In recent years there has been mounting awareness about the detrimental effects of toxic work environments and the profound negative impact on the culture within an organization and by extension the people in the organization. At a minimum it effects productivity and extends to what organizations should be focused on as much as any bottom line, employee mental health and physical wellness. There is a wealth of evidence linking workplace toxicity to poor morale, high employee turnover, poor professional performance and devastating mental health outcomes. Why , in the face of compelling evidence, is this tolerated? Let us examine some of the contributing factors.
1. The normalization of toxicity
No matter the industry or professional environment, toxic workplaces exist everywhere.. Health care is not exempt.The danger lies in how insidious it is. Starts with small micro aggressions and what may be justified as jokes just at the fringes of professional appropriateness and if not recognized and stopped in its tracks, will become the culture of the organization and unfortunately, if the leadership sets the example, it may be seen and become how individuals think the road to personal success looks. The dividing line between healthy corporate behaviour and toxic sludge ,becomes blurred and you become known for the culture you allowed.
2. Fear of repercussion
Toxic behaviour can become a weapon. The power of the workplace bully, no matter how high up in the ranks of the organization, can be soul destroying and go unchecked because no one wants to risk the nuclear explosion that may ensue if a concern or complaint is raised. The fear of repercussion is real. Particularly if the escalation path runs through a perpetrator of such behaviour. The fear of labeling, loss of relationships and loss of employment are very real and without a safe mechanism to deal with this, the cycle will continue.
3. Leadership blindness
Every self aware individual will own the fact that they have blindspots. One may very well be a contributor to organizational toxicity and not even realize it. Leaders need a highly developed sense of how their behaviour, communication style and leadership style is experienced by others and the impact it has. One of the most devastating situations can arise where a leader sees behaviours like micromanagement, bullying or even favoritism as actual tools to achieve results. Blindness of this nature unfortunately becomes the example to the organization.
4. Workplace policies either unclear or simply empty words
It is hard to believe that in this day and age any organization would not have some iteration or other of a Code of Conduct , a Whistle Blower Policy or at least respect for Labour Legislation. It is a realty that these gaps exist. If the policies do exist, use them appropriately and for goodness sake, zero tolerance must be zero tolerance!
5. Performance over people
Let me be clear. Performance and meeting standards of care and maintaining the drive towards raising standards of care and how patients experience their care is not negotiable and must be the driving motivation to come to work. However, when we lose sight of the fact that health care providers and leaders are human beings and we leverage toxic leadership behaviour under the guise of needing to drive KPI's, we have lost sight of the dire need for humanity as a leadership trait.
6. Inadequate support
Every strategic plan lists mental wellness and caring about its teams and that is great. The reality is that it often does not go beyond lip service. The health care environment is tough and leadership can become a very lonely place. Just because someone has a title, does not mean they don't need support. Awareness and compassionate action is the answer.
Workplace toxicity is one of the most frequent reasons why health care leaders from every level of leadership reach out for coaching and listening to the often gut wrenching experiences, prompted this blog. We have all been or currently are in some variation of a toxic workplace or relationship that can be detrimental on many levels.
I truly understand how that makes you feel and how it turns your perspective upside down and inside out.
I am sincerely dedicated to help health care leadership colleagues. You may be uncertain or even sceptical about how a coach can make a difference and I get that. I was there as well. If you feel embattled, I invite you to reach out for a discovery call. You might just move on after that or maybe I can help. Most importantly, don't let workplace toxicity destroy your soul
Take care until next week.
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