We asked thousands of hiring managers and executives to perform a Google search using the phrases "my boss is..." and "my company is.."
The top searched term is:
Toxic.
A client, a director with 14 years of experience in her organization, told us she was taking a "working while Black and female trauma break" from work. She's yet to return to the office.
There is an increase in employees at all levels quietly quitting by taking "mental health breaks" and short-term leaves of absence due to workplace trauma. At Everyday Lead, we are determined to address workplace trauma by helping our clients retain talent and making their culture psychologically safe.
In 2022, we impacted 2,300 executives, leaders, and staff with training, coaching, retreats, keynote addresses, roundtables, and interviews on this one topic - "Psychological Safety: Creating Safe Spaces at Work." Our work in psychological safety was our 2022 signature service for clients seeking transformational training and tools in diversity and inclusion.
Are you ensuring your teams and staff can speak up freely with questions, dissent, mistakes, and lack of knowledge and share their challenges without personal jeopardy or the threat of losing their jobs? If everyone in your organization cannot say yes, commit to making 2023 the year you focus on creating a psychologically safe workplace for all. To reduce workplace trauma that results in absenteeism, lawsuits, and low glass door ratings, we must ensure that high-performing teams are diverse, inclusive, free from bias, and psychologically safe.
A Toxic Boss is Easy to Spot
A toxic boss can have a significant impact on the psychological safety of employees in the workplace. They are easy to spot, but are often given pass after pass while they terrorize your best employees and create a psychologically unsafe environment. Here are five ways to spot a toxic boss:
Creating a hostile work environment: A toxic boss can create a hostile work environment by engaging in bullying, harassment, or discrimination. This can create a sense of fear and insecurity among employees and make them feel like they are not valued or respected in the workplace.
Silencing employee contributions: A toxic boss can silence employee ideas and contributions by using various tactics such as belittling, ignoring their ideas and opinions, and taking credit for their work or stealing their ideas. This type of behavior makes employees feel unsupported, demotivated, and hesitant to speak up, resulting in employees beginning to hold back their ideas, leading to a lack of creativity, innovation, and overall productivity.
Damaging employee morale: A toxic boss can also damage employee morale by using biased language, biased judgements, and using microagressions to criticize, belittle, and undermine employees in front of their peers. This can lead to decreased motivation and a decrease in the overall level of engagement among employees.
Reducing trust in the workplace: A toxic boss can reduce trust in the workplace by engaging in unethical or untrustworthy behavior. This can cause employees to question the motives and intentions of management, leading to decreased trust and a sense of insecurity.
Promoting a negative work culture: A toxic boss can also promote a negative work culture by setting a poor example for other employees to follow. This can lead to toxic behaviors becoming normalized in the workplace, which can have a negative impact on the mental health and well-being of employees.
When a toxic boss is driving people away, it will cost your company thousands of dollars, resulting in retention and reputation issues. It is important for t to take steps to address toxic behavior in order to maintain a positive work environment and protect the well-being of employees.
We help our clients address toxic boss issues using professional development strategies such as coaching, roundable discussion, training, and tools. Ready to increase retention