Toxic Workplaces

8 Toxic Workplace Behaviors and How to Address Them

You’ve probably experienced at least one or two of these eight toxic workplace behaviours before

Janice Eastman
9 min readJun 22, 2022
8 Toxic Workplace Behaviors and How to Address Them. A person wearing angel wings levitate above the ground.
Photo by DESIGNECOLOGIST on Unsplash

Whether you’re the manager or an employee, it’s essential to know how to react appropriately so that the harmful behavior doesn’t escalate or create an unhealthy work environment in the long run.

This article steps you through ways of dealing with each problematic behavior and how to confront it directly so there are no unnecessary misunderstandings.

1) Lack of respect

While other colleagues may respect you, if your direct manager does not, you will find it challenging to reach your full potential. Ask your boss what steps they can take to improve your relationship.

At a minimum, request regular 1:1s to have a forum for two-way communication. — Amy Hoover, co-founder of TalentEgg and Right Management Consultant.

Everyone deserves respect at work. This means you shouldn’t be given more menial tasks than your colleagues, passed over for promotions, or treated as an outsider by management.

Here are some behaviours that can indicate a lack of respect:

  • Excluding someone from social gatherings, meetings or important events.
  • Taking credit for someone else’s work.
  • Cutting someone out of emails.
  • Micromanaging.
  • Consistently failing to acknowledge accomplishments.

When you feel like your boss is not respecting you, address it head-on by starting a conversation that focuses on what behaviours would improve things.

One common complaint in workplace environments is a lack of respect.

When you have a bad relationship with your boss, it can be hard to see things from their perspective.

Start by understanding what triggers disrespectful behavior in your boss. This could be anything from not being kept up-to-date on projects that you’re working on together.

--

--

Janice Eastman

From reading my writing, I hope you will begin to break down self-imposed barriers and find your authentic self in the extraordinary story of life.