2 model, at least 3 days in the office and 2 can be taken from home. Fair enough, but actually, not good enough. I will not go into a lengthy argument here, but it’s quite obvious: if you have a good management style (e.g. you focus on your employees results and not their attendance), it will not be relevant where they work from. And don’t try to justify it with team-building and the sorts. That usually goes into point 2) mentioned above. And if you really want to bring everyone together for a specific event/workshop/etc., then that will be no problem and is a rather simple scheduling task.
Still, this point is in a discussion and adaptation period, but if you have expected attendance in the office despite your work not bound to anything but a computer with internet, your employer is likely on the verge of being toxic at least. The freedom of employees to choose their working environment and bring life back into work-life balance is the non-toxic future. Deal with it.
4. Your personal development is not or insufficiently planned.
It should be in every managers interest to develop their staff and get the best out of them. But not only of them, also of you, as an employee. Growth and development are among the most important aspects to feel content and belonging at work. You should have a development plan, you should have goals that are more than arbitrary KPIs and you should have regular 1–1 sessions with your manager to talk about your development and clear steps how to get there. This takes effort, as it requires managers to actually learn about their staff and what drives them, but if this is not taken into account, frustration will kick in fast and employees will feel not appreciated.
Having a development plan and goals is a simple must.
5. You are underpaid.
Quite an obvious one, but maybe not that obvious to employers. In the end, salary needs to rise if employees continue to bring expected results. A simple yearly adjustment to cover increasing cost of living is the bare minimum. Everything below that is abuse. But even the bare minimum might not be enough, considering employees might improve their competences, have pushed for internal developments or landed promising new leads and clients. If the salary is rising insufficiently, it’s a toxic place to keep on working.
6. There is a narrative of “family” and “helping each other out”.
Your employer is not your family. Your colleagues are not your family. Unless they are of course, but let’s take that out of the picture here. The point is, a narrative that is driven by words such as family is toxic. It doesn’t create a safe space of belonging, it guilts people into having to do more than is expected of them according to their work contracts and additionally expect an unconditional loyalty. But also, it is unprofessional and disregards the professional integrity of the employees. Any place with such a narrative is a major red flag.
7. There is a lack of feedback.
Feedback is important. Most people/companies/managers/colleagues do it wrong (see my article on feedback from January 2021), but having no form of feedback is also a problem. There needs to be a good feedback loop between manager and employees in order to built trust in regards to the professional sphere. Without having established a common ground about how to give and receive feedback, about how to approach work related issues and successes, there will be no openness to ask questions and talk deeply about concerns or better ideas from the employees side.
Feedback is important and I still vouch for investing time and energy into learning how to do it properly. Everyone will win, and not having proper feedback is toxic.
8. There is no or an insufficient support network
People dare you to ask questions. About everything basically. Things you don’t know, things you know, things you are curious about. All good, but what if whenever you ask a question, you are greeted with a patronising and almost insulting response? It makes you not wanting to ask questions anymore and rather work on your own.
This one is a bit more complex, as it is rather individual, but it can also be the result of toxic work cultures and a legacy of it. In the end, if a work place doesn’t give you the feeling that asking questions is enriching, but it instead opens up to a patronising 10-minute lecture, then it is at least a sign of toxicity of that individual.
There are definitely more and even more subtle signs of a toxic work culture, but I believe many of you have experienced at least some of those I have mentioned here. There are different types of organisations that have stronger or weaker signs of toxicity and in the end, it’s a compromise as well in your own situation of what works best. We can’t always hit the jackpot and work for an employer that ticks all non-toxic boxes, and that’s alright as well. I believe it’s important to be aware of signs of toxicity in the work culture and reflect upon them. They will help you avoid signs of burnout and guide you in your career steps. Here are some suggestions of what to do when you found yourself in a toxic work culture.
- Take it easy.
First and foremost: your employer is not your family and your colleagues are not your friends (unless they are, right?). As well as you are replaceable in your work. So, take a breather, look into your task description, reflect about your results and deliver as is expected of you. You don’t owe your employer to do more than that, and if you deliver it and it’s not appreciated, take a step back and focus on your own life instead.
2. Screen your market value and keep applying for other roles.
You might think this is a bit odd, especially if you are rather fresh in a role, but I’d say, it’s a rather easy way to keep a good overview over your own value. Just casually keep browsing, if something of interest pops up, just apply. In the end all it requires of you is an updated CV. If they ask for more, they are probably a toxic employer anyways. And if you have some interviews here and there, it helps you keep your interview skills fresh, but also push for your own wishes. Since you will not be in a dire need of change, you won’t be desperate and can just ask for the salary and conditions you desire. And keep in mind, you owe no loyalty to any employer apart from the professional courtesy (e.g. keeping trade secrets, no trashtalk about them and colleagues). Just don’t obsess with the job search, there is a lot (a lot!) of trash out there and that can be toxic and overwhelming in it’s own way.
3. Focus on your own side hustles
Your employment should not take over the majority of your own life. So, if you keep that in mind, as well as point 1), try to focus on your own side hustles and things you want to get going. Either it’s a crafting project, or you want to learn a new language, or you want to start your own business on the side. These things can be incredibly enriching and really brush your skills in new areas, while also helping you get your mind off of your potentially toxic work culture you have to deal with during your day job. But also, it will help you realise that there is more than your day job, and that’s always an important insight.
I will keep it at these three points, as the focus of this article is the awareness of a toxic work culture. Just a quick note: I intentionally left out the advice to talk with managers about the toxic work culture, as it usually is a fundamental issue that many before you tried to fight and lost in in the end. My point is always to pick your fights. You can’t fight everything and you can’t win everything. Try to focus on the things that you have more control over.
And if you are a founder in a small-scale startup or company and feel like some of the points fit your own work culture, maybe just take a step back and try to reflect on your own. It might be that you are (unintentionally) building a toxic one and some of your employees are on the verge of quitting. But more about the difference of small-scale companies and larger corporations from the eyes of a non-stock holding employee at another time.
For the time being, try to spread some love and take it easy. We are all just winging it and try to look out for ourselves.
P. out.
