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Reader Poll: Tackling a Toxic Workplace

Even if you’re in a good place now, sooner or later it seems we all wind up having to deal with processes (and people) that make things harder than they need to be – certainly that’s been the case with NAPA Net readers.

Sometimes it’s a person, sometimes it’s a “clique,” sometimes it just seems to be a cultural thing, but the bottom line is that it takes a toll – on productivity, on stress levels, on personal health, and yes – studies indicate it can even be dangerous.

Nearly two-thirds (62.5%) of respondents to this week’s NAPA Net reader poll say they have worked in a “toxic” work environment, and another quarter (26%) say they have worked in more than one. The rest had something of a caveat – that it depended on what one means by “toxic.” One reader explained, “just thought there's been a few incidents with a few employees, which I myself wouldn't categorize it as “toxic,” but the other employees are starting to think it’s “toxic”... so I guess I've been in a “toxic” workplace. Another noted that at a place they worked for 10 years “…became toxic a year and half ago.”

Toxic ‘Substance’

Now we all know that some places are just bad places (indeed, 18.75% of this week’s respondents said that was the essence of their workplace), but asked to describe the source of the toxicity, more than one in five (22%) said it was attributable to a single person – and another 44% said, “Mostly one person, aided and abetted by management who wouldn’t deal with the problem.” That’s right – two-thirds said the problem was down to a single person (and a single person that “management” refused to deal with). As for the rest? Well, they went with “not the whole thing, but the bad elements got all the attention/recognition.”

“Remember Culture starts at the top and starts w the word CULT – it started at the top – and trickled down,” explained one reader. “Attitudes were bad – condescending is a key word that comes to mind –never saying please or thank you – literally not using nice words we teach kids (ever!)... sexism and misogyny were a daily reality in words and actions – low level staff that was loved by partners were allowed to be rude and disrespectful to anyone they wanted – it was unreal – and this applies to large publicly traded companies as well as a small firm I was at. Oh, and lies – people were allowed to lie – especially sales people – so long as the deal got done.”

“It was the actually owner and president of the firm,” noted another. “Thought he was everything and didn't really help anyone but himself. It was noticeable from the fact he took majority of revenue generated by and individual and really gave no recognition.”

“I have been at my firm for more than 20 years, hired a year out of college. Looking back, I am surprised I made it past year 2 or so,” said another. “We had an administrative assistant who was simply a bad fit. She made my life miserable. She would do things the way I wanted them only grudgingly. She was resistant to change, never cared to learn anything other than what she knew on day one, was concerned about other people's business, etc. In life, she was actually a reasonably sweet lady. I have no doubts that she thought she was doing the right thing. She was just very unpleasant to work with. Others had problems with her, but not to the extent I did.”

“The VP of Human Resources (health care, 2500+ employees) lied to people, lied about people, belittled people and used negative comments to attempt to get things done, both within HR and other departments. She was truly a bully in adult form. Did not hesitate to resort to screaming and hollering, and even a tantrum. Terrible environment,” commented another.

“Toxic might be a little extreme,” cautioned one reader. “We have a processing group and a client relations group. Client relations will always want to please the client. Processors will always defend the process. Often these are in conflict and lead to an us-versus-them attitude. In our case, each group referred to the other as ‘the dark side’ and each group had their vocal ‘leaders.’ It made it difficult to resolve conflicts and compromise with all that righteous indignation and lack of trust. It’s unfortunate when, the truth is, everyone was committed to performing good work and everyone agreed on the mission. That’s what managers have to keep focusing on. When people see that everyone buys into the commitment and the mission, there is mutual trust and good things can happen.”

Another reader commented that it was “One person that then spread their negativity to others and then it spread to others and impacted more than one person.”

“The person would manipulate what was said to fit what she wanted to hear, very defensive, thought she knew everything and when she was proven wrong could be verbally abusive. She was very demeaning, very controlling and demanding.”

“Negativity breeds negativity, and people who have an agenda are usually very good at seeing it through,” commented another reader. “I have no doubt that at least two of the people were true sociopaths. One, for certain, was such a textbook sociopath that it was a cliché.”

