Toxic Work Environment? 5 Steps to Deal With An Unhealthy Workplace

If you've ever had the experience of participating in a toxic work environment, what you're going to notice is that in that toxic work environment, there's a lot of inappropriate stressors or stressors on your workplace that go into your personal life as well. There may be some unhealthy competition among the coworkers, low morale as well, maybe even bullying, but especially there's a lot of negativity. And you'll also observe a lot of turnover with respects to employees leaving a new hires, employees leaving again and new hires, a really high turnover rate. So if that is you and you're finding that this is kind of a toxic work environment I'm in and you've been in it for a while and you're wondering, what do I do? How do I manage this? Do I leave? When do I leave? How do I report this? If these are some of the questions that are going on in your mind, then this is the video for you. What I'm going to share with you in this video are five steps on how you can manage an unhealthy, toxic work environment. And I'm going to give you no fluff. They are five real steps that you can take right now. No fluff. So let's go. Step number one is to conduct an inventory. So this is where you look back on the past month of you working in that environment and even the past quarter. Start with the past month and then you expand it to the past quarter of working there. And you're taking literally an inventory, an inventory of your observations or of the truths of what you are observing in that environment and your experiences as well. And let me give you some pointers on what you want to be taking an inventory of. One of the things that is really important is to observe how others feel. Others, your peers, your coworkers, even your team members, what are they saying? And oftentimes people will share. It could be at the lunch break, it could be between meetings, it could be at the water cooler, but people express themselves even in the work. So what are they saying? Are they sharing their experiences? Are you noticing similar things, right? So this other thing that you can observe is what is the communication like between bosses and employees? How are successes and failures regarded in this organization, in the environment? Both successes and failures, not just successes, but how are both of them regarded? How are they treated among employees in your environment? Another thing to look at is what is the communication style between the boss and each of their employees, between across employees as well? What is the communication style? Are you noticing, for example, a lot of shaming? Are you noticing bullying? Are you noticing inappropriate comments and remarks? Are you noticing guilting, guilt tripping? Are you noticing a lot of criticisms that are inappropriate or that are inaccurate? Are you noticing a lot of gossip, right? What are you noticing? And these are the facts that you're taking an inventory of. And finally, another thing to take an inventory of is the turnover rate. What are you seeing there in terms of employees leaving? How many have left in the past month, in the past quarter? How many new hires have they turned around? Is there an increase of turnover rate compared to last quarter and this quarter? And are there a lot of complaints that are in and around those turnover rates? What are you seeing? So this is an inventory. So that is step number one is to collect an inventory. Step number two, choose to lead. This is an opportunity for you to model the behavior that you want to see at work. Jocko Willink in his book, Extreme Ownership, he's a Navy SEAL. One of the most important principles that you can learn from the Navy SEALs when it comes to leadership and influence is this characteristic called extreme ownership. This is not about taking the blame or owning the blame for other people's behavior, nothing like that at all. It is simply from the place of your own personal power. Ask yourself, what can I do? Because at the end of the day, the only thing that you have control over are your own responses and your own actions. So what change do you want to see in your environment? What is toxic about it exactly? Is it the communication? Is it the gossip? Is it the way people criticize? Is it the way they respond to successes and failures? What is the change you want to see? And simply model that behavior. Because when you model it out of care and compassion and concern, those are very important. When you model that behavior, you're taking leadership of the change you want to see. You're becoming the change you want to see, that you want to see in your environment. And that is one of the most effective ways that you can influence. So that is step number two, choose to lead. Step number three is to collect truthful documentation. Here's what I mean by that. Document everything that you do, every conversation that you're a part of, email exchanges, phone calls that you've had, meetings where there's action items, discussions between meetings as well. Any conversations you've had privately with other members of your environment, document everything you've done and all the decisions that were made as a result of those discussions. And document it truthfully. Make sure that you include timestamps, dates as well, and who was involved, and what was the decision as a result of that discussion as well. And this is really important, particularly if you do choose and if it does warrant a complaint or you do need to file a complaint. It's important in those, especially in those circumstances that you have this truthful documentation so that you can protect yourself. And this also protects you against retaliation. It also provides evidence in the event that you are filing a official or a formal complaint that you have evidence that you can submit as well and that you have evidence throughout the course of time and not just in the most recent conversation. Right? So that is step number three is to collect truthful documentation. Step number four is to communicate the truths. And this is really important after you've taken steps one, two, and three, and you have peace that you have done everything you can, that you have stepped into leadership, that you exuded the behavior, the change you want to see, and also that you have peace with your own voice. This is time to communicate the truths because oftentimes after an employee has left a company, right? Oftentimes if they didn't advocate for themselves, it could be a cause of regret. It could be an opportunity that was passed by where you could have made it influence a change, but you didn't. So that's why communicating the truth is important. It's not just important for you to know that you've done all you can and at your highest morale, right? In alignment with your highest values and your ethics as well. But it's also an opportunity for you to create lasting change. This is, by the way, this is not about confronting anybody because that just adds fuel to the fire. What I am talking