In a toxic workplace, dysfunctional
attitudes and emotions seem to permeate the atmosphere.
Signs of a toxic workplace:
1. Widespread anger and frustration
2. Workplace bully is admired
3. Scapegoats are always blamed
4. Dysfunctional relationships
5. Dysfunctional meetings
6. Obvious hypocrisy
7. Overly restrictive systems
8. Incompetent or powerless HR manager
1. Widespread anger
and frustration
Are co-workers frequently in a foul
mood? Are anger and frustration widespread? Do disenchanted employees outnumber
enthusiastic ones? These are clear signs that your company’s atmosphere is
toxic.
In this situation, nothing realistic is
being done to improve morale. Any efforts to make your company a better place
to work seem superficial, even ironic (like having the workplace bully head up
the committee to improve morale).
Turnover is usually high in a toxic
workplace, with the most talented people quitting. This can be turned to your
benefit: by focusing on developing friendships with your co-workers, you will
soon know many people at other companies--an excellent way to find your next
job. In this surreal situation, it’s better to focus on keeping up with
ex-employees rather than worrying about the executives who think they control
your future.
2. Workplace bully is
admired
Is the company culture to admire the
winners, regardless of their tactics? Is the bully widely respected, despite
his inappropriate behavior, as an aggressive, competitive leader? When a bully
loses control of his temper or intentionally embarrasses a subordinate, do
others justify his actions as strong management, or even dismiss them as
irrelevant?
These are more signs of a toxic
workplace.
3. Scapegoats are
found to take the blame
Does blaming others seem like a blood
sport in your company?
In a toxic workplace, a bully
“explains” a mistake by castigating someone else. He thus dodges any
responsibility for his actions (although he may acknowledge he used poor
judgment in hiring the scapegoat).
A bully’s habit of blaming others can
cause serious, persistent problems. By not acknowledging his role in causing
mistakes, he finds no answers that can prevent mistakes in the future. And by
blaming the innocent, he causes valuable employees to quit. This, in turn,
overburdens the remaining personnel, resulting in more failures.
Over time, high turnover allows the
bully to blame a whole new set of scapegoats. Just listen for him to judge an
entire class or generation of workers, comparing them to his superior
intelligence or work ethic. “What’s wrong with young people these days?” he may
lament, ignoring the fact that other supervisors don’t seem to have problems
with their subordinates.
Scapegoats may continue to be blamed
long after they’ve left the company. He can use two or three ex-employees to
explain a whole host of problems, since they are no longer around to explain
how the bully was actually at fault.
If most of your co-workers believe that
the bully’s scapegoats are responsible for failures in his department, your
workplace is probably toxic.
4. Dysfunctional
processes
In a toxic company, processes tend to
be dysfunctional, particularly if a workplace bully helps create them.
In this situation, company procedures
don’t make sense, making it difficult to get things done. Management reviews
are an unnecessary burden, with many reports that don’t have any meaning. For
any given task, the established process appears illogical. You hear “That’s the
way we’ve always done it” rather than “There’s always room for improvement.”
Vague objectives
and arbitrary deadlines
There are no clear objectives, so it
can be tough to determine what’s important and what isn’t. At times, you find
yourself buried with work that appears to be completely unnecessary. It is
never clear how and why things are done around the company.
Your boss routinely makes decisions
that impact you without seeking your input. Deadlines are never established
based on logical scheduling of larger goals, but instead appear arbitrary. No
matter how often his subordinates complain, your boss never extends unrealistic
deadlines, adding to the general frustration.
Meaningless
solutions from ineffective management
In order to create the impression that
personnel issues are being addressed, upper management sets up a committee to
investigate specific problems and suggest solutions. But the results are based
on the premise that the employees aren’t very sophisticated and can be easily
appeased. Input from employees is discounted or ignored and clueless managers
rely on their own misapprehensions. Because the process is dysfunctional, the
results are meaningless.
Let’s say, for example, that a
committee is formed to investigate low morale and declining productivity. But
since the workplace is toxic, the committee won’t have the authority to
investigate the bully. Even worse, a bully may be on the committee. Or the
committee must first report to a high level executive who is one of the bullies
(“Well, our surprising conclusion is that you are the cause of
declining morale.” No, I can’t see that happening either.)
