12 signs that you’re in a toxic work environment

We've all had to work surrounded by real creeps and bad professionals.

The work environment or work climate is the perceptions that a worker has about the processes and structures that occur in the organization where he or she works.

It occurs at different levels (organizational, workplace, personal) and has a direct influence on the employee's behavior, level of satisfaction and well-being at work.

How to know if we are in a toxic work environment.

There are different signs that indicate that we are in a negative work environment.For example, our boss makes life impossible for us or our co-workers are all going their own way.

In the following lines I will delve into these signs, which are shown below.

1. Negative leadership

In recent years, many of the studies and research related to well-being at work have been concerned with the influence that leadership styles have on the well-being of workers. Superiors, because of the place they occupy in the organizational structure, exert a great influence on many people. A single action by a leader or manager can have negative or positive consequences on an entire team, and therefore on the company's results.

Research indicates that those superiors who employ a transformational leadership styleThe leaders who care about the workers, are charismatic, communicate efficiently and have a strong shared vision, which they convey to the workers (they are able to change their expectations, perceptions and motivations), are the ones who obtain better results for the company and a greater well-being of the workers.

• If you want to go deeper into this topic, you can read our article: "Types of Leadership: The 5 most common types of leaders".

2. Role problems

Roles function as behavioral guidelinesAlthough they can be extremely complex, they are essential for the well-being of workers. Role problems can occur frequently in companies when someone is not clear about his or her role within the company (role ambiguity), has to do tasks that do not belong to him or her (role overload) or has to deal with conflicting or incompatible demands and requirements at work in order to get the job done (role conflict).

These role problems are generators of stress and burnout and often occur due to poor communication, especially from the upper layers of the company (e.g. in the relationship with superiors or due to an unclear company structure).

3. Work overload

If in the previous point I have talked about role overload, which is rather a psychological phenomenon in which the person can perform tasks that are not his own (but does not necessarily include an excess of work); work overload is rather a physical phenomenon, in which the person simply cannot cope with the volume of work he has to perform.

For example, if an employee only has the capacity to produce 2 machines per day and the management asks for 8. Logically, the worker will end up stressed and will suffer the negative consequences of this phenomenon..

This is a situation that can occur relatively frequently due to the logic present in many companies, consisting of achieving maximum profit in the minimum possible time. To achieve this, expenses that will not positively impact the organization's productivity are reduced from day one, which leads to concentrating the maximum amount of work in the least amount of hands. The result is usually burnout, something that can become chronic and is not only detrimental to the worker, but also lowers the company's productivity ceiling.

4. Toxic coworkers (mobbing)

Coworkers are one of the key elements in the work environment, either for better or worse.. Scientific studies suggest that a good relationship with coworkers has a buffering effect in relation to stress, i.e., in cases where this phenomenon is manifested, coworkers reduce its negative effect. However, a bad relationship with peers is a very frequent stressor. This is especially true if mobbing or harassment occurs in this relationship.

There are different types of mobbing, so the harasser or harassed can also be a boss. To learn about the different types of mobbing, you can read our article: "The 6 types of mobbing".

5. Lack of commitment to the organization

Researchers, when they want to know the work climate, usually measure some variables that are a consequence of the decrease in well-being at work. one of them is the lack of commitment to the company.

When a person is at ease at work feels the company as his own and even feels proud to belong to that brand.. This is not the case when the work environment is toxic.

6. Desire to leave the company and absenteeism

Another of the variables that are a consequence of being unhappy at work is absenteeism, that is, when the person misses work frequently for different reasons, generally due to medical leave. If this phenomenon appears, it is because there are reasons for it, beyond the marketing strategies that the organization may use to keep its workforce happy.

However, it is not necessary for workers to be absent or to leave the company when they are unhappy, because in recent times this figure has been reduced by the economic crisis and by the "survivor syndrome". In reality, the simple idea of leaving the company can be measured, and this is what is known as intention to leave the company. When a person is in a toxic work environment, the desire to leave increases.

7. You are not motivated to go to work

The two previous points are a clear indication of demotivation towards work and the lack of desire to work. and the little desire to work that is generated when the work environment is toxic. People who are not at ease at work or are stressed feel a great sense of heaviness and demotivation every time they have to go to the workplace.

In turn, demotivation is often reflected in the accumulation of tasks to be done, which in turn causes more stress and discomfort, in a vicious circle.

8. You feel you cannot grow within the company.

The structure of the company also affects the well-being of the workers and the motivation one feels.When there is no development plan, people perceive that they are stagnating. In the long run, this is not positive for their well-being and, therefore, stress and demotivation appear.

Fundamentally, the problem is that the present is associated with what the future may bring, leaving very little room for improvement. This perspective is totally demotivating, because it also gives a vision of the organization in which one is only a piece whose task is to keep working without looking much beyond his or her routine.

9. Irrational schedules

Many companies, aware of the need that people have to earn a salary, set schedules for their workers that are not reasonable.Many companies, aware of the need for people to earn a salary, set schedules for their workers that do not take into account their needs outside of work, their leisure time and, in general, their well-being. In fact, some companies even do this illegally. The need to have a job leads many people not to denounce despite illegal working hours and conditions.

10. Poor communication

One of the phenomena that causes greater discomfort at work and a toxic work environment is communication.This can manifest itself at different levels. In the first point I talked about leadership styles and their influence on stress, and whether a leadership style is considered healthy or not is often determined by communication skills. However, poor communication can also occur, for example, between colleagues or from different departments of the company, and can generate role problems, discomfort, conflicts and other negative phenomena.

11. You do not feel valued

People are emotional beings, and we all like to be valued. The vast majority of us have spent half our lives studying and fighting for our careers.

Only a few decades ago, many companies trained workers, and some of them felt they owed a debt to the organization. Today, after studying and paying our way through the 4 years of undergraduate studies (plus the various Masters) we want some respect and appreciation. When this does not happen, it is very likely that demotivation and discomfort will make their presence felt..

12. You are stressed or burned out

All of the above points have something in common, and that is that if they occur over a prolonged period of time they generate stress and burnout: one of the great evils of work, because it affects not only the workers but also the results of the organization..

It is common to see entire departments and even groups (e.g. nurses) suffering stress due to all of the above variables and others that also affect the work environment and are beyond the company's control. For example, political decisions or budget cuts in healthcare (in the case of nurses). Therefore, there are many variables that can lead a person to live in a toxic work environment.

• If you want to know more: "8 essential tips to reduce work stress".