Toxic behaviour in the workplace from Chairman’s to management by ‘manipulating and bullying’ staff are warned ‘it’s not conducive’

Employees in the workplace are speaking out over “toxic workplace behaviour” and from Chairman’s down to management can be responsible.

Around 70% of staff have expressed “burnout, distress, depression and anxiety” which can be a result of management displaying toxic behaviour through emails of other digital devices and platforms which is illegal in the workplace under the Employment Act.

Around 73% of staff have expressed their desire to leave the job as a result of toxic behaviour and many also take grievance actions against their employer as a result.

Diana Blažaitienė who is a remote workplace expert and the founder of Soprana Personnel International told LondonLovesBusiness.com, “Toxic behavior—yelling, manipulating, bullying, undermining others, displaying abusive management style—creates a negatively-charged workplace that triggers reduced efficiency, lack of motivation, desire to leave, or burnout.”

She added, “Such behavior can extend from a real workplace to a virtual one through emails or digital workplace platforms and eventually create an environment that is not conducive to thriving teams,” and the behaviour can also be used by using SMS or WhatsApp messages to employees.

Although, in many cases, the toxic behavior starts at board and or management level, sometimes employees ignite it with certain workplace conduct. The expert told us, that frequently they do not recognize toxic behavior traits they might be displaying.

Blažaitienė maintained, “When they feel like their workplace has become toxic and impairs their daily tasks, many employees tend to attribute the issue to their leaders without stopping for a minute to consider whether they might be a part of the problem.

“Every member of a team is responsible for creating an atmosphere that sparks productivity, goal realization, effort, and teamwork.”

The expert pinpoints behavioral patterns on the employee part that might lead to a toxic workplace: feeling victimized but not doing anything about it, refusing to take proactive steps in eliminating toxicity from workplace, passively observing abuse, infusing too much meaning into every feedback or interaction, or creating unnecessary competition with colleagues.

Blažaitienė, therefore, urges staff to reflect on their workplace behavior and eliminate potential toxic actions. That said, employees shouldn’t attribute all the blame to themselves either.

She added, “As crucial as it is to start the changes within oneself to make the workplace productive rather than demotivating, employees should also be responsible for their mental well-being and identify when the toxic behavior originates from employers so that they could be vocal about it.”