Since they must ignore the impact of
bullying on morale, they instead turn to “creative” ideas. Perhaps they find
some popular solution to “make employees feel better about themselves.” This
could include a patronizing “Extra Special Person” award, meaningless
interdepartmental competitions or irrelevant offsite training seminars (“As
soon as everyone learns proper time-management techniques,” they tell one
another, “productivity and morale will go way up. We’ll even give them free
planning notebooks.”)
Unintended
consequence: worsening morale
In the end, these solutions tend to be
counterproductive. Not only do they fail to deal with the bully, but the
premise--employees don’t realize the real problem--is fatally flawed. By
pushing a meaningless, ineffective solution to morale, employees feel they are
being treated like children, or as second-class citizens. Morale deteriorates
even further, and high employee turnover is often the result.
On the other hand, after most employees
leave and are replaced with fresh faces, morale will be good once again. That
is until bullying again takes its toll and a new dysfunctional committee is
appointed and again ignores the real cause of the problem (one symptom of a
company run by a bully).
5. Dysfunctional
relationships
How do employees relate to one another
at your company? In a toxic workplace, everyone seems to struggle with
relationships. Misunderstandings are common, leading to frustration, anger and
inefficiency. Gossip and criticism are the norm, and cliques lead to favoritism
and feuding.
Noticeably absent in a toxic workplace
are clear and straightforward conversations. You rarely see a quick resolution
of relationship issues, and bad feelings may linger for months, or even years.
6. Dysfunctional
meetings
Do meetings at your company feel like a
waste of time? Are they dominated by dull monologues and meaningless reports?
Do they provide workplace bullies a forum to rant, rave and manipulate? Are
reasonable people intimidated into silence?
If so, you are experiencing the living
hell of dysfunctional meetings.
Topics are
meaningless
In a toxic workplace, those who
dominate meetings seem to prefer to discuss vague platitudes instead of
underlying problems. They focus on theory rather than dealing with reality. By
ignoring the real problems facing the company, they fail to accomplish anything
of substance. The main impact of meetings is the loss of productive time from
your day. Your dominant thought as you leave tends to be “There’s an hour of my
life I’ll never get back.”
Bully is allowed to
dominate meetings
A workplace bully tends to dominate
meetings through his aggressive conversational style, including giving
monologues, arguing, criticizing, interrupting and raising his voice. He uses
generalizations, innuendo and presuppositions without being challenged. He
stifles open discussions and prevents any progress, except to further his own
agenda. He may even use a meeting to embarrass, ridicule and humiliate his
opponents.
In a toxic workplace, any complaints
about the bully’s domination of meetings will likely fall upon deaf ears. In
fact, his aggressive tactics are more likely to be admired by upper management.
7. Obvious hypocrisy
in the company
A toxic workplace nearly always
includes widespread hypocrisy. Executives are unlikely to acknowledge the
serious problems plaguing their company, instead promoting the fiction of a
healthy work environment run by enlightened management. Bullies are
euphemistically described as highly competitive individuals who are becoming
strong leaders.
Management fads
Executives in a toxic company often
overcompensate by adopting faddish management approaches, as if propaganda is
an effective tool to overcome reality. The result may be aggressively promoted
company values that don’t seem to match day-to-day events.
For example, clear communication is
preached in elaborate seminars while poor communication continues to be the
norm. Valuing and respecting others is publicized in the company mission
statement, or on framed motivational posters in the break room, but undermining
and belittling others seems pervasive. Everyone is told to make company goals
their first priority and adopt a spirit of teamwork, but internal competition
dominates. Worst of all, the most consistent violators of company values are
the most highly rewarded.
Bully as preacher
A workplace bully can be quite
outspoken in preaching company values, pressuring others to modify their
behavior even as he consistently violates those values. Rather than being
punished for his violations, the bully is rewarded for his outward image of
leadership. In the rare event he is reprimanded for breaking company values, it
is ineffective and ultimately meaningless. In this manner, upper management’s
hypocritical attempts to improve the work environment are exploited by a clever
bully, leading to further deterioration of morale.
Clueless or evil
management
Even when the hypocrisy seems obvious
to everyone, upper management seems unaware of the contradictions between what
is said and what is done. Maybe they want you to guess whether they are
hopelessly unaware or utterly lacking in integrity.
