As you know, of course, a toxic environment can be found anywhere, and the work environment is no exception. A toxic environment at work is usually about competition for money, the blame for each other, a dreary office atmosphere, and so on. No wonder there’s a list of the best companies to work at almost every year. Do you know why they are called the best and far from toxic environments? The education is based on good salaries and benefits, a fair division of labor with a good event management system, good colleagues, to a comfortable work environment that supports productivity.
And what about the poor or toxic work environment? Unconsciously, this condition can make employees become less good individuals and companies unproductive. When such conditions take place, the management of a company must be able to take appropriate and rapid action. Don’t wait until his condition worsens, and it may even cause the best employee to choose to resign. So that you can identify the toxic work environment and how to overcome it, read closely to the following article.
Table Of Content
- Definition of Toxic
- Toxic Effects on Mental Health
- Characteristics of a Toxic Environment
- How to Overcome a Toxic Environment
- Conclusion
Definition of Toxic
Toxic is a label or term for someone who is “toxic”, someone who is a source of personal distress and has a negative effect on people around, both physically and emotionally. People like that can be found anywhere in real life.
Toxic Effects on Mental Health
Usually, having this toxic trait finds it very difficult to feel happy, to look at others badly, to live a life of suspicion, complain often, and always be dissatisfied. Toxic traits can rub off on others because they can spoil a good atmosphere. Both actions and speech emanated from the toxic person can have an effect on your mental health, such as feeling heartache and fatigue physically and emotionally.
Characteristics of a Toxic Environment at Work
The work environment, in fact, has a significant impact on the physical and mental health and efficiency of its workers. It is important, therefore, to be sure that not only is his work satisfying but content with the environment at work. To find out if your work environment is toxic or not, here are some of the characteristics of a toxic environment at work :
- An unrealistic workload is a toxic environment. Even if you try hard, but always feel the difficulty of getting the job done, it is in a toxic workplace. This may be because of the unrealistic workload that can cause anxiety and frustration at high levels.
- Usually, the time of day’s work would be eight hours unless there were definite conditions under the agreed-upon terms of employment or a specific job. However, many studies indicate that people who work more under those conditions tend to suffer from depression.
- Day-working anxiety may come from many things outside of work, but if the work environment is toxic it will definitely cause stress and anxiety. Because if you’re uncomfortable with work or the poisoned atmosphere, our minds and bodies will always send out signals.
How to Overcome a Toxic Environment at Work
Humans are social creatures and cannot survive without the help of others. But sometimes, it’s not easy to find people who suit you. So that sometimes you get to meet people who are poisonous in the surrounding environment. But not to worry, for there is a way to overcome this toxic environment, here’s how to overcome it:
Toxic behavior identification
Before taking action, you must first identify any behaviors or cultures that are problematic at work. The trick is to look at the work environment critically. Additionally, it may also identify them based on several common signs that could indicate that the company’s work environment tends to be toxic. The condition of the company is different, of course, so the visible signs are not always the same. But when you see the signs, it becomes a yellow light to take corrective action immediately.
Root evaluations of the problem
After identifying which behaviors or cultures are problematic at work, the next step is to evaluate the underlying issues. Since the work environment cannot simply be present, there must be things that contribute to it. Is such a toxic place of work a result of the corporate leadership system? Such as discrimination, poor communication, regarding employees as subordinates, not being transparent and accountable in decisions, to the absence of appreciation for achievements that should exist with the help of certification and training management systems. If this happens, then you need to do an improvement strategy.
Strategize strategy
Like a doctor who has identified the disease and knows the source of the disease then, it is necessary to do the treatment. Likewise in the company, the next step in tackling the toxic environment at work is to devise an improvement strategy. Need you remember that treating is more difficult than prevention, which means you have to be patient and make gradual improvements by doing the scale of priorities. Start with the one that has the biggest impact first, hoping that the small problems might improve by themselves.
Evaluate the strategy
After implementing the strategy, it certainly requires evaluation. See after a few months of implementation, whether the strategy produces any changes. In addition, you can also perform an evaluation by involving a third party such as a consultant or the like to see a different perspective that could be a positive input. A third-party assessment can also be more objective so that the improvement step becomes more appropriate.
Conclusion
That’s the explanation of the toxic environment at work and how to overcome it. Surely this toxic environment is dangerous for us. If you are not good at controlling yourself, negative influences could easily lead to you. Resolve the matter with things that you enjoy, or it can be by participating in religious activities, showing your identity, making jokes, and relaxing with people fairly close to you.
Avoid paying attention to the negative news because that would only bias us. Therefore companies should be able to build up their employees and provide comfort for them. HRM Software from HashMicro is a system that can control employees. It covers management o or off-boarding employees, recruits, KPI, training, employee evaluations, employee transfers, business trips, and employee loans. You can manage the employees in real-time anywhere and anytime.