Think of the work environment as the entire organizational environment. In many ways, it is something you cannot see, but it directly implies the team’s level of spirit and commitment. Therefore, care must be taken with the toxic work environment.
According to research, work environments that promote well-being and quality of life for employees are, in addition to being more attractive to talents, 86% more productive and 70% more profitable. On the other hand, those companies with uncomfortable environments can lose their workforce and competitiveness, which can result in serious problems.
Today, we explain the signs of a toxic work environment, what is its impact on the team’s level of results and how to take the first steps to change the climate.
Happy reading!
What are the signs of a toxic work environment?
How to diagnose a toxic environment? That is the central question of this topic. It can often be difficult. The ideal is to have clear metrics to assess the quality of the environment and whether it is (or becomes) toxic to employees. Below, some signs common to toxic environments:
- excessive interpersonal conflicts;
- excessive pressure for results;
- high turnover of the work team;
- frequent threats from leaders to followers:
- little transparency with the information;
- increase in the number of sick leave;
- growth of accidents at work.
You can think of these signs as symptoms of a serious illness. All may be present or just some of them, to a greater or lesser extent. This disease can lead to worse results for the work team and, consequently, affect the survival of the business.
How does the toxic work environment impact results?
In many ways, the toxic environment impacts performance and daily commitments. For example, you are unlikely to see a team do more than the basics if the workplace is toxic. Below, we point out some of the most negative implications.
Reduces work team motivation
Roughly speaking, motivation is the energy that drives professionals to do their daily tasks. When motivation is shaken, tasks are done with less courage, care, and commitment. In other words, the work is done with negligence.
Therefore, there is a strong link between the workplace and motivation, and a toxic environment can lead to really low levels of the daily delivery. This is not only bad for the company, but it is also bad for the team, after all, nobody likes to work unmotivated.
Promotes less health and well-being at work
A toxic environment can have profound implications for the health and well-being of the work team – which unfolds in other problems, such as more leave, certificates, and accidents during working hours. So it’s a very delicate thing.
Look, if the environment is toxic, it is also harmful. Professionals work with more concerns and become more anxious and stressed. All of these factors endanger the physical and mental health of the talents, in addition to generating more operating costs for the business.
Undermines interpersonal work relationships
Over the course of the day, interpersonal relationships are inevitable. It is necessary to talk to professionals from different areas and at different levels. If communication does not occur (or has many obstacles), errors and waste become inevitable.
In that case, again, the toxic work environment becomes a major catalyst. It alienates professionals, makes interpersonal dialogue basic, and provides space for side conversations (gossip), which can put the team sense in crisis.
Implies less exemplary leaders
Leadership is not protected from the implications of the toxic work environment. Even the most experienced and engaged leaders can experience a high degree of demotivation and disengagement if the work environment is not suited to their deliveries. The problem becomes more serious because, throughout the work, the practices of the team leaders tend to be replicated by the team members. Therefore, if the leader is affected, so are his team members and the team’s results tend to get worse quickly and drastically.
Makes it difficult to maintain an organizational culture
There are many models of organizational culture. Some, for example, are based on high performance, while others care much more for collaboration. The point is that no culture survives in a toxic environment, after all, turnover is high.
In these places, the turnover (an index that measures talent output) is usually high. Few people want to stay in the company and many migrate to the competition. Therefore, it becomes more difficult to sustain a culture and almost impossible to build a good one from scratch.
What can be done to change the scenario?
Now, you already know the signs of a toxic work environment and how it impacts the results of the work team. It is time to understand what can be done to change the situation of the company and ensure that the workplace improves progressively.
The first – and most important step – is to identify the cause of the toxic environment. The most frequent is that it is a set of things, such as unprepared leaders, lack of work structure, or excessive demands. Then correct or eliminate these imperfections.
Of course, many other things can be done, we point out some of them:
- chat more with your employees;
- do surveys of organizational climate and internal satisfaction;
- manage interpersonal conflicts whenever they arise;
- invest in corporate internal communication;
- show employees that they are important.
In the process of improving the work environment, the most important thing is to have the company’s leadership fully committed. This makes it easier to achieve great results.
See, now you are on top of the subject and understand the dangers of the toxic work environment for the work team. In the improvement process, an important step is to know how to deal with interpersonal conflicts, as well as to extract powerful lessons. Thus, you, your company, and the work team can benefit greatly.