8. Overly restrictive
systems for controlling people
A workplace bully usually thrives by
controlling others. He prefers a workplace with dehumanizing systems, offering
him more opportunities to tightly control their behavior.
Companies fall into this mode of
operation by designing and implementing overly detailed operational systems.
These include overly detailed policies, procedures and job descriptions and
performance evaluations.
Toxic vs. enlightened
workplace
In a toxic workplace, employees are
criticized and punished for failing to meet established criteria, regardless of
whether the item makes any sense. Common sense is not considered as a
meaningful factor.
In a more enlightened environment, the
emphasis is on training employees to achieve excellence, and on providing them
with appropriate techniques and tools. In effect, the systems are subordinated
to the employees. In a toxic workplace, it is the other way around: the
employees are subordinated to the systems, based on the premise that people
can’t be trusted to think for themselves, and they can’t learn to do their job
skillfully and reliably.
Bully as a superior
being
A bully also feels justified in
creating and implementing highly detailed systems due to his advanced intellect
and superior judgment. The systems allow him to control the actions of others,
thus overcoming their inferiority and incompetence.
In accordance with his character, a
bully uses the operational system as an excuse to badger his subordinates and
control his peers. Ultimately, this becomes another weapon in his arsenal of
intimidation, adding to his power in the company.
Initiative-killers
Once operational systems are in place,
employees are criticized for taking any initiative, such as modifying the
approach or eliminating unnecessary tasks. It doesn’t seem to matter that these
changes would make the company operate more efficiently--if the bully doesn’t
originate the idea, it isn’t even considered.
Arguments for
totalitarian controls
When challenged by more enlightened
executives, a bully adamantly defends this approach. He explains that
operational systems are absolutely necessary to maintain discipline,
productivity and quality control. He complains that without these systems,
employees would not be held accountable for their actions. He may launch into a
long-winded description of a former employer that used these systems, or refers
to sophisticated management studies, offering quotes and statistics to prove his
point.
During his monologue, he conveniently
omits the fact that his approach goes far beyond common-sense management
concepts, such as thorough work plans and checklists, and into the realm of
totalitarian control, with harsh penalties for trivial non-compliance. By
converting intelligent methods into dogmatic approaches, he bastardizes the
purpose of management systems.
In this toxic situation, only mindless
task-oriented workers are rewarded. And if they learn to be completely
submissive to the bully, they are praised as model employees.
9. Incompetent or
powerless human resource manager
In a toxic workplace, human resource
(“HR”) managers are either unable or unwilling to deal with rampant workplace
bullying.
Signs of an incompetent or powerless
(with respect to bullying) HR manager include an inability to respond
effectively to bullying incidents, refusal to treat complaints as valid and
significant, or criticizing the complainer without understanding the situation.
The HR manager would rather not confront the bully, so instead asks you to
change your behavior to accommodate the bully.
Failure to
recognize or address the problem
An incompetent HR manager treats the
problem as caused equally by bully and complainer, with no recognition of the
bully’s intentionally destructive behavior. In an attempt to rationalize an
unpleasant situation, the HR manager dismisses overly aggressive behavior as
"mood swings,” or labels bullying as an “ordinary personality conflict.”
It is up to you to resolve the situation.
And if bullying is acknowledged, there
is no follow-up on requests for a bully to modify his behavior--perhaps because
the primary goal is to pacify the complainer, not change the bully.
HR manipulated by a
skilled bully
How can these highly trained professionals
fail to deal with workplace bullying?
In some cases, inexperienced HR
managers lack familiarity with bullying and its negative impact on employees
and productivity. An HR manager may misinterpret the situation, failing to
properly research and evaluate the circumstances. Or he may be misled by a
bully’s guile.
Let’s say a target complains about a
series of bullying incidents. A skilled bully can convince a naive HR manager
that his bullying behaviors were fully justified by circumstances, or by the
failings of the complainer. In the end, the target of bullying gets blamed,
either as the instigator or as a whiner.
After two or three incidents, the HR
manager will perceive the target as a chronic complainer. After that, all
future bullying of that target, even when obvious and severe, is likely to be
ignored. In this manner, an HR manager can contribute to the toxicity of a
workplace.
