Toxic culture is a major contributing factor to The Great Resignation. These 5 strategies will give your culture a competitive edge.
There’s a reason companies lose top performers, and it’s not always because they aren’t making enough money or getting enough development opportunities. In fact, one analysis cited toxic culture as one of the primary drivers of The Great Resignation, or Great Reshuffle, where millions of Americans voluntarily left their jobs. Despite a growing number of tech layoffs in recent months, The Great Resignation is still alive and well, with one in five workers projected to quit their jobs before year-end.
In short, corporate culture is more than just a fancy buzzword sprinkled into job requisitions on LinkedIn—it is the driving force of any successful company. When company culture takes a turn for the worst, it costs organizations far more than losing valuable employees.
While the future of the post-pandemic workforce boasts great uncertainty for many employers, identifying whether or not your company culture has toxic tendencies—and promptly addressing them—could make or break success in the coming years. Here are 5 strategies for identifying culture blind spots so that high employee turnover is one less problem to worry about during a projected recession.
Identifying a Toxic Culture
Toxic company culture is not always easily noticeable especially if you are in senior leadership and don’t have as much exposure to everyday challenges your leaders and their direct reports face. Still, as a forward-thinking leader, you must prioritize building a culture that promotes employee wellness, engagement, and satisfaction. Here are some signs that repair work may be needed:
● Low employee morale or enthusiasm
● Authoritarian leadership
● Prioritizing policies or profits over people
● High employee turnover
● Cliquey or gossipy behavior
● Non-inclusive environment
● Unethical behavior
● Cutthroat competition
● Enabling toxic leaders
How to Fix Company Culture
Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither was the culture that has cost you a few of your hardest-working team members. But there are steps you can take to be the change you wish to see. If your culture could use some work, try one or more of these culture-renovating strategies.
Accept Accountability.
In order to fix what’s broken, executive leaders must be open about acknowledging and owning the current state. Toxic company culture is not something that can be brushed aside or swept under the rug—in fact, approaching problems this way likely contributed to where you are today. Facing a toxic culture head-on openly and honestly, by acknowledging how current culture impacts customers and employees alike, shows your organization you are serious about identifying problem areas and fixing them—for good. Committing to doing the right thing by your people and your customers is a critical first step that goes a long way in building trust and gaining buy-in from your employees (who may already have one foot out the door).
Be trustworthy and consistent.
Rebuilding culture is not just saying you’ll make changes, but proactively and consistently taking action to improve the present condition. Realigning actions and initiatives to improve culture around your company’s mission and values can be a great way to get everyone excited and aligned with the future vision.
Open lines of communication.
Oftentimes when culture is poisoned, employees do not feel empowered to communicate openly and honestly about any issues or challenges in the workplace. This causes problems to fester and grow, creating division among teams and adversely affecting productivity. One small, incremental change any leader can make, after accepting accountability for the prevailing culture, is to encourage the expression of free thought and ideas among your team. When employees feel comfortable communicating with a trusted leader who is truly listening to their concerns and diligent to effect change, they will be able to resolve problems, perform at their best, and face workplace problems that contribute to chronic work stress and burnout which can cause health problems.
Adopting a culture of transparency and honesty.
Because a large part of overhauling culture is rebuilding trust with employees, being transparent and honest about what is wrong with the existing status, demonstrating your commitment to repairing it, and being transparent about what initiatives you are taking to resolve the problem will go a long way. Explaining how and why leadership has made certain culture decisions and changes can help rebuild trust and reignite your employees’ spark to work for the company.
Prioritize Employee Well-Being.
No company can function without employees who are mentally and physically healthy. Employers should take the responsibility to prioritize employees’ well-being seriously. There are many ways to show your employees that their well-being matters to you, including making employee recognition part of the culture, promoting mental health awareness in the workplace, providing benefits and incentives for employees to get and stay healthy, and an added focus on work/life balance. After the pandemic, more and more employers have taken steps to bolster their employee wellness programs in an effort to retain top talent and stay competitive. Employers should be proactive, enhance their definition of what well-being truly means, and most importantly, lead by example.
Toxic Culture Hurts Your Employees the Most
While the onus falls on leadership to correct toxic culture, the real victims are your team members. Because your employees are client-facing, ensuring their health and happiness while carrying out your company’s mission should remain top of mind for all employers. Improving culture doesn’t always have to start from the top—but any leader at any level can make a positive impact by initiating small, consistent changes that show employees you are serious about making the company a better place to work.
If you want to enhance your communication skills as a leader in the post-pandemic workforce or want to reach peak performance as a forward-thinking innovator in Corporate America today, ExecTrek™ can help. Discover how to zero in on behaviors that can impact business and propel you forward. From communication and time management to decision-making and image optics, RC3 Partners provides transformational Executive Coaching and Leadership Development to leaders seeking their competitive edge. Contact us today to learn more.
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