Organizational culture, when it’s mindfully managed, is a key to competitive advantage.
Then why do so many cultures seem to be a mess?
The short answer is, “Because they are mismanaged.”
The more specific answer is, “Because you get what you tolerate.” In short, if you tolerate bad behavior, you’ll simply get more of it. And if that bad behavior is of the toxic variety, a toxic culture is what you’ll get.
Colin D. Ellis certainly understand this. He’s a seasoned UK-based consultant who specializes in all things culture. His new book is Detox Your Culture: Deliver Results, Retain Staff, and Strengthen Your Organization’s Reputation.
As Ellis points out, you can consider your culture to be toxic if you witness or are subject to one or more of the following:
- Bullying
- Harassment
- Racism
- Sexism
- Misogyny
- Homophobia
- Age-ism
- Unwanted physical contact
- Verbal or emotional abuse
The list goes on.
And Ellis offers plenty of research-based evidence of the result. For example, employee turnover triggered by toxic culture costs U.S. employers nearly $50 billion each year. Culture is 12.4 times more likely than compensation to predict whether an employee leaves. The creators of toxic culture are often known serial offenders who are not challenged on their misbehavior.
What are the early warning signs that a previously user-friendly culture is becoming toxic?
“Toxic cultures occur when leaders permit poor performance and poor behavior to become normalized over a period of time,” Ellis says. Early warning signs include “frequent losses of temper, passive aggressive communication, micro-management, unrealistic expectations or targets. Employees will likely feel greater stress and anxiety and may feel a loss of confidence and experience a decline in their mental and physical health.”
Toxic cultures seem to be fairly common these days. So why do people tolerate them?
“The advice is often ‘if the culture is toxic, then leave,’” Ellis says. “But it’s not that simple for most people. They have mortgages, bills to pay, children or relatives to look after, or have been with the organization a long time. Simply quitting is just not an option. They have no other option than to tolerate them. In these situations, I advise people to talk to their manager (if it’s safe to do so), otherwise bring it to the attention of their HR department in the hope that they can address their concerns.”
“In terms of human behaviors, how can leaders clearly communicate what their organizations stand for—and will not stand for?
Ellis says that in his experience organizations are often good at describing what is and is not appropriate. “However, they are incredibly poor at holding people—especially executives—to these behaviors. When a poor behavior is observed, the organization needs to address it immediately. Not only to deal with the present issue, but also to send the message to everyone else that the behavior won’t be tolerated from everyone.”
Ellis writes about what he calls “speak-up” cultures, and he explains what such a culture looks like in terms of observable behaviors.
“When employees are able to share their ideas, concerns, and feedback openly, it can lead to a more positive and productive culture,” he says. “This in turn not only enhances the employee experience, but also the experience of stakeholders or customers working with them. The behaviors that contribute to this include empathy, active listening, courage, and resilience.”
How can prospective employees confidently assess the cultures of the organizations they’re interested in joining?
Ellis points out that websites such as Glassdoor.com now enable prospective employees to assess the culture of a company before applying. “Generation Z employees in particular are using this to find companies that practice the values that they espouse,” he says. “LinkedIn is also used to connect with people who work at the company in order to find out what the day-to-day experience is like.”
When two companies are considering a merger, what process does Ellis recommend for ensuring that the values and cultures will blend comfortably?
“It’s critically important that there is a merger of cultures, otherwise what can happen is that there is continual division as employees look to stay within the culture with which they are familiar,” he says. “Values should be refreshed and a new ‘identity’ created. Only then can managers ensure that there is a shift away from the ‘old’ ways of working towards a new ‘merged’ way of doing things.”
For a while, many organizations jumped on the DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) bandwagon. Then people began to regard DEI as unproductive, unfair, or (ironically) just another form of racism. How can an organization maintain its commitment to a user-friendly culture without adopting every culture fad that emerges?
“It’s important that every organization undertakes initiatives to address misrepresentation or inequity in their ways of working,” Ellis says. “However, they have to be really careful not to generate new divisions in the way they educate people. Far too often, these initiatives are undertaken to tick a box, rather than to educate and bring about behavior change.”