HR intimidated by
an entrenched bully
An HR manager may honor a bully’s
leadership in the company. If a bully is clearly respected by upper management,
confronting him carries huge risks. It makes more sense to side with the bully,
blaming the target.
For example, let's say a bully
convinces the company’s president that his department will deliver an enormous
increase in profits, but it requires a “tough management” approach. If the
president is commmitted to the bully, the HR manager will probably avoid
interfering.
When the HR manager believes his own
job would be at risk if he makes an enemy of a powerful bully, you probably
won’t see any meaningful action to address the underlying problem.
Signs that management encourages bullying
In a toxic workplace, upper management
has unknowingly displayed attitudes and imposed policies that have created an
environment favorable to bullies and hostile to everyone else.
Management encourages bullying:
1. Remote from employees
2. Bully is part of management “club”
3. Seems to deal with bully
4. Bullying is rewarded
5. Effort to appease a workplace bully
1. Remote from
employees
In smaller companies, workplace bullies
often thrive when the owner isn’t involved in day-to-day operations. His
remoteness from employees gives free reign to a bully.
In larger companies, a rigid hierarchy
may create a similar degree of remoteness, particularly when the hierarchy
restricts communication in an upward direction. Even if executives brag about
an open-door policy, they are probably unreceptive to complaints about
bullying. And if you corner them about the problem, they may label you as a
troublemaker.
Isolated, uncaring
and short-sighted
In a toxic workplace, top executives
may have been isolated for so long that they stopped caring about their
employees’ well-being. These executives fail to see the big picture. It isn’t
rational to ignore the morale of people upon whom the company’s profitability
depends.
Even a purely selfish executive, upon
careful consideration, would recognize the significant long-term benefits of
dealing with the issue of bullying. He would understand the positive impacts of
improving morale, including decreased turnover and increased productivity. The
potential for increased profits alone should motivate him to action.
Then it would become a priority to
treat rank-and-file employees with respect. The rational executive would
eagerly listen to their complaints, perform a full investigation and ultimately
get rid of the workplace bullies.
2. Workplace bully is
part of a management “club”
Does a workplace bully seem to have
unwavering support from your company’s top executives? Then perhaps they
consider him a member of their management “club.”
Many top executives rise to their
position by bullying others. When they see others using the same tactics, they
are impressed. They welcome the bully as one of their own kind. They admire his
many “qualities,” such as shrewdly exploiting employees to generate more income
for executive bonuses.
Once a bully becomes part of this
management group, it takes a near disaster to weaken his power. If anyone
threatens the bully, they close ranks. If you complain about the bullying, they
treat you as the problem. You may be called “disruptive” or a “troublemaker.”
If you continue to fight back, they allow the bully to discredit you.
Ultimately, they find a reason to fire you, rather than let you educate others
as to the toxic nature of the company.
If it is any consolation, workplace
bullies eventually turn on each other in their endless quest for more power and
money.
3. False appearance
of dealing with a workplace bully
When low morale becomes an issue, upper
management addresses the symptoms rather than the underlying problem (the
behavior of a workplace bully). Their objective is to satisfy employees that
they are dealing with morale issues, but without causing the bully to leave the
company (and thus reduce their future bonuses).
However, it is counterproductive for
executives to attempt to raise morale without reigning in the bully, such as by
announcing that “valuing our employees is a top priority” and distributing a
new mission statement. When employees are aware of rampant bullying, they
quickly spot hypocrisy. Instead of improved morale, the company ends up with
increasingly cynical employees.
Understating the
problem
At the same time, executives discount
the severity of a bully’s behavior. They call his overly aggressive or
manipulative behaviors a “minor problem,” or say “he lacks maturity, but will
grow into the job.” Even when they acknowledge his destructive behaviors
towards others, they rationalize that “over time he will develop his interpersonal
skills.”
Furthermore, executives acknowledge
only one or two incidents of bullying behavior and ignore the overall
destructive pattern. Or they mislabel behaviors with euphemisms: manipulation
is called persuasion, backstabbing is called posturing, gossiping is called
bonding.
The only true sin
Even in a highly toxic workplace, there
is one exception to this support of bullying: in the rare case that a
power-hungry bully acts aggressively towards a top executive, he will be dealt
with quickly and permanently.
