The toxic five

Confronting the challenge of poor workplace culture

We can all agree: toxic workplace culture is bad for business.

I listened to a podcast discussing new research that provides interesting clarity on how damaging toxic workplaces are and defines what makes a culture toxic rather than just aggravating.

Why is this important? Because toxic culture has recently been proven the single best predictor of employee attrition. So powerful it is 10 times more influential than compensation in predicting turnover. What defines a toxic culture is just as important because it allows us to focus on the core issues driving the toxicity and to maximise the impact of changing it.

Through their large-scale systematic study of corporate culture, Donald and Charles Sull (CultureX) identified what they term “The Toxic Five” attributes. These have the largest negative impact on employee ratings of corporate culture, so they contribute the most to employee attrition. The full article is an excellent read, but the toxic five in summary are:

1. Disrespectful—A general lack of consideration and courtesy.
2. Noninclusive—A fair and inclusive environment regardless of age, gender, race, disability and sexual orientation and gender identity.
3. Unethical—The prevalence of dishonesty, unethical behaviour and adherence to regulatory compliance.
4. Cutthroat—Behaviours such as backstabbing and ruthlessness in competition.
5. Abusive—Cultures that tolerate bullying, harassment and hostility.

Part of why these five attributes are so influential in workplace culture is because they align with our core needs and expectations as human beings. They don’t just offend us as professionals, they offend us as humans. These factors don’t just make the workplace an irritating place to come, they affect our human need for belonging, for purpose and for connection.

Previous research from CultureX identified that companies frequently list integrity, collaboration, respect and diversity—the opposite of the toxic five—as core values. The quickest way to create a toxic culture is to promise one set of values and then not only fail to deliver but to allow behaviour that is in opposition to those values.

We can’t change a toxic culture with our head in the sand. Even in organisations with a healthy corporate culture, pockets of toxicity may exist. To acknowledge the existence of toxicity and the contributing attributes allows us to detox in a meaningful way. Challenging, yes, but if we’re serious about retention, it’s a challenge we must confront.

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Photograph: Freepik.