The toxic workplace and what to do about it
- Sarah Hudleston
Understanding toxicity may help afflicted employees, while, for employers, managing it likely makes good business sense.
Just about everybody who has worked an office job has a war story to tell about how they were adversely affected by workplace toxicity, leading to mental health issues and their eventual departure from an otherwise ideal job.
The insidious bullying of employees is often used as an underhanded way through which to effect a constructive dismissal, possibly to save company costs, or to meet employment equity targets. The result for the victim is a feeling of low self-worth, which leads to resignation, and despite there being legal and other remedies available to them, they are too traumatised to fight for their job.
“An ideal job or place of work is somewhere people feel that they can contribute, where their work has meaning, and where they feel physically and psychologically safe,” says Department of Psychology Associate Professor Karen Milner. “In a healthy workplace there are fundamental issues like having a good and respectful relationship with one’s manager, where one’s career and personal development are taken seriously, and where one feels one’s work is making a valued contribution to the company or to the wider society.”
A toxic workplace is the exact opposite of this and is a major cause of depression, says Milner. It is a place where employees feel unable to bring their authentic selves to work and they are not psychologically safe to speak up. “If they do say the wrong thing, their jobs might be compromised,” she adds. “Companies with a toxic culture often have high levels of bullying as well as management who do not create the kind of environment in which people feel safe to work.”
Milner suggests that when workers/employees find themselves in a toxic workplace situation, they need to be cognisant of where the pressure or toxicity is coming from.
“If the source is isolated to your specific manager, and not part of the broader company culture, it would be in the best interest of the afflicted employee to turn to the HR department for help. Organisations need to be called out and be made to uphold the commitment they have made to employees and to render assistance in dealing with the offender,” says Milner.
The toxic dark triad
Milner says that many toxic bosses present with certain character traits. “We call it the dark triad which comprises narcissism, Machiavellianism and psychopathy.”
Narcissism is best described as an exaggeration of one’s own importance coupled with an inability to see something from others’ point of view, while Machiavellianism is a strong desire for power. Psychopathy presents as a complete lack of compassion or regret.
“However it’s not only individuals that create a toxic work environment. Organisational cultures which do not hold bullies accountable, do not provide their employees with work-life balance, and somehow stigmatise mental health issues even though they claim they don’t, create an environment in which toxic managers are allowed to thrive,” says Milner.
What the labour law says
Professor Marthinus (Marius) van Staden specialises in labour law and jurisprudence in the Wits School of Law. He says that from a legal perspective, the toxic workplace manifests with the sort of behaviour that undermines the dignity of employees and creates a hostile environment.
“From a labour law perspective, toxicity in the workplace ranges from harassment and bullying to more subtle forms of psychological abuse. Examples of these can be withholding information, professional isolation, and passive-aggressive conduct,” he says.
“Recently a code of good practice on the prevention of harassment in the workplace was adopted and included in the Employment Equity Act, which was endorsed by the National Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC).”
NEDLAC is a government, labour, business and community organisation which, through problem-solving and negotiation on economic, labour and development issues, seeks to problem solve related challenges facing the country.
Van Staden adds, “Although the code is welcome, it’s not perfect. It links workplace violence and harassment to unfair discrimination. This means that not all arbitrary conduct is protected by labour law. You must prove that impunity conduct is prompted by race or gender discrimination. However, when a workplace becomes really toxic, it is hard to claim constructive dismissal.”
“What our courts keep saying is that the situation needs to be objectively intolerable. This means that few people are able successfully to use the constructive dismissal remedy, and there are very few cases where it has been successfully applied.”
Healthy workplaces and the bottom line
Van Staden said that he was surprised that during the NEDLAC negotiations, the unions wanted to pull back on more restrictive labour law regulations.
“I think we should extend the definition of unfair labour practices that we currently have because although business generally perceives this as an undesirable cost, I would argue that in fact there is a business case to extend the protection of workers. I believe that creating more moral and healthy spaces in the workplace makes business sense.”
More related Wits research:
Workplace Bullying in the Legal Profession @ https://www.jutajournals.co.za/workplace-bullying-in-the-legal-profession/
- Sarah Hudleston is a freelance writer.
- This article first appeared in?Curiosity,?a research magazine produced by?Wits Communications?and the?Research Office.
- Read more in the 18th issue, themed #Work, which delves into the evolving nature of work, shaped by societal shifts, technological advances, and equity challenges.