5 Toxic Behaviours That Can Impact Your Company Culture

A Forbes study claims that companies with highly engaged employees experience 21% higher profitability while a Deloitte report says that organisations with a strong learning culture have 30-50% higher retention and engagement rates.

Simply put, culture is the essence of every business's long-term growth, productivity and profitability.

According to Clare Miller, EVP, Chief Human Resources Officer (Atlantic Union Bank), ‘’Building a strong & sustainable company culture is critical to the success of any business.’’

Yet, in accordance with Gallup study, only 32% of the U.S. employees are engaged with their employer and the engagement numbers are declining rapidly. A less engaged workforce tends to be less enthusiastic about their work and workplace leading to higher absenteeism, turnover and lower loyalty and productivity.

Most organisations look at the high turnover rates and comprehend that the issue is their workplace quality. However, it’s a reflection of their bad company culture. And, to fix your organisation culture, it’s important to know the toxic traits that can kill your company culture.

Read on to make sure that you’re not making these grave mistakes that can ruin your organisational culture.

Read on the importance of dialogue at the workplace

1. Micromanagement

Micromanagement clearly implies a lack of trust. When managers nitpick each task, assuming they’re assuring success, they’re instead aggravating their employees. By this, they create opportunities for the team members to just follow directions, contribute bare minimum and collect their paycheck.

Bob Whipple, CEO of Leadergrow Incorporated, says, "Employees have the freedom to explore, create, innovate, stretch and make mistakes in an environment of trust.”

So, instead of detailing how and when every assignment must be completed, managers must express trust, push for thoughtful risk taking and encourage creativity to eliminate toxic company culture.

2. Encouraging Gossip

Some managers engage in gossip whether it’s personal matters or the company itself. Gossip is simply a human experience that’s often being ignored. A certain amount always exists, however rampant gossip has to be curbed to maintain a healthy organisational culture.

To eliminate workplace gossip, employ coaching, give warnings and make sure progressive discipline persists. You’d be surprised to know that successful companies like The Walt Disney Company have strong ethical values that are so essential to their life that the company culture and brand name are one and the same thing.

3. Hasty Hiring

A bad hire could lead to lost revenue or a bad reputation in front of the clients. It might be tempting to cut corners while recruiting to fill positions quickly, but it’s never a good idea.

Thus, when screening for future employees, do it in a way that correlates to their prospective responsibilities and duties. Hasty hiring is a big NO, if you want to get rid of toxic company culture.

4. Rewarding Bad Behaviour

Southwest Airlines, a service leader, narrows down everything on behaviour, not just the resume. The crew reports back based on the attitude of the candidates and how they behaved. Whether it’s your team members or leaders, behaviour of both parties matters. By rewarding bad beahviour, leaders destroy the organisational culture.  

Confronting and eliminating bad behaviour might be difficult because it involves having hard and honest conversations. Don’t take the easy way out. Speak up, act and promote, develop and maintain the culture you want.  

As rightly said by John Mackey, Co-founder of Whole Foods, "If you’re lucky enough to be someone’s employer, then you’ve a moral obligation to make sure people look forward to work in the morning."

Look at 9 great ways to express gratitude at work

5. Sending Mixed Signs With Employee Recognition

Define accolades, compensation and recognition based on long-term business and leadership strategies. If an employee excels by operating outside of what company culture prescribes, then this is what will truly define the company culture. Make sure to include appreciation and recognition within your leadership strategies for the well-being of the team.

Company Culture Makes A Difference!

Beyond keeping your employees satisfied and happy, having a great company culture is the key to great revenue, solutions, inventions and ultimate growth.

When a team member feels valued, the productivity possibilities are endless. For instance – Hewlett-Packard Labs provides its employees with personal space and creative time during which many new products have been created like clear bandages, optical films that reflect light both on the market.

So, what have you done or doing for your company culture?

About TransFunnel

At TransFunnel, we make sure to provide flexible working hours. We trust our team members with working from office or home arrangement and so do they.

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