According to a recent report, toxic workplace culture costs the UK economy around £20.2 billion every year. The authors suggest that almost a third of employees have quit a position because they perceived the role to be toxic.
It’s critical that employers try to make sense of these statistics, and trying to implement changes to mitigate the problems hinted at.
What is a ‘toxic’ work environment?
Toxicity, in this sense of the word, has nothing to do with dangerous chemical spills or gas leaks. It’s to do with the way that employees treat one another. If everyone’s always bickering and sniping, and the atmosphere is negative, then you might describe the place as toxic.
What else do the statistics say?
There’s a slight imbalance toward women, who are likelier than men to leave a job for this reason (23% compared with 18%). This might suggest that women are on the receiving end of a different sort of toxicity, or that they are slightly more disposed to decide that life is too short to put up with toxic behaviour.
A recent report by the TUC and the Everyday Sexism project found that more than half of the 1,500 women surveyed had been on the receiving end of sexual harassment – which is among the more obvious forms of workplace toxicity.
Age and location also have a bearing. The statistics indicate that younger people are more likely to leave a job than older ones. The figure for 18-to-34 year olds is 23.5%, but higher elsewhere. What’s more, employees based in London are much likelier to report dissatisfaction with workplace culture than they are elsewhere.
Making comparisons between different demographics and their experience of toxicity is difficult, because what certain kinds of people view as toxic might to another be perfectly permissible. Thus these statistics are always going to be coloured by the perspective of the person going through the reported experience.
What’s important is that firms take steps to address their employee’s experience of toxicity in the workplace, perhaps even with the help of an external consultant who’ll be able to provide a perspective on best practice.
A company that’s receptive to feedback from employees, and to complaints, is one that’s less likely to fall into toxic workplace culture. When problem behaviours and work patterns are identified, training and awareness-raising drives can be implemented to eliminate them.
The Best Practice
In general, work-life balance should be carefully monitored, and teams should be allowed to interact with one another in a no-pressure environment. When employees excel, they should be singled out for praise – and perhaps even financial rewards. This helps to eliminate the feeling that you’re toiling away for no sensible reason!
