Research Summary: Preventing Toxic Workplaces
The role of values, training, and leadership in promoting a positive workplace culture
Posted on 01-16-2020, Read Time: Min
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Your 40 hours a week at work can feel like years if your workplace is toxic. It will leave you drained and you will wake up dreading the day. The Society for Human Resource Management recently found that nearly 1 in 5 American workers has left a job in the past 5 years due to bad company culture, resulting in an estimated $223 billion lost for companies over that time. In brief, toxic workplaces impact your bottom line.
To gain greater insight into toxic workplaces, HR.com's HR Research Institute partnered with EVERFI, a leader in digital education on critical workplace culture issues, to conduct a survey to examine toxicity in the workplace.
Key Findings
Negative Stress is Common in the Workplace
Many HR professionals agree that there is a sense of distrust between leadership and employees at their organization (52%), a lot of toxic behavior (46%), a pervasive air of resentment (42%), and a sense of distrust among coworkers (42%). Many also agree that people are often bullied (29%), discriminated against (20%), or harassed (19%).
The survey results point out that many do not feel safe reporting incidents — another indication of toxic workplaces. For example, many disagree that employees feel safe reporting incidents when they have been bullied (32%); witnessed bullying (30%); witnessed harassment (29%); witnessed discrimination (29%); been discriminated against (28%); and been harassed (27%).
Considering that organizations struggle with all of the above behaviors in the workplace, it is perhaps not surprising that many respondents also reveal that their organization struggles with toxicity.
Organizational Leaders are not Proactive in Building a Positive Culture
The research indicates that leadership has a long way to go to help facilitate positive workplace cultures. Only 50% of HR professionals agree that leaders in their organization tend to uphold the stated values of their organization, and many (44%) also agree that their leaders become resentful when others disagree with them. Furthermore, only 38% agree that leadership takes proactive steps to create a healthy workplace.
More respondents disagree than agree that their leaders are good at: preventing problems before they begin (55% disagree vs. 20% agree), having difficult conversations (50% disagree vs. 28% agree), conflict management (49% disagree vs. 25% agree), and coaching (47% disagree vs. 31% agree).
In summary, although most managers do listen to the concerns of their employees, many do not seem equipped to go beyond listening to take actions that can create a more positive impact on their employees.
Organizations Lack a Comprehensive Approach to Mitigating Toxicity
Despite the prevalence of toxic workplaces, large proportions of HR professionals indicate that their organization is not taking steps to make changes. When asked what their organization is doing to address workplace toxicity issues, more than 1 in 4 (28%) say their organization doesn’t address workplace toxicity issues. And, when asked what they will do in the coming years to address workplace toxicity, 23% of respondents say they will not increase their emphasis on it. Furthermore, 32% say they do not allocate funding to promote a healthy workplace.
Among organizations that are addressing workplace toxicity issues, the most common method is to define and communicate corporate culture and values, which is done by 60% of these organizations. Respondents from organizations that use this method also indicate that their workplace cultures are more positive than those who do not.
Among respondents from organizations that plan to address workplace toxicity issues in the coming years, more than half say they will train leaders to be better listeners (58%), focus more on initiatives that can enhance employee well-being (54%), or create a greater sense of belonging among employees (54%). About half (49%) say they will offer more training on creating a positive corporate culture.
Trainings that Include Culture-Building are also Viewed as more Effective than Compliance-Only Trainings
Among those organizations that provide training, their training content is more focused on compliance (such as behavior prohibited under law) than on building an overall positive culture (such as demonstrating respect and civility or using bystander intervention techniques). Among organizations that provide training in harassment, bullying, or discrimination, the most common topics covered are about specific behavior prohibited under law and the process for reporting each behavior.
The data shows that there is a lot of room to improve the effectiveness of training, which is important considering the frequency of harassment, bullying, and discrimination reported by respondents. Among those who say their organization provides training, only about half agree that the training is effective in preparing employees to prevent and react to harassing behaviors (53%), discriminatory behaviors (53%), and bullying behaviors (47%).
However, HR professionals from organizations that include culture-building topics in their training are much more likely than those that only include compliance to say that their training is effective. For training related to harassment issues, 67% of respondents from organizations that also include culture-building agree that their training is effective, compared to just 29% that only cover compliance.
Furthermore, HR professionals from these culture-building organizations are also more likely to say that their workplace is positive and non-toxic. For training about harassment issues, 58% of respondents whose training includes culture-building agree that their workplace is positive, compared to 45% of those whose training only covers compliance.
Despite this relationship between including culture-building topics in training with more effective training and positive workplaces, only 37% of all HR professionals say their organization plans to offer more training on creating a positive corporate culture in the coming years.
