It is normal to have a bad day at work. A hectic Monday, a challenging week or a frustrating Thursday. This is the usual cyclic nature of a career and a job. Sometimes you are up, and other times you are down.
However, if you are constantly having bad days, that is a bad sign. If you are constantly stressed at work to the point of dreading coming to work, you are in a toxic work environment. Toxic workplaces drain you more than they enrich. Here are five tell-tale signs of a toxic workplace environment.
1. Lack Of Work Boundaries.
In a toxic workplace culture, employees are encouraged to prioritise work above all else. The management expects you to push yourself above and beyond for the company. Thus, promoting unhealthy work-life boundaries and non-existent work-life balance.
Your boss may send you a task email on a Friday afternoon and demand a detailed report by Monday morning. Alternatively, you are called in for a work meeting on a Saturday, and you end up missing out on your child’s birthday party.
The lack of work boundaries can lead to exhaustion and burnout. As a result, you become constantly anxious because you are living on the edge as you are expected to be by your phone and email even at odd hours of the night.
2. Micro Management.
In a toxic working environment, the management does not trust its employees. The lack of faith and trust in employees leads to micro-management. Therefore, it is common to find supervisors monitoring your every move and obsessing over the productivity of every worker.
When you are micro-managed, you are stifled in creativity, and as a result, your output becomes plain and bland. Also, your work morale goes down and showing up to work becomes a tedious process.
Working while someone is breathing down your neck can induce anxiety. If you suffer from imposter syndrome, micromanaging only makes it worse. This is because you internalise the lack of trust as incapability on your part.
3. Work Place Harassments.
If your boss howls insults at you, that is bad. If the insults are based on your ethnic background or where you come from, that is racial harassment. If you are constantly sidelined because of your gender, whether you work in a female-dominated or male-dominated career, that is gender-based harassment.
Physical harassment manifests itself as bullying by colleagues and bosses based on your height, weight and general appearance. If your boss makes inappropriate sexual comments and solicitations, that is grounds for sexual harassment.
Harassment of any kind is detrimental to your physical and mental health. It is unsettling whenever your boss spanks you or makes you uncomfortable at work. If you are constantly shouted at for making mistakes, you will suffer low self-worth and self-esteem.
As you internalise this abuse, you develop unhealthy coping mechanisms such as day drinking to blow off steam or take the edge off. You also become highly irritable and defensive. Eventually, you begin to think you are incapable or incompetent at your job.
4. High Turnover Rate.
Does your company constantly announce job openings and new vacancies? That could be a big red flag. A high turnover rate in a company is worrying. It means the company is unable to retain its employees.
A high turnover rate is a sure sign that something is off within the organisation. It could mean that people are unhappy or dissatisfied, or that the environment is uninhabitable. Either way, this stifles the organisation’s growth and the growth of its employees.
5. Stagnation.
When a colleague tells you that they have been in the same position for more than 15 years, it is time to run or look for another venture. Stagnation is a sure sign of an unhealthy workplace.
Stagnation in a workplace means a lack of growth. Either the management does not invest in training and mentorship for its staff, or the employees are not motivated enough to challenge themselves and the organisation.
If you join such a workplace, you will eventually conform to its culture. You will create a comfort zone and only deliver the bare minimum. Ultimately, this will reflect in every aspect of your life. Pure stagnation.
Suppose your workplace has three or all of the above signs; it is time to rethink your options. Unless the culture changes, a toxic workplace can only take from you, leaving you drained and sickly. It is time to plan your exit! Goodluck! ♥
Mourine Warui is a media and communication expert and seasoned writer. Her goal is to empower and offer solutions to everyday girl’s problems while provoking candid and authentic conversations. Other goals are to provide inspiration and entertainment to readers through creative, thought-provoking and edgy stories.
