A “toxic workplace” is a colloquial term used to describe a place of work, usually an office environment, that is marked by significant personal conflicts between those who work there. Such infighting can often harm productivity. Toxic workplaces are often considered the result of toxic employers and/or toxic employees who are motivated by personal gain (power, money, fame or special status), use unethical means to psychologically manipulate and annoy those around them; and whose motives are to maintain or increase power, money or special status or divert attention away from their performance shortfalls and misdeeds. Toxic workers do not recognize a duty to the organization for which they work or their co-workers in terms of ethics or professional conduct toward others.[1] Toxic workers define relationships with co-workers, not by organizational structure but by co-workers they favour and those they do not like or trust.[2]
Quite similarly, Harder et al. (2014) define a toxic work environment as an environment that negatively impacts the viability of an organization. They specify: "It is reasonable to conclude that an organization can be considered toxic if it is ineffective as well as destructive to its employees".
In the United States, the issue of workplace bullying is getting increasing attention from state governments; twenty-six states have introduced a version of the Healthy Workplace Bill which provides a definition of this conduct and support for employers to address the behavior through discipline.[3]
Studies by National Occupational Safety and Health found toxic workplace environments a leading cause of workplace violence such as "violent acts, including physical assaults and threats of assault, directed toward persons at work or on duty." Studies on this issue include verbal violence (threats, verbal abuse, hostility, harassment, and the like) can cause significant psychological trauma and stress, even if no physical injury takes place. Verbal assaults and hostility can also escalate to physical violence.
This phenomenon harms both the company and the other employees, including those who are not direct targets. Co-workers are distracted by drama, gossip and by choosing sides in the ongoing animosity. This can translate into lost productivity.[4] While employees are distracted by this activity, they cannot devote time and attention to the achievement of business goals. Positively motivated and ethical employees may try to speak up to a toxic employee but this can make them a target (see whistleblower). Managers of toxic employees can feel intimidated by a toxic employee and try to appease the employee in an effort to avoid confrontation. Over time, positively motivated employees drift away from the workplace and may begin to view management as inept and ineffective. This can result in poor job performance as they begin to feel less valued, therefore less loyal to the company.
Fellow employees may begin to experience physical symptoms from the stress and worry over whether they or someone they care about in the work place may be targeted. This can even develop into a clinical depression requiring treatment.[5]
Prevention and resolution
Interventions to address this negative behavior in the workplace should be undertaken carefully.[6] While fixing the problem is something that is very important and will likely be very beneficial, it must be done in a way that doesn’t cause any extra trouble.
When toxic workers leave the workplace, it can improve the culture overall because the remaining staff becomes more engaged and productive.[7] The process of removing the toxic employee will likely allow the other employees to become more willing to open up and communicate with each other as they learn to help support one another again. This is something that is really important for the overall culture of the company. Companies who articulate a strong set of cultural values regarding communication, respect and professionalism as well as a performance evaluation system that ranks both technical performance and the professional treatment of fellow employees are felt by HR professionals to be more resilient and stable.[8]
See also
Wikiversity has learning resources about Toxic workplace at
^ Housman, Michael; Dylan, Minor (1 November 2015). (PDF). Harvard Business School. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 August 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2019. Thus, a toxic worker is defined as a worker that engages in behavior that is harmful to an organization, including either its property or people.
^Benoit, Suzanne (2011) "Toxic Employees: great companies resolve this problem, you can too!" Falmouth, Maine: BCSPublishing
^Bitting, Robert. "Using Effective Leadership Strategies in the Workplace". (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-08-13. Retrieved 2015-11-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link). Retrieved May 13, 2011.
^Davies, Andrews and Smith. "Do You Have a Toxic Employee in Your Workplace?" Retrieved May 13, 2011
^ Ryan, Liz (1 November 2007). . BusinessWeek (now Bloomberg Businessweek). Archived from the original on 9 November 2007. Retrieved 25 August 2019. Interpersonal relationships, contrary to popular opinion, are not irrelevant to performance planning. If one person on the team can't go three days without upsetting one or more other members, you've got an issue.
^"Is Employee Turnover Always Bad?". Small Business - Chron.com. Retrieved 2021-03-23.
