Toxic Work Environment: Why This Generation Won’t Put Up With It

Have you ever arrived home from work and felt utterly defeated? No sense of fulfillment on a productive day even though you literally just worked 8 or more hours? It may surprise you how many people are currently or have been in a toxic work environment.

But how do you identify the signs of an unhealthy workplace? Would you even be aware of the symptoms of work toxicity? This should help you out.

1. You’re entirely burned out and overworked. No matter how many hours you put in, it feels as though there are not enough hours in the day or week to finish your tasks. Management expects a lot from you whether it’s adding more work to your load or requiring you to be on-call. There are no boundaries or balance to your work and home balance. This will eventually lead to the projection of frustration toward your loved ones due to the extra stress.
2. No support or opportunity for growth. Your first week or month on the job shouldn’t be a “sink or swim” scenario. I’ve met so many people who have stated that when they first started their job, they were pretty much on their own. From learning everything about the company, how to do their job, and making loads of mistakes because (well, duh) they didn’t know how to do anything the correct way, and it would either make or break it for them. Unfortunately, I’ve also been in that situation. Then years go by and the more you ask for growth, the more “We’ll talk about this another time” statements you get from your employer.
3. People frequently feel gaslighted. What’s gaslighting? When someone gaslights you, they make you doubt your ability to do your job or make you question your own perceptions or sanity. You know you’re capable and intelligent, but certain interactions create self-doubt for you. This is a form of manipulation and it often happens at work, especially on a supervisor-to-employee level.
4. Turnover rates are high. When you begin seeing people resign, that should be something to key in on. Ask yourself, “why are so many people leaving this place?”, “what am I not seeing?”, and evaluate your current situation. If your colleagues are disengaging themselves from their team or showing no interest in taking initiative to produce, there could be a serious reason as to why.
5. There’s no trust. I’ve been in a situation where no one trusted each other. Can you imagine how much negativity it created? This eventually led to a serious case of gossip amongst employees who had no respect for upper management and became a big HR issue. No matter how many “Respectful Workplace” trainings we had throughout the years, no one took it seriously. The lack of respect and trust completely derailed the organization.
6. Persuasive fear of failure. Many employees have admitted that one of their fears is making a mistake at work and getting punished for it. We are human and we will make mistakes from time to time, but that shouldn’t debilitate us. Oftentimes, those fears are confirmed by employers who mistreat their employees by showing a lack of empathy for the mistake made. And employees have reported feeling “worthless” and less motivated to produce quality work. Addressing a mistake is necessary and follow-up coaching with the employee in a respectful and understanding manner will demonstrate good leadership and a teamwork mentality.

A wise person once told me, “The most important thing to do when we face adversity is how we respond to it.”

The one thing you can control is deciding whether your place of employment is a good fit for you. No shackles are bounding you to eternal damnation at this place. Yes, we all have bills to pay, but strategize your plan on getting out.

Many people view the pandemic as a curse to human society, but being the optimistic person that I am, I view the pandemic as a blessing in disguise. Don’t get me wrong, people dying from Covid-19 is NOT a blessing. The blessing comes into play when every single person in the entire world faced complicated situations where work and life balance meshed.

We were all tested on how well we could juggle remote schooling for our kids, Zoom meetings, and still keep our sanity. Many of us struggled and many of us flourished, but at the end of the day, we realized that we are more capable than we gave ourselves credit for.

Start searching for open opportunities elsewhere and begin applying for jobs you’re interested in.

Don’t settle for less than your self-worth. You’re intelligent, kind, and capable of achieving many things in life so find a place and boss who will appreciate you for all of your hard work and contributions.

We are granted one life to live so make it a fulfilling one.