Since the average person spends about one-third of their life working, their time on the job should be enjoyable, fulfilling, and engaging. Unfortunately, happiness at work has been declining, with job satisfaction and employee engagement reaching record lows in 2024.
In many cases, toxic work environments—those characterized by harmful behaviors and practices that negatively impact people’s well-being, morale, and productivity—are to blame for an unhappy workforce. iHire’s recent research supports this claim, as toxic work environments were the top reason employees quit jobs last year.
After uncovering this statistic, we sought to explore the extent of toxicity by surveying more than 2,200 U.S. employees and employers about their workplaces. What we found is staggering: 75 percent of employees have worked for an employer whose workplace they consider toxic, and 53.7 percent have quit a job because of a negative work environment.
We also asked employees who had experienced a toxic workplace to identify the characteristics that made it so. The top traits included:
- Poor leadership/management (78.7 percent)
- Poor communication across the company (69.8 percent)
- Unfair treatment of employees, such as discrimination or inequities (67.5 percent)
- High stress levels/burnout (65.1 percent)
- Lack of support for employees (64.2 percent)
- Negative company culture (60.0 percent)
- Conflict and hostility (58.8 percent)
Toxicity in workplaces starts at the top
While the reasons employees deem a workplace toxic span the gamut, the top driver of toxicity, poor leadership or management, sticks out. To dig deeper, we asked respondents who had experienced poor leadership why they believed management was toxic, and over 70 percent said leadership lacked accountability for their actions. Moreover, when asked which factors are most critical when creating a positive work environment, a whopping 81.4 percent of employees said clear communication from leadership/management.
Undoubtedly, the type of work atmosphere you hone begins at the top. Leaders and managers must set an example of expected behaviors, hold themselves accountable, and treat their people—the lifeblood of their business—fairly. And none of this is possible if your organization doesn’t possess a solid foundation of core values.
Core values create a positive work culture
Core values are your organization’s foundational principles or tenets. They serve as a guide for how employees and leaders alike should behave, make decisions, interact with customers, and more. For example, if accountable is a core value, all associates (including managers) must take ownership for their actions and follow through on their commitments. Or, if you designate collaborative as a core value, everyone across the company is expected to work together to achieve common goals.
To identify your company’s core values (or refresh existing ones), collect feedback from staff via surveys, brainstorming sessions, or focus groups. Pose questions like: What does our company stand for? What behaviors should everyone demonstrate daily? Which mindsets are critical to our company’s success?
After gathering companywide input, form a committee or small group comprising leadership and HR reps to pare down the list. Ideally, the values you choose should be observable, evoke emotion, drive decision making, and influence hiring and performance management.
Put core values into action
Your core values must become a cornerstone for your employer brand, so include them on your website and careers pages and in recruiting and onboarding materials, office signage, Zoom backgrounds, you name it. But more importantly, you must weave your core values into day-to-day and long-term practices to enrich your culture and ultimately detoxify your workplace. (…)
To continue reading this article in full click here: Cure a Toxic Workplace With Core Values
