The 5 warning signs of a toxic work environment

What are the characteristics of a toxic work environment, which is the primary reason for employees to leave, according to a study in the MIT Sloan Management Review?

An analysis of 1.4 million Glassdoor reviews from over 590 major U.S. companies revealed that employees characterize toxic work environments in five primary ways: exclusionary, disrespectful, unethical, competitive, and abusive.

Charlie Sull, a researcher, states that employees can discuss hundreds of criticisms about their organization on Glassdoor, ranging from IT issues to ineffective management. While most criticisms may not significantly impact their assessment of the organization, a small sample of topics can have a significant effect on a company's Glassdoor rating. These factors can result in billions of dollars in employee turnover.

Researchers analyzed employee reviews to identify topics that correlated with a negative company culture score and high attrition rates from April to September 2021.

These annoyances will trigger an emotional response that makes going to work unappealing, according to Sull.

What toxic work culture looks like

According to anonymous reviews, the following five characteristics are typical of a toxic work environment.

1. Employees across gender, race, sexual identity and orientation, disability, and age may not feel fairly treated, welcomed, or included in key decisions. Researchers warn that while these identity-related topics may not apply to all employees, they have a significant impact. For instance, "respect" is mentioned 30 times more frequently in employee reviews than LGBTQ equity, but both topics have the same impact on an employee's view of culture when they are discussed negatively in a review.
2. The researchers' previous work found that the single strongest predictor of how employees rated the corporate culture was the level of respect or lack thereof shown to them.
3. The organization's unethical behavior includes being dishonest and not complying with Occupational Safety and Health Administration standards and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, which safeguards workers and patients' information.
4. Employees who engage in cutthroat or backstabbing behavior and engage in ruthless competition are more likely to experience low culture scores and higher turnover. Nearly 10% of employee reviews noted poor collaboration at their company, which didn't have a huge impact on turnover. However, what did correspond with low culture scores and higher turnover was employees saying that their office was "Darwinian" or that colleagues often "stab each other in the back."
5. One-third of Glassdoor reviews mention management in general, but only 0.8% describe their manager as abusive.

Toxic workplaces are a billion-dollar problem

The loss of employees resulting from a toxic work environment is both a human and financial cost to the company.

Those who work in toxic environments are more likely to experience stress, burnout, mental health problems, and other stressors that can negatively impact their physical health.

The Great Resignation resulted in a loss of over $44 billion for businesses due to toxic workplace culture, according to the Society of Human Resources Management.

According to Gallup, replacing an employee who is disengaged and job-searching can cost up to twice the employee's annual salary, resulting in lower productivity.

To retain and hire in today's business world, MIT researchers suggest that organizations must establish and embody a supportive, inclusive culture as the pandemic changes the way we work.

Leaders should analyze company culture by geographic region, department, function, or level of seniority to identify "microcultures" where employees feel psychologically unsafe and unsupported. Even in healthy organizational cultures, a small percentage of people who describe the culture as toxic can lead to attrition, according to Sull.

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