They made it sound like some sort of utopia in the interview however, after starting work in your new job you may start to notice that some things are a little off.
Here are 10 signs you may have entered into a toxic working environment.
1. Blame Culture
If you've entered a workplace and you notice that people are reluctant to take accountability for even the smallest of mistakes, then this is a strong indication of toxicity. Your colleagues may be quick to blame someone or something else for their own errors. This suggests the working environment is not open and honest, and you are more likely to be berated, sometimes publicly, rather than being offered the support, training or resource you need to ensure the error does not happen again. Open and honest workplaces, where employees are offered training opportunities rather than punishments thrive. This is because employers can then quickly identify knowledge gaps in their employees, and work with them to enhance and improve processes.
2. Favouritism and an Obvious "In Crowd"
Snide comments? Whispers and giggling in the corner? Or even pointing and laughing? If you feel that you have reverted back to high school when you enter your place of work, then yet again you are in a place of high toxicity. It's natural to have colleagues you get along with more than others however, if there is an obvious clique popular with management, that seems to be highly exclusive, then this is not normal. Especially if that group has gained its status by making fun of other employees. This is management enabled workplace bullying and is completely unacceptable in any work environment.
Blatant signs of favouritism can be frustrating, that is unless you are the favourite. If you notice a fellow colleagues' mistakes are covered up or excused by management for no apparent reason, then this is a clear sign. Don't get me wrong, there's no issue receiving rewards from management "if" you are good at your job, as you are favoured because you are the most competent at what you do. However, the favourites in a toxic workplace are favoured, possibly because their kids are friends with the managers' kids, or they and the manager are both fans of the same football team. In my opinion, in these scenarios of favouritism, managers know what they're doing, and know that it is obvious, but they don't care as this kind of favouritism is engrained into the company culture.
3. Low Employee Engagement
It becomes obvious that employees are disengaged when you attend any meetings relating to topics about how to improve your working environment or, work-life balance. Low engagement is an indication that your fellow colleagues know that these meetings are just paying lip service and checking boxes. It could be that your colleagues are aware that even if they made a suggestion it wouldn't even be considered, and have therefore become apathetic when it comes to discussions around these topics. This can also be clear in the data that depicts the number of employees who chose not to fill out, for example, the annual employee feedback survey. If employee engagement is low this can lead to high staff turnover, which I will cover in the next point.
4. High Employee Turn Over
If people are walking around like zombies, and colleagues are announcing they're leaving left, right, and centre, then this is not a good sign. Something is pushing employees out of this work environment, and more than likely it's the toxic culture, rotten to the core. If you find continuously that a hostile environment is being created for employees working their notice, this indicates that management would rather treat the employee who has decided to leave as an enemy, rather than try and understand their reasons for leaving. These are usually the actions of managers who are insecure about their managerial abilities and leadership skills. Good working environments will have competent managers who will conduct exit interviews to fully understand why that employee has decided to leave. Exit interviews help to maintain your professional network and ensure you leave a company with a good lasting impression.
5. Managers Who Don't Know How To Lead
Unmotivated, uninspired, and just outright bored. If you witness people managers, who don't appear to have any people skills, then you should expect to find apathetic employees. It's possible in these cases, that people are promoted to managerial positions because they were good at doing the job, that they are now managing others to do. This may sound logical, however some industries require managers to be strong leaders. For example, you may have been the best car salesperson in the region, but does this mean you have the skills to motivate, inspire and get the best out of a team of salespeople? Sometimes the best leaders are not always the ones that were the best at doing the job, they are now managing others to do. They are good leaders because they possess the ability to teach, and help their team members reach their full potential. You know what they say, "Those that can, do, and those that can't, teach."
If you come across managers who, really shouldn't be managing anyone, this indicates poor judgement of character from higher up the chain and a reluctance to correct the issue.
6. Taking Credit For Others Work Goes Unnoticed
If you've had the unfortunate experience of having someone else take credit and recognition for your hard work, then you know how painful this is. It's even worse however when it seems to go unnoticed or uncorrected by management. Your chances of promotion and bonuses are usually dependent on your performance and reinforced by the feedback and recognition you get for good work. The knowledge of this can increase stress especially if you know someone is taking credit for all your hard work. There should be someone you can talk to if this kind of scenario happens so that it can be corrected immediately.
My Experience With This Situation
This has unfortunately happened to me. I was assigned a project task, which had to be completed by a deadline. I gave my matrix manager, (let's call him Rick) regular progress updates and reports. I completed the task before the deadline in order to give time for any last-minute updates or changes from the other workstreams within the project. However, on a daily conference call a different manager, (let's call her Bernadette) gave credit to someone else, (we'll call this person Jim) for the task that I had completed. I expected Jim, who had received the credit to correct Bernadette, and explain that it wasn't him who completed the work. Instead, Jim just said, "Thank You" and accepted the kudos. I was further disappointed when I realised Rick was also on the daily conference call. He didn't make an attempt to correct Bernadette. I spoke to Rick after the call, and he said he would make Bernadette aware of the error however, he never did. You can probably guess that I chose to no longer work within this kind of environment.