Durré L Surviving the Toxic Workplace: Protect Yourself Against Coworkers, Bosses, and Work Environments That Poison Your Day (2010)
Kusy M & Holloway E Toxic workplace!: managing toxic personalities and their systems of power (2009)
Lavender NJ & Cavaiola AA Toxic Coworkers: How to Deal with Dysfunctional People on the Job (2000)
Lavender NJ & Cavaiola AA The One-Way Relationship Workbook: Step-By-Step Help for Coping with Narcissists, Egotistical Lovers, Toxic Coworkers & Others Who Are Incredibly Self-Absorbed (2011)
Lubit RH Coping with Toxic Managers, Subordinates ... and Other Difficult People: Using Emotional Intelligence to Survive and Prosper (2003)
Sue MP Toxic People: Decontaminate Difficult People at Work Without Using Weapons Or Duct Tape (2007)
Dr. Gary Chapman, Dr. Paul White, & Dr. Harold Myra | Rising Above a Toxic Workplace: Taking Care of Yourself in an Unhealthy Environment (2014)
February 28, 2023
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A toxic workplace is a colloquial term used to describe a place of work usually an office environment that is marked by significant personal conflicts between those who work there Such infighting can often harm productivity Toxic workplaces are often considered the result of toxic employers and or toxic employees who are motivated by personal gain power money fame or special status use unethical means to psychologically manipulate and annoy those around them and whose motives are to maintain or increase power money or special status or divert attention away from their performance shortfalls and misdeeds Toxic workers do not recognize a duty to the organization for which they work or their co workers in terms of ethics or professional conduct toward others 1 Toxic workers define relationships with co workers not by organizational structure but by co workers they favour and those they do not like or trust 2 Quite similarly Harder et al 2014 define a toxic work environment as an environment that negatively impacts the viability of an organization They specify It is reasonable to conclude that an organization can be considered toxic if it is ineffective as well as destructive to its employees In the United States the issue of workplace bullying is getting increasing attention from state governments twenty six states have introduced a version of the Healthy Workplace Bill which provides a definition of this conduct and support for employers to address the behavior through discipline 3 Studies by National Occupational Safety and Health found toxic workplace environments a leading cause of workplace violence such as violent acts including physical assaults and threats of assault directed toward persons at work or on duty Studies on this issue include verbal violence threats verbal abuse hostility harassment and the like can cause significant psychological trauma and stress even if no physical injury takes place Verbal assaults and hostility can also escalate to physical violence Contents 1 Corporate and organizational results 2 Prevention and resolution 3 See also 4 References 5 Further readingCorporate and organizational results EditThis phenomenon harms both the company and the other employees including those who are not direct targets Co workers are distracted by drama gossip and by choosing sides in the ongoing animosity This can translate into lost productivity 4 While employees are distracted by this activity they cannot devote time and attention to the achievement of business goals Positively motivated and ethical employees may try to speak up to a toxic employee but this can make them a target see whistleblower Managers of toxic employees can feel intimidated by a toxic employee and try to appease the employee in an effort to avoid confrontation Over time positively motivated employees drift away from the workplace and may begin to view management as inept and ineffective This can result in poor job performance as they begin to feel less valued therefore less loyal to the company Fellow employees may begin to experience physical symptoms from the stress and worry over whether they or someone they care about in the work place may be targeted This can even develop into a clinical depression requiring treatment 5 Prevention and resolution EditInterventions to address this negative behavior in the workplace should be undertaken carefully 6 While fixing the problem is something that is very important and will likely be very beneficial it must be done in a way that doesn t cause any extra trouble When toxic workers leave the workplace it can improve the culture overall because the remaining staff becomes more engaged and productive 7 The process of removing the toxic employee will likely allow the other employees to become more willing to open up and communicate with each other as they learn to help support one another again This is something that is really important for the overall culture of the company Companies who articulate a strong set of cultural values regarding communication respect and professionalism as well as a performance evaluation system that ranks both technical performance and the professional treatment of fellow employees are felt by HR professionals to be more resilient and stable 8 See also Edit Wikiversity has learning resources about Toxic workplace at Motivation and emotion Book 2011 Toxic workplace Organized labour portalAbusive power and control Abusive supervision Brodie s Law act Bullying culture Counterproductive work behavior Culture of fear Going postal Kick the cat Kiss up kick down Machiavellianism in the workplace Narcissism in the workplace Narcissistic leadership Organizational citizenship behavior Organizational culture Psychopathy in the workplace Respectful workplace Toxic leader Workplace bullying Workplace incivilityReferences Edit Housman Michael Dylan Minor 1 November 2015 Toxic Workers PDF Harvard Business School Archived from the original PDF on 15 August 2019 Retrieved 25 August 2019 Thus a toxic worker is defined as a worker that engages in behavior that is harmful to an organization including either its property or people Benoit Suzanne 2011 Toxic Employees great companies resolve this problem you can too Falmouth Maine BCSPublishing The Healthy Workplace Campaign accessed June 14 2011 at http www healthyworkplacebill org Bitting Robert Using Effective Leadership Strategies in the Workplace Archived copy PDF Archived from the original PDF on 2011 08 13 Retrieved 2015 11 07 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint archived copy as title link Retrieved May 13 2011 Davies Andrews and Smith Do You Have a Toxic Employee in Your Workplace Retrieved May 13 2011 Ryan Liz 1 November 2007 The Toxic Employee BusinessWeek now Bloomberg Businessweek Archived from the original on 9 November 2007 Retrieved 25 August 2019 Interpersonal relationships contrary to popular opinion are not irrelevant to performance planning If one person on the team can t go three days without upsetting one or more other members you ve got an issue Is Employee Turnover Always Bad Small Business Chron com Retrieved 2021 03 23 SHARP Report April 2011 Washington State Department of Labor and Industries Workplace Bullying and Disruptive Behaviour accessed at http www lni wa gov safety research files bullying pdfFurther reading EditDurre L Surviving the Toxic Workplace Protect Yourself Against Coworkers Bosses and Work Environments That Poison Your Day 2010 Kusy M amp Holloway E Toxic workplace managing toxic personalities and their systems of power 2009 Lavender NJ amp Cavaiola AA Toxic Coworkers How to Deal with Dysfunctional People on the Job 2000 Lavender NJ amp Cavaiola AA The One Way Relationship Workbook Step By Step Help for Coping with Narcissists Egotistical Lovers Toxic Coworkers amp Others Who Are Incredibly Self Absorbed 2011 Lubit RH Coping with Toxic Managers Subordinates and Other Difficult People Using Emotional Intelligence to Survive and Prosper 2003 Sue MP Toxic People Decontaminate Difficult People at Work Without Using Weapons Or Duct Tape 2007 Dr Gary Chapman Dr Paul White amp Dr Harold Myra Rising Above a Toxic Workplace Taking Care of Yourself in an Unhealthy Environment 2014 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Toxic workplace amp oldid 1139026392, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