Source “Spots”

The sources of the toxicity experienced were varied, but resistance to change (53%) and resistance to new ideas (47%) were top of the list. The other areas cited were:

41% - ridicule of those “outside” the inner circle
37% - bullying
28% - out and out harassment
25% - “old boys” network
18% - political
16% - sexist
12% - racist

And, as you might expect, there were a number that fell into an “other” category, including:

“In one instance it was a matter of not allowing people to do things any way other than her way. She was condescending, demeaning, and was outright rude even to clients. It was the ultimate stress box and no one wanted to deal with her or be in the office. The boss was similar in nature and always said ‘that’s just how she is’ ... and change was never going to happen so turnover was the only way. In another situation I had a boss who didn't want anyone to get ahead of her. She was insecure and continually tried to squelch anyone who wanted to grow and advance within the company. Again, moving on was the only solution.”

“The owner had a narcissistic personality and could not remember or keep promises. He created infighting and drama with employees and never seemed to get ahead due to his poor decisions. He was a bully and only hired and kept people who agreed with him. I call them ‘yes’ men and women. I was not one of them and after years of fighting and being taken advantage of, I finally left. I am much happier today being my own boss and much more productive without the ‘office drama.’”

“Unable to be wrong, take criticism/even if constructive, likely because of extreme insecurity, and therefore blame always on others. If senses they are in the wrong, then they will ‘martyr’ themselves on how/why something was done (or done incorrectly) Communication style always personal attack.”

“The culture changed from treating employees with appreciation to treating them like they are replaceable.”

“Boss created a tyrannical work environment and blamed everyone else.”

“Immaturity. Person claimed that everyone else was talking about him/her. Person talked about others behind their backs. Example: this person was assistant to several managers. This person told non-management about items that management was printing to printer located at this person’s desk.”

“One was a consultant who used his role to keep things unbalanced, which meant that he was needed to help stabilize things.”

“More than one person was toxic but there was the issue of profanity and I thought it was very unprofessional!”

Deal or Choice?

So, how did people deal with these situations? Well, for the most part (55%), they “voted” with their feet – ultimately choosing to leave the firm. As for the other responses:

39% - went to the respondent’s boss
16% - went to HR/personnel
10% - went to the toxic person’s boss
6% - transferred to another team/area

Sadly, more than a third (35%) said they didn’t “deal” with it – just suffered through it.

“Management puts patches in place to deal with it, but won't address it head on,” said one reader.

“Left each time... there was no point in going to management,” explained another. “They were the problem and HR was useless.”

“Largely not my issue to solve,” observed another. “Watched other partners defend, ignore or hire others to insulate from team staff. This partner very much cares about clients and business (‘heart is in the right place’) so to speak but personal issues impede staff/team/client relationships.”

“I went to management first, not realizing they were also part of the problem,” explained one reader. “After I reported it, management clearly did say something, as the person (who was creating the toxic environment) then cornered me and threatened me if I went to management again. That’s when I realized that big producers get the rules bent for them when management’s bonus depends on production!”

“I finally started voicing my opinion, that he did not like and we finally came to the agreement of separation,” noted another. “Only thing he was nice enough about, even though he threatened to sue me if my clients came with me. Being young and that was my only firm I was dumb to see what was outside of those walls.”

“I tried talking to my immediate supervisor as well as the owner of the company. They all knew my concerns,” commented another reader. “Little was done, at least not to my satisfaction. I know they ‘talked with her’ on multiple occasions. I will never forget the owner hearing me out, us talking about other things, and then him circling back and pretty much saying, ‘I know you two can work it out.’ That has stuck with me for years. I was asking for help and not getting it. The situation improved some over the years, but not completely. Finally, after almost 13 years, the person’s position was eliminated. You can’t say this firm doesn't know how to act fast. You might be able to act up for 13 years, but by golly we are not going to tolerate it past year 13! In our firm’s defense, I do not believe such a person would be allowed to stick around very long anymore.”

“I worked (15 years at this company) in HR at during the bullying VP’s time there (approximately 3 years), but had one layer of management protection over me. He eventually quit, and very shortly after that the VP had ‘hung herself with her own rope’ and also ended up leaving the organization; she couldn’t out-run nor out-talk her lies and abusive behavior. Three years of her was like a lifetime. The organization that subsequently hired her found out all too soon that she is a certifiable bully.”

