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What is toxicity in the workplace?

Most of us spend 80% of our lives working, but what if you are not happy at work? How will this impact on your ability to do your job? And, more importantly, how will it impact on your personal life? Whether you are working from home or in an office, toxicity at work is a real thing!

If you are in a toxic work culture, the feeling of despair can carry over into your personal life, damaging everything from your self-esteem to your friendships. A toxic work environment can also impact on your mental health and wellbeing. The increased stress of working in an environment like this can lead to job burnout, fatigue, anxiety, and sometimes depression.

What is toxicity in the workplace?

I prefer to use the term toxic work culture which is one where the work environment is plagued by in-fighting, bullying, passive aggressive behaviour, drama and unhappy employees to the point that productivity and the mental health and wellbeing of the employee is affected BUT no one says anything about it!

toxic work environment can be defined as any job where the work, the atmosphere, the people, or any combination of those things, cause serious disruptions in the rest of your life.

Individuals at every level of an organisation can contribute to a toxic work culture. Toxicity can begin with business leaders, bad managers, or disengaged employees and often it’s all three at once.

I have experienced this myself in the past and resigned as a result. For me it was a blessing; I learned from it and I moved forward and developed, but this is not the case for everyone.

Further reading:

Alexandra Lichtenfeld - a workplace wellbeing specialist for 87% and business mentor who works with business owners, senior management teams and entrepreneurs changing the face of employee wellbeing, getting the best out of their business practices and employees.