7. You're Being Treated Like A Child
We've all had those days when we've got to work a little after 9:00 am, let's say 9:02 am? There's that one colleague or manager who makes an over the top, exaggerated, theatrical motion to check the time on their watch. Yes. I know what time it is. I wasn't late on purpose. I hate this kind of attitude especially if you work in a role where you are supposed to be responsible for your own time. If it was my choice to come into the office today rather than work from home, why are you so concerned with what time I turn up, especially if I am not late for any meetings that start at 9:00 am. This brings me to my next two points.
Not trusted to have autonomy of your own time. If working from home a few days a week was the norm for you even before the pandemic, you may have had managers or colleagues who were constantly checking to see if you were online and "actively working." An example would be taking a much needed 10-minute break, and upon logging back on, you see about 15 messages from your manager asking where you are.
Presenteeism: You must be seen to be working. Even though working from home is an option you may find that it is not encouraged. Managers and colleagues with old fashioned attitudes to work seem to think that you can't be working unless they can see you working. I don't know about you, but I can get just as much work done from my home office as I can from going to an on-site location. Advancements in technology have made this type of remote working easier and attitudes need to quickly change, as more employees are demanding a, work from home option. Presenteeism is dangerous as it encourages employees to attend work even when they are sick, or employees may be reluctant to take vacation days out of fear of missing out. Presenteeism is a huge contributing factor to a toxic work environment and can put employees mental and sometimes physical health at risk.
8. You're Expected To Work Out Of Hours For Recognition
Being expected to work out of hours to get work done is usually an unspoken rule. This links back to the point I made about presenteeism (must be seen to be working). You may start to notice that most of your colleagues stay late, and the ones that stay late seem to be the favourites in the managers' eyes. In these situations, managers don't consider the fact that sometimes inputs are not equal to outputs. This means that the quality of work is not always equal to the number of hours you put in, but instead by the skillset of the person who completed the work. For example, it may only take Kwame 2 hours to produce the same quality of work that Grant took 4 hours to produce. Does this mean Kwame is less of a hard worker than Grant because it took him less time?
If employees feel pressured to stay late after work, in order to gain recognition or be considered for promotions, then what you will get is employees staying after work, for no other reason than it looks good to managers. This may invoke unhealthy competition of who will be the last one to leave the office, as employees know that if they can brag to management that they were in the office until 10:00 pm, then this will put them on the forefront. This attitude will push the skilled and productive employees out, as they will seek a work culture that promotes a better work-life balance.
9. Unhealthy Competition.
A little competition between colleagues is healthy. It keeps you motivated and pushes you to do your best. However, if you notice that employees are constantly trying to climb over and trample each other, (metaphorically that is), in order to get ahead, you are in the deep end of the toxic tank. This attitude is usually enabled and sometimes encouraged from the top, so you may find yourself surrounded by sharks in suits. In this toxic environment, employees are more focused on how they can progress up the career ladder, rather than how they can work collaboratively to make the company better. A good example is if you notice that one of your colleagues is a little too happy when you make a mistake or when you show a gap in your knowledge. Colleagues should aim to help each other if you realise your colleague has a gap in their knowledge, help them to fill it. Getting everyone up to speed will mean less work for you and the rest of your team in the long run, and hey, you may get some clout for helping out a fellow employee.
10. Constant Reminders That You Won't Find A Better Job.
"This is as good as it gets, so stop complaining, you should be grateful you even have a job". No, this is unacceptable. Your employer has just as much to prove as you do. Your employer should demonstrate good reasons why you should continue to work for them. Some companies offer certain employee perks, such as shopping vouchers, discounts on cinema tickets, and sometimes package holiday deals. However, these are not good enough reasons for employees to stay if the corporate culture and working environment is toxic.
The, "You won't find a better job" message is sometimes enforced when management finds out that their competitors have a greater employee satisfaction rate, and they're willing to pay employees more for the same jobs. Economic reports of low unemployment rates, make bad employers nervous, as employees can choose whether they want to stay, and can easily research the job market to find a better working environment.
Management becomes aware of this and then try and invoke fear in their employees. There is always tension in a working environment where fear is used to keep employees from leaving. A good company culture would acknowledge the competition, and find out what changes they can implement to make employees want to stay.
Conclusion: How can You Make a Change?
Toxic working environments can be deep-rooted in the corporate culture. The root being the founder or managing director of the company. Unfortunately, unless you are in a position to change this from the top down, your only option could be to leave. However, if you do manage to get the attention of senior management, who are also annoyed with the toxic corporate culture. You can aim to work together to try and change the attitudes and practices that have been in place for so long. This will not be an easy task. Toxic working environments can sometimes take years to eradicate.
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