Five Signs of a toxic work environment

Sadly, there doesn’t seem to be a shortage of toxic work environments these days.  While some people are fully aware that they are in such an environment, others believe that what they are experiencing is "normal", even though it’s anything but normal.  Often this stems from being gaslit by others in the work environment, intentionally or not, which leads to thoughts like: 

• “I'm sure that every work environment is like this.”
  
• “I’m sure it could be a lot worse.”
  
• “I should be grateful that I have a job.”
  
• “I should appreciate the positive aspects of this job.”
  
• “What's wrong with me that I'm struggling this much?”  
  

It sets up a terrible picture in which the patterns that play out are eerily similar to those of an abusive relationship.

If you’ve been told that your job isn't that bad, or that maybe you are the problem, how can you step outside of all of that and see that maybe it's not you? How can you tell if your job actually is that bad? Here are the top five signs that you are in a toxic work environment:

1. Your gut is screaming that something is wrong.  
   

My clients hear me say all the time that feelings are data points. They are there to tell you what your experience is, and counterintuitively, they are often more accurate indicators of your experience than all of the logic and rationalization in the world. The difficult part is actually tuning into those feelings and listening to them, since many of us are taught to ignore our feelings or suppress them, or to believe that feelings lie to us.  However, your feelings will tell you when something isn’t right. When your feelings tell you over and over and over again that you’re absolutely miserable at work, it might be a sign that something isn't quite right in your work environment.

1. You have no autonomy or say in what you are doing. 
   

You’re going about your day-to-day responsibilities, and suddenly your boss tells you that someone else is now going to be managing you.  Oh, and by the way, you were just added to a work project that is probably going to require about 50 hours of your time each week. If you have absolutely no say in this process, that isn’t a good sign. Healthy work environments value their employees’ well-being and whether they enjoy the work that they are doing. They value making sure that their employees are happy and getting meaning and fulfillment in their work. Toxic work environments treat their employees like cogs in a wheel, so they don't have any qualms with telling you what to do, or changing what you are doing, without any input from you.

1. Actions do not match words. 
   

If your supervisors are waxing poetic about self-care, but then declining your PTO requests, expecting you to work beyond your contracted hours, or becoming upset when you haven't responded to an email within an hour, then start paying attention.  It’s easy for people to say that they value their employees’ well-being, and that they want them to engage in self-care. It’s another thing to actually create that type of culture. It takes active work and effort to cultivate an atmosphere in which self-care is actually valued. This means encouraging employees to take their PTO, and to accept PTO requests when they come through. It means respecting the boundaries of the work day hours and allowing people to leave at 5:00 p.m., rather than expecting them to stay after hours.  It’s giving employees room to respond to emails in a reasonable time frame, rather than expecting them to be on call every minute of the day.

1. Everyone else is miserable, or there’s a very high amount of turnover. 
   

When we’re feeling overwhelmed and stressed, often we become so focused on ourselves that we lose sight of what’s going on around us. But if you take a step back and look at what others are experiencing, it’s not a great sign if everyone else is also depressed and overwhelmed, or if you are now being introduced to the fifth newest team member in the past month.  If it seems like it's not just you, it's probably not just you. 

1. The workplace motto is “This is the way we’ve always done it.”
   

This is such a short phrase, but it packs so much punch, given everything that underlies it. These eight words actually communicate the following sentiment: “We do not value curiosity, creativity, brainstorming, learning, growth, new opinions and perspectives, or how you feel.”  It might sound harsh, but if you really think about it for a minute, I'm guessing you’ll notice that all of those items listed above are probably missing from your work environment.  If you’re hearing this phrase on a regular basis in your work environment, the likelihood of experiencing any kind of fulfillment in your job is extremely low.

If after reading this, you realize that you’re in a toxic work environment, here are steps that you can take:

• Engage in “job exploration”.
  

Even if you’re in a toxic work environment, the thought of jumping ship can still be incredibly scary and overwhelming. However, you can explore other jobs that are out there, brush up your resume, apply to other positions, and even interview for other positions, all without making any type of commitment one way or the other. In that process, people often find that there are many more jobs out there than they would have anticipated, and ones that are much less toxic than the one they are currently in, which can then make the transition process feel a little less scary if they ultimately decide to leave their current position.

• Don't go it alone.
  

Whether it be colleagues who are in the same boat as you, or friends outside of work, make sure that you are spending time with people who will validate what you're going through and encourage you to do whatever is best for you.

• Talk with a therapist.
  

When you are in a toxic work environment, it can sometimes be hard to untangle the billion thoughts and feelings that you're experiencing at any given moment.  A therapist can help you to create more clarity for yourself, identify small concrete steps to take, and figure out how to move forward towards your goals.

• Engage in self-care.
  

Sleep.  Eat.  Move.  Pet an animal.  Read a book. Watch netflix.  Dance.  Get outside. And  most importantly, don't let any job tell you that work or email is more important than your well-being.

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