Online searches for ‘toxic workplace’ increased by 55% in Singapore last year, but it’s not always easy to recognise an unhealthy work environment.
The great resignation
Around 9 in 10 Singapore professionals are experiencing burnout, struggling to focus and feeling a lack of interest in their work. About 30% are looking to change jobs in search of better working conditions in 2022.
Why are people burnt out?
- Bigger workloads (49%)
- Pressure to meet deadlines (37%)
- Long working hours (33%)
A pleasant work atmosphere is one of the top-ranked most essential factors for employees in Singapore, with 58% of workers naming it as their top benefit. It’s no wonder so many people are looking for a change of environment.
The toxic 5: recognising the red flags of a toxic work culture
An extensive study by MIT used the data from 1.3 million Glassdoor reviews to uncover the most prominent signs of a toxic work environment. Ask yourself if you have noticed any of the following “red flags” within your company:
- Lack of respect
- Lack of diversity and inclusion
- Unethical behaviour (such as lying or non-compliance with regulations)
- Cutthroat environment (intense competition and backstabbing among colleagues)
- Abusive environment (bullying, harassment and hostility)
Toxic work culture is ten times more likely to make a team member quit than low pay
Apart from the top “toxic five”, numerous other smaller factors can add up to create a toxic workplace. These warning signs can be less obvious, making them hard to spot.
- Lack of transparency: Transparency and honesty are 100% essential to an ethical workplace.
- Poor communication: Lack of communication stunts knowledge-sharing and growth and can cause severe misunderstandings in the workplace.
- Lack of recognition: Every team member needs to know how they contribute to the “big picture” and why their work is valuable to the company.
- Favouritism: When management treats specific employees, it hurts morale and creates resentment.
- Cliques and “in” groups: It’s natural to form bonds with some of the people we work with. However, when certain friendship groups start excluding others and giving each other preferential treatment, this creates a highly toxic environment.
- Poor work-life balance: This shows a lack of respect for boundaries and unrealistic expectations about how much work they can or should take on at a time.
- Office gossip: Gossiping about coworkers shows a lack of boundaries and a lack of respect for others’ privacy. Gossip can harm people personally and professionally.
- Lack of accountability: Do you tend to look the other way if a manager speaks disrespectfully to a team member? When bad behaviour or rule-breaking goes overlooked, it sets a bad example and makes people feel they won’t be heard if they speak up.
What your team is trying to tell you
If you’re concerned that your company may have a toxicity problem, look at how those around you, specifically some of your top performers, are behaving. If you pay attention, team member behaviour can instantly tell you if the workplace culture turns for the worse.
Look out for these behaviours:
- Increased sick leave days
- Lack of engagement, poor performance
- Reluctance to share knowledge or information with teammates
- Personal complaints and grievances between team members (often in the form of gossip)
- Feelings of tension in the office, in meetings or in team-building situations
- Reluctance to ask questions or speak openly
- Lack of understanding of responsibilities and boundaries
- Stressed, overworked team members
- Higher turnover
When good intentions create toxic workplaces
Even the most well-intentioned employers can end up with a toxic workplace problem. For example, you might think that adding mandatory team-building days, encouraging after-hours socialising and branding your company a “family” can only boost morale and improve your team’s camaraderie.
Promoting a “family” culture at work usually does more harm than good
For example:
- It blurs the lines between personal and professional life;
- It creates an exaggerated sense of loyalty, making it easier for individuals to be exploited;
- It may create an uncomfortable power dynamic between staff;
- It can be a manipulative tactic to pressure employees to ignore their boundaries and over-commit to work.
What employees actually want
The top-ranked employee value propositions in Singapore are:
- Good salary & benefits (74%)
- Good work-life balance (74%)
- Job security (60%)
- Career progression (59%)
- Pleasant work atmosphere (58%)
Instead of labelling your employees as family, a much healthier alternative is to set clear expectations, be consistent with boundaries and foster a culture of equal treatment. This will help create the happy environment and work-life balance so many crave. Work relationships are temporary and professional, unlike family and personal relationships, and it’s important to acknowledge this and act appropriately.
Improve your workplace culture
Here are a few ways you can start promoting a safe and healthy company culture where everyone feels respected.
- Be transparent. Share the company’s successes and challenges with your employees to build a culture of trust and honesty.
- Encourage healthy relationship-building. Introduce regular, professionally appropriate team-building activities.
- Maintain flexibility. Make hybrid working a part of your workplace strategy to help improve work-life balance and boost morale.
- Ask for feedback. Find out where your teams think you can improve and tell them what you plan to do about it.
- Encourage communication. Give individuals more than one channel of communication to the broader company so toxic managers can’t block them.
- Ensure that you have a strong HR department. Complaints about discrimination or exclusion should be taken seriously.
- Encourage autonomy in your teams. Discourage micromanagement and provide management training for those in leadership positions.
- Work on your culture. Encourage employees to get involved in building the company culture and appoint a culture team to maintain them.
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