Spotting the red flags
To understand what makes a culture toxic, MIT Sloan analysed employees’ reviews on Glassdoor and grouped similar elements into broad groups they termed the “Toxic Five”. The most common attributes of a toxic culture: it’s disrespectful, non-inclusive, unethical, cutthroat and abusive.
Other signs to watch out for include excessive micromanagement, repercussions for speaking up, harassment, bullying, excessive gossip, lack of transparency in decision-making and persistent conflicts without resolution. Additionally, a problem in many organisations is a culture of indulging bad behaviour if it’s accompanied by high performance in other areas, ignoring the systemic damage it causes. Research found that these “toxic rock stars” particularly impact women of colour but ruin the workplace for everyone.
While no industry is exempt from a toxic work…