“We’re (management) still dealing with it,” commented another. “The situation seems to have gotten better, but involves a lot of meddling & going in between communication. I would think it’ll still need more time to get to a good place, I don’t think it’ll ever be the same.”

“Continued to point out that everyone was trying hard to produce quality work on behalf of the client and the organization,” explained another. “Also tried hard to get each group to see the perspective of the other. It works for a while, but you can never ease up, human nature being what it is. Righteous indignation is an addictive emotion and it will always rear its ugly head. That's why it’s so easy for the instigators to gather supporters.”

“I suffered through it for about a year and half,” remembered another. “We had 4 people out of a 6 person department leave the company or the department to get away from it. Talking to management/HR didn’t help.”

“As the manager, I followed protocol,” commented another. “In addition to informal conversations, I issued a formal verbal warning followed by a written warning. Ultimately, this impacted the year-end review. This person was hurt by this and, from that point forward, refused to speak with me without a Human Resources employee in the room with us.”

“There was no way to win against this sociopath,” noted another. “Others who tried to bring their concerns – complete with overwhelming evidence that the guy was a crook and a fraud – were fired”.

If You Had it to Do Over…

Asked what they might do differently if they found themselves in the same situation again, the responses tended to break pretty evenly between – do nothing or leave – and from the sound of it because their original response had been… well, the other. Here’s a sampling:

“Not in my control – but I warned management of the toxic person. She’s a cancer that affects the majority of employees.”

“I would always leave a toxic company if I was in a non-leadership position. I would always say something if I thought the culture could be improved. As a leader now, I would be a bit softer in my delivery of bad news, criticism and change.”

“I would report – I would have been (in my early years) more proactive in speaking out.”

“I would have left sooner. It damaged my health, physically and emotionally and it takes time to heal.”

“Probably nothing different – I convinced them that I was not the right fit for the job they had and we parted ways on mutually beneficial and friendly terms,” explained another. “I thought it was too important to protect my reputation and references in a small industry. Looking back, that may not have been the case since this individual left quite a wake behind him, but I feel I made the best decision based on the information I had at the time.”

“I would have seen the red warning signs from the very beginning hiring process,” recalled another. “As soon as I realized I didn't have the opportunity to do what I was hired for I left. It was a learning experience and I still remain friends with two people I met at that company.”

“Because I had a layer of management over me, the abuse was rarely ever directed right at me,” another reader shared. “It was incredibly difficult to observe, however, and I prayed earnestly for those who were regularly in her sights. I listened with empathy to those who wanted to talk, and made referrals to the EAP. Annual turnover in the company was nearly 40% because it was toxic from the top down. I left years after this VP did, but if I'd have had to answer directly to her I would have needed to quit much earlier than I did. People aren’t typically able to constantly observe and tolerate so much hate. It takes the life out of people.”

“At the time I was unable to go to HR for various reasons,” another noted. “If this were to occur now and with the change in personnel in HR I would do a better job of documenting every interaction and take the information to HR. If nothing were done to rectify the issue I would see about legal action.”

On the other hand, one reader explained that they would do “Nothing,” because “the suffering made me learn and I would not have found the wonderful firm I am at because the timing wouldn’t have been right.”

However, my favorite response in this category was the reader who simply stated, “Wow, you don’t have enough space for that...”

Other Comments

As is the case with our weekly reader polls, the reader comments were insightful, interesting – and thought-provoking. Here’s a sample:

“I found the individuals creating the toxicity were the high revenue generators for the firm and therefore their actions were excused by management due to their production. I worked around by transferring to a different division, and eventually leaving the firm, and by generating enough production where the toxicity was lessened for me.”

“The issue at our place of work is management’s inability to confront the toxic situation with the fear of losing the toxic person who manages a great deal of revenue. Putting profits first is short sighted as overall profitability suffers in the end.”

“It only takes one person to poison an entire team. It is very difficult to make changes unless leadership is willing to change or be open to ideas. Dysfunction always starts at the top. If the leader(s) of the company do not see a problem it is hard to change culture.”

“Workplace toxicity creates a horrible environment for employees and can affect their overall health. It most definitely affects productivity and the choice by management ‘not to deal with it’ is most certainly a death sentence for the firm.”

“If senior management doesn't think they have a problem chances are high – very high – there are in fact problems.”