Organizational Values are Vital to Building Positive Workplaces
Companies with positive cultures are more likely to have behaviors and procedures aligned with company values. The vast majority (84%) of HR professionals who report a positive workplace culture agree that the behaviors and procedures of their organizations tend to be aligned with their core values, while just 5% disagree.
To learn much more about the survey results and insights and for strategic takeaways, we invite you to read the complete report.
* References to “positive cultures” refer to respondents who agreed or strongly agreed with the statement: “Overall, my organization’s culture is positive and non-toxic.” “Negative cultures” refer to respondents who disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement.
The survey results point out that many do not feel safe reporting incidents — another indication of toxic workplaces. For example, many disagree that employees feel safe reporting incidents when they have been bullied (32%); witnessed bullying (30%); witnessed harassment (29%); witnessed discrimination (29%); been discriminated against (28%); and been harassed (27%).
Considering that organizations struggle with all of the above behaviors in the workplace, it is perhaps not surprising that many respondents also reveal that their organization struggles with toxicity.
Organizational Leaders are not Proactive in Building a Positive Culture
The research indicates that leadership has a long way to go to help facilitate positive workplace cultures. Only 50% of HR professionals agree that leaders in their organization tend to uphold the stated values of their organization, and many (44%) also agree that their leaders become resentful when others disagree with them. Furthermore, only 38% agree that leadership takes proactive steps to create a healthy workplace.
More respondents disagree than agree that their leaders are good at: preventing problems before they begin (55% disagree vs. 20% agree), having difficult conversations (50% disagree vs. 28% agree), conflict management (49% disagree vs. 25% agree), and coaching (47% disagree vs. 31% agree).
In summary, although most managers do listen to the concerns of their employees, many do not seem equipped to go beyond listening to take actions that can create a more positive impact on their employees.
Organizations Lack a Comprehensive Approach to Mitigating Toxicity
Despite the prevalence of toxic workplaces, large proportions of HR professionals indicate that their organization is not taking steps to make changes. When asked what their organization is doing to address workplace toxicity issues, more than 1 in 4 (28%) say their organization doesn’t address workplace toxicity issues. And, when asked what they will do in the coming years to address workplace toxicity, 23% of respondents say they will not increase their emphasis on it. Furthermore, 32% say they do not allocate funding to promote a healthy workplace.
Among organizations that are addressing workplace toxicity issues, the most common method is to define and communicate corporate culture and values, which is done by 60% of these organizations. Respondents from organizations that use this method also indicate that their workplace cultures are more positive than those who do not.
Among respondents from organizations that plan to address workplace toxicity issues in the coming years, more than half say they will train leaders to be better listeners (58%), focus more on initiatives that can enhance employee well-being (54%), or create a greater sense of belonging among employees (54%). About half (49%) say they will offer more training on creating a positive corporate culture.
Trainings that Include Culture-Building are also Viewed as more Effective than Compliance-Only Trainings
Among those organizations that provide training, their training content is more focused on compliance (such as behavior prohibited under law) than on building an overall positive culture (such as demonstrating respect and civility or using bystander intervention techniques). Among organizations that provide training in harassment, bullying, or discrimination, the most common topics covered are about specific behavior prohibited under law and the process for reporting each behavior.
The data shows that there is a lot of room to improve the effectiveness of training, which is important considering the frequency of harassment, bullying, and discrimination reported by respondents. Among those who say their organization provides training, only about half agree that the training is effective in preparing employees to prevent and react to harassing behaviors (53%), discriminatory behaviors (53%), and bullying behaviors (47%).
However, HR professionals from organizations that include culture-building topics in their training are much more likely than those that only include compliance to say that their training is effective. For training related to harassment issues, 67% of respondents from organizations that also include culture-building agree that their training is effective, compared to just 29% that only cover compliance.
Furthermore, HR professionals from these culture-building organizations are also more likely to say that their workplace is positive and non-toxic. For training about harassment issues, 58% of respondents whose training includes culture-building agree that their workplace is positive, compared to 45% of those whose training only covers compliance.
Despite this relationship between including culture-building topics in training with more effective training and positive workplaces, only 37% of all HR professionals say their organization plans to offer more training on creating a positive corporate culture in the coming years.
Organizational Values are Vital to Building Positive Workplaces
Companies with positive cultures are more likely to have behaviors and procedures aligned with company values. The vast majority (84%) of HR professionals who report a positive workplace culture agree that the behaviors and procedures of their organizations tend to be aligned with their core values, while just 5% disagree.
To learn much more about the survey results and insights and for strategic takeaways, we invite you to read the complete report.
* References to “positive cultures” refer to respondents who agreed or strongly agreed with the statement: “Overall, my organization’s culture is positive and non-toxic.” “Negative cultures” refer to respondents who disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement.
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