4. Bullying is
rewarded
Does a workplace bully in your company
have the unwavering support of upper management? Does management allow
mistreatment of employees because it results in greater profits?
Greed can be a very strong motivator.
People with lots of money usually want more, often with a single-minded focus
(maybe that’s how they became wealthy in the first place). When a company
treats profits as sacred, ethics and values usually suffer. In this
environment, bullying behavior is tolerated--or even praised--if it appears
likely to lead to higher profits. Even worse, the bully is rewarded for his
harsh methods as long as he produces short-term financial gains.
Bullies exploit
management’s greed
A skilled bully can adroitly take
advantage of this situation. As long as he continues to expand business, with
the expectation of increased profits for the company, he feels free to engage
in highly aggressive and manipulative behaviors. He knows that upper management
is focused on the bottom line, causing them to overlook employee complaints or
other morale issues. In effect, there are no restraints on the bully’s
aggressive behaviors.
But even though a bully can increase
profits in the short term, over several years low morale and high turnover
usually produce the opposite result. Sophisticated executives will recognize
this, though they may be temporarily blinded by a bully’s promises. In a sense,
they allow themselves to become victims--at least temporarily--of a master
manipulator. And if they allow the bully to run their company into the ground,
they may become permanent victims.
Cooking the books
A bully’s manipulation may extend to
financial reporting as well. For example, he inflates his department’s revenues
through excessive billings, though he knows most of his billings will never be
collected. He receives a large year-end bonus as a result. By the time his
clients discover the over-billing and refuse to pay their invoices, the bully
has gained enough power in the company to survive the sudden drop in his
department’s billings.
Or if the bully is particularly clever,
he discredits the non-paying clients, then starts playing the same game with
other clients. By maintaining artificially high “revenue” for two or three
years, a skilled bully can suck out substantial compensation. He may cripple
the company as a result, particularly if his increased billings trigger
increased hiring and capital outlays. The bully buys a new house, a new car and
then moves on to a new job, claiming tremendous success at the company he
nearly bankrupted (“And I increased billings by fifty percent in three years”).
Greed is punished
Ultimately, company executives and
owners suffer from their decision to allow a bully to have his way. Insolvency,
bankruptcy, partnership disintegration and lawsuits are common in the wake of a
bully's exploitation. All because of short-sighted pursuit of easy profits at
the expense of their employee’s well-being.
Just once, wouldn’t you like to hear an
executive acknowledge that he doesn’t really care how his employees are
treated, as long as they make him wealthy? At least you could admire his
honesty.
5. Effort to appease
a workplace bully
Greedy owners and executives who are
afraid of losing a profit-generating bully may try to appease him. For example,
they increase his compensation and allocate him additional company resources,
or even terminate one of his peers. With weak or naive executives, the bully
may even manipulate and exploit the situation until he gains control of the
company.
As in politics, appeasement is a
dangerous approach to dealing with a bully. Even a strong, profitable company
can fail after several years of having its values and integrity gutted by a
skilled bully.
A toxic work environment usually begins
at the top, either through negligence or lack of character and integrity,
usually stemming from a naive discounting of the importance of how employees
are treated.
Workplace bullying is invisible
Are you surprised that no one can see
widespread bullying but you? In this distorted reality, all common sense seems
displaced by the almost magical power of a charismatic workplace bully.
When you point out his subtle
manipulations, no one takes you seriously. When you report his mistreatment of
you, people assume you misunderstood the situation. Even worse, they accuse you
of doing something that justified his outburst (“You should be more careful not
to trigger him”). When your co-workers have become unwitting accomplices to his
devious tactics, you know you are in a toxic workplace.
A skilled workplace bully can adapt to
the company culture in a way that makes his destructive behaviors virtually
undetectable to bystanders. Perhaps over time he will bully enough people to
widely expose his true character, but it is more likely that he will cause the
termination of anyone who speaks up, leaving only a trail of disgruntled ex-employees.
If you are in a toxic workplace, don’t
fool yourself into thinking you can accomplish much by fighting the bully. You
will probably be better off just acknowledging that the people in charge have
limited mental capacity and go find a healthier, happier place to work.
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