“Get out as soon as possible! If you try to change the culture, it will hurt you. No company is perfect but you should definitely avoid companies that are run by ‘family.” You will always be considered an outsider no matter how much you contribute. You should with or for a company where you fit with the culture, not where you feel you have to change the culture.”

“I think the worst part of my situation was that it was so early in my career, I didn’t know that this type of behavior was not normal.”

“It mainly started at the very top. And management and everyone around just followed suit. Created a very negative culture. Some really smart people started questioning their value, confidence, self-worth, etc. People that had been there a long time felt like they had no other option but to stay. Some divisions were better than others, but I believe the underlying theme is the same in the whole company.”

“I will say generally that there seem to be a lot of handcuffs on employers in their ability to get rid of bad apples, particularly in the federal government and probably also in state governments and the private sector. If a person is creating a toxic environment or not pulling their weight, and it is clear that this person is the problem child, they should be shown the door. In my case, the person had many, many opportunities to get right and neglected to do so. At some point, a firm needs to cut ties and move on.”

“As much as the person doing the bullying is responsible for their behavior, so is the executive level team equally responsible that disregards that bullying. Our organization required participation in ‘Crucial Conversations’ for all management level employees, and other kinds of programs like that. To no avail. The two top bullies weren't held accountable for their actions and executive turnover was a new team every 2 to 3 years.”

“It’s management’s job to deal with this, but when management is part of the problem nothing will ever change.”

“This was blatant bullying and lies that were consistently disproved by existing documentation. This was a small office that was part of a national TPA firm. Ultimately, the firm’s ethics hotline was not concerned with unethical behavior, but rather the external discovery of unethical behavior. I and my complaints were deemed irrelevant by management who participated in the put downs of me because I was the administrator, not the consultant who brought in the money. No action whatsoever was ever taken. This was personally a devastating experience that is now behind me because I was ‘laid off,’ due to all of this along with I think my knowledge of the potentially illegal transactions occurring between the bully and her Investment advisor lover. I now run my own business and practice and ethics and respect are the basis of my success.”

“Sometimes I think some people just worry about other people too much. The people that thinks the workplace is ‘toxic’ is I think the ones that created the toxicity, they didn’t create the issue, but they pointed it out and won't let it go even after management has handled it.”

“If you said something (that was completely true and reasonable) you would be treated (publicly) as the mean person (even though your intent was not to be mean). Of course, everyone around you shared the same thoughts and feelings, you were just the sucker who decided to point out the blatant issues, which then caused discomfort (even though plenty already exists) and painted the picture of you being the problem and not the toxic causing person. It’s worse when management even shares your beliefs but continues to look the other way and not be bothered by it.”

“I would suggest addressing your concerns with your direct supervisor. If you are ignored, it is time to move on. Work/Life balance is important and workplace toxicity is unhealthy. Since I left, I sleep better and my health has improved. I mean, literally, my health improved. I was pre-diabetic with high cholesterol and one year after leaving my toxic work environment my lab results were in normal ranges and the best they've ever been!”

“When the boss is the toxic factor, it is difficult for the employees to succeed in their job, and in my case, my ability to do the same job at a different company.”

“Toxicity spreads like a disease and can disrupt the whole environment. It must be confronted and PIP plans must be implemented. If change doesn't take place, that person(s) need to move on. If it's management or owner – then my advice is to move on.”

“It’s the ‘one bad apple’ syndrome. The other employees need to help get rid of the toxic behavior by not engaging or directly communicating that they are not interested. If this type of person doesn’t have an audience, the toxic behavior is likely to end.”

“The toxicity spilled over to the entire department because they could feel the tension. Once the person moved to a different position the tension level decreased dramatically and we were more cohesive as a team. Since the said person has the ears of upper management she has been able to climb the ladder even though others have seen how she reacts and how others react around her.”

“Get out early, it will make you physically ill if you are the type of employee that actually cares about doing your job and doing it well.”

“The entire situation creates negativity and it’s very hard to see management not enforce certain rules or do anything about the trouble makers.”

“Toxicity is expensive – to the organization and to the people who get hurt by it. There is no place for it, yet it takes strong leadership to remove it.”

Thanks to everyone who participated – and were willing to share so openly of your experience(s) – in this week’s NAPA Net Reader Poll!

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