Dealing With a Toxic Work Environment? 4 Signs to Look Out For.
Meet Beth, she works at a software engineering company and enjoys the work that she does. She’s detail oriented, good at her job, and often goes the extra mile to make herself an asset to her team.
When she’s not working, she likes to spend time with her friends and family and has a soft spot for trying out new local restaurants.
On pen and paper, this all checks out - it sounds like a healthy work-life balance, what more can you ask for? Here’s the thing though, Beth just can’t seem to shake off this feeling of emotional fatigue, not only when she’s working but also when she’s off the clock. This is all thanks to the oh so toxic workplace that she finds herself in.
On weekdays, it’s hard to switch gears and disconnect - she feels like she’s walking on eggshells. On weekends, she feels this overwhelming sense of dread as the work week approaches - feeling emotionally hungover as though the lights are on but nobody’s home. That, my friends, is what a toxic workplace will do to you.
By the end of this post, you’ll have a better idea if you’re working in a toxic workplace yourself.
Signs of a toxic workplace:
Even though it’s hard to come up with one all encompassing definition of a toxic environment, here are some signs to look out for:
Lack of respect for time
If your boss is calling or texting you before or after work hours, that’s a problem and this is a workplace culture issue.
When your work hours are done, that is your time. It’s meant to be used by you in whichever way you choose. Whether that means going out, staying in, binge watching Netflix, or doing whatever it is that your beautiful heart desires - that is your time and you should be able to make the executive decisions about how to spend it - guilt free may I add.
As an employee, having your own time is a basic right, it’s not a special privilege. In my work, I find that my clients in Toronto and Vancouver share that they feel as though they owe their employers their personal time - likely thanks to toxic work environments. If you find yourself feeling guilty for not dedicating your after-hours time to work, it’s important to recognize that this is a workplace culture problem, and not a you problem.
2. Gaslighting
What does ‘gaslighting’ mean? When there’s gaslighting in the workplace, that’s essentially a nightmare in HD.
In my opinion, one of the biggest markers of a toxic workplace is gaslighting - namely when you’ve got a narcissistic boss running the show. Gaslighting can be happening if your boss is self-serving, inconsiderate, unaware, and has an inability or unwillingness to consider your thoughts and feelings. Gaslighting happens when someone leads you to question your own reality. At work, this can show up when you are constantly made to question the value of your work, regardless of what you’re putting into it.
This can set the stage for a toxic workplace because you will usually end up feeling like you have to defend yourself, even when you’ve done nothing wrong, which is why you can’t help but walk on eggshells.
When it comes down to it, things aren’t always so simple and we can’t easily pick and choose who we want to work for and where - not in today’s economy at least. With a narcissistic leader in the workplace, it can be extremely challenging to create a healthier workplace culture which begs the question, when and where do you draw the line? How many work hours in a year before you burnout and decide enough is enough? (easier asked then answered, and this is a whole different conversation).
3. Micromanaging
If your boss is a micromanager, it might feel like there’s no winning. Maybe you do something and they tell you that it’s wrong. Maybe you do something and it’s fine, but they tell you that you could be doing it differently nonetheless. Either way, it’s a losing battle.
When it comes down to it, with a micromanager, it’s not so much about the right or wrong, but rather about them feeling this relentless need to control everything that’s being said and done, which creates a toxic workplace. At the end of the day, as an employee it’s important to do your job well and receive feedback, however, doing so also entails having a sense of autonomy over your work.
Work starts to become like that feeling when you talk yourself into writing an after interview thank you email, you’re not excited about it and it feels like a chore, but you still push yourself to do it anyway.
When Beth is working, she gets this visceral gut feeling that she just can’t ignore even though she tries to shake it off. Why’s that? Likely because her boss is often hovering over her shoulder which understandably feels quite suffocating due to the toxic workplace she’s in.
4. Poor leadership
No matter what field you’re working in, your leadership team is the backbone of the team. The leaders are the ones to set the tone for the environment and to build the geography of the workplace culture.
If you’ve got a poor leader running the show, well, you’re going to know - we’ve all been there. Side effects include dreading work, feeling drained, burnout, and constantly feeling like you have to be on the defense.
Here are some indicators of poor leadership:
Poor communication skills
Defensive attitude
Lack of proactive conflict management skills
Hypercritical
Lack of willingness to hear you out
Quick to judge and/or assume
Lack of clarity around expectations
Passive aggressive remarks
If some or all of those signs are sounding familiar to you, then you might be dealing with a toxic environment. Workplace culture in Canada is a topic that is highly spoken of, and unfortunately, many employers do not give it the time and respect that it deserves.
The takeaway? It all starts with identifying the problem; a crucial starting point is simply recognizing and labeling your workplace as toxic so that you can start getting your ducks in a row which might require you to push past your comfort zone, and that’s okay.
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