about is communicating the situation, communicating the truth of your observations, the data that you've collected, the inventory that you've collected that I shared with you in step number one, but communicating it to key individuals. And it could be an HR leader or a HR director or some representative in HR, or it could be someone else, but that someone else, whoever it is, must have a personal authority in that environment to make a lasting systemic change in that environment. So wherever it is that you choose to voice your concern to, this is where you bring it to them. And the key is to communicate effectively, not from a place of blame, not by taking blame or giving blame, but communicating effectively. What is the situation? And while you are communicating with this individual, I will give you a pro tip as well. Ask for anonymity. While you are communicating with them so that you can protect yourself against retaliation or he said, she said, or anything like that, just ask for anonymity and out of care, curiosity, and concern that you are sharing these truths. And by the way, if you want to know what do I say exactly, how do I bring forth this because I've been in this company for a long time or I don't feel like I have authority to even bring this up, how do I ensure that I have the credibility? If some of these questions are popping up inside of your head and you want to be able to communicate though, I invite you to book a call with me. In the description, in the link below this video, there's a link to book a call with either myself or a member of my team. And this is an opportunity for me to coach you directly on how to advocate for yourself, on how to take your career into leadership levels and your skills as well, your communication skills. When it comes to handling conflicts, when it comes to negotiation, when it comes to advocating for yourself or others, how do you communicate effectively? So this is for you. Only if you're serious about taking your effective communication to the next level so that you can achieve these outcomes for yourself. By the way, this is not for you. If you're at the beginning stage of your career or a recent college graduate, but if you're serious about that leadership, then I invite you to book a call and look forward to see you on the inside. Step number five, by the way, I want to hear from you. I've already shared with you four steps. Which one resonated with you the most? Comment below so that I can hear from you. If you didn't like what I said, if you're enjoying this or it was helpful for you at all, give me a thumbs up and remember to subscribe to my channel. Every week I release videos like this to help you and support you in your career journey. Right? So step number five is to craft your exit. So what do I mean by that? A lot of executives that I coach, a lot of leaders in their industries that I coach, they tell me, one of the most common things that they share with me is that I don't think I have a choice. I got to leave this company. And the exit sometimes is the point of highest contention. But what if I told you that you can craft your exit so that you leave the company, if that's your decision, powerfully, that you can leave it without burning any bridges and then you can leave it at the same time better than when you first arrived. So this is what I mean by crafting your exit. How do you want to leave? It could be that after you've taken steps one through four that I shared with you just now, it could be that there is a real and systemic change in your environment, in which case you might decide, well, I don't need to leave because there is changes and I trust this process. It could be that in which case you don't have to leave. However, of course, it could be that you do decide, well, it is time to leave. I am feeling that my time here is complete. I'm feeling that this is the right time. It's in my best interest. So I'm going to leave this organization or this environment. If that's you and you're on the fence, maybe then I encourage you that there is no such a thing as a right or wrong answer. There's no such thing as one right or wrong answer. There's only yours, your decision, your answer. And this is where you want to make an informed decision, eyes wide open, which is why when you take the steps one through five, that you will make a decision that is in your best interest. So craft your exit. And if you are finding that even after you've taken one steps, one to four, that in your environment you're feeling and you are really observing and you just have a sense that things aren't going to change, right? People aren't, they're not going to make a change. They're not, they're still not going to be a big enough shift for me to feel like it's worthwhile for me to build my career here. And there's a heightened sense of urgency for you to leave, right? For health reasons or for your own wellbeing. If that's the case for you, then perhaps you might want to consider a bridge job, a bridge job so that you can make your exit more immediate. In the meantime, taking a bridge job until you figure out the next step in your career. Just so you know, there is a myth that burnout, if you're feeling burnout, that that is a sign of a toxic environment. Well, I'm here to share with you, that's not necessarily the case because if you are feeling burned out, burnout could be as a result of your own communication. For example, sometimes we don't know how to set healthy boundaries with our coworkers or even boundaries with our bosses. And yes, it is absolutely essential that you set healthy boundaries with your coworkers, your managers, and your bosses as well. So if that is you and you're feeling burned out, it's not necessarily that you are in a toxic environment, but what you can do is set healthy boundaries. So I have a video right here, so you'll see a link right there that shows you how to set healthy workplace boundaries. The other thing that I would encourage you to really consider is that sometimes when we're feeling undervalued at work or unappreciated, that's also not always a sign of a toxic environment. Just because you're feeling undervalued, unheard, unappreciated, doesn't mean that the workplace environment is toxic. It could be in our ability to be able to negotiate or advocate for ourselves because it is our responsibility to let known, to express the way we feel, our experiences, our situations, and even to make requests. So if that is you and you're finding, well, I feel so unappreciated, undervalued, I've been at this position for five years, I have put so much of my blood, sweat and tears in these projects and I'm not receiving the recognition I deserve. If you feel that's you, then I encourage you to watch this video here on how to negotiate. This is about the five characteristics you need to have in order to advocate for yourself in the workplace. So I hope this was helpful. Like I said, I want to hear from you. Ring that bell as well so that you can receive a notification each time I upload a new video.