5 Strategies for Fixing a Toxic Work Culture

Rick Goodman — January 14, 2020

5 Strategies for Fixing a Toxic Work Culture

There are many things that can contribute to a toxic work culture such as high stress, constant turnover, low morale and no teamwork. In this podcast I’m going to share five strategies for fixing a toxic work culture that you can use immediately with great success! Ask yourself a question; Is that the kind of workplace you have? It’s been my experience that often people who work in a toxic environment don’t quite realize it; they question their own reality, or simply blame themselves for their unhappiness.

But if you and your teammates struggle with engagement, with high anxiety, and with the constant interruptions of office politics and team discord, that may mean that your culture is simply poisonous.

That’s the bad news, but there’s some good news too: Leaders shape culture, and as such they can be proactive in fixing a culture that’s broken. It won’t be easy and it won’t be overnight, but there are some things you can do to remove the toxicity in your work environment.

Here are 5 strategies that you can use immediately to fix your toxic work culture

Focus your employees on their highest and best use. Instead of assigning work to each employee find out what they love to do both inside and outside of work, allow them to gravitate toward teams and projects that they feel passionate about—as long as they are working on initiatives that benefit the company. You may find that they possess a skill that will help the team and you didn’t even know about it!

Firing continues until morale improves. A big part of reserving healthy company culture is getting rid of the people you identify as toxic. I always make sure you counsel and coach them beforehand and try to make the save it’s much more effective. Don’t create a work environment where employees are constantly afraid, they could get axed without warning. However, if they won’t fit into the culture of the company you have to let them go and find a place where they will be more successful and happier.

Spend time and invest in training and developing your people. Don’t offer them a job; offer them a career, and a professional journey which means investing in your people especially leadership skills. This means mentoring, coaching, and using your annual review system to learn more about what your employees really want—and showing them how you can help them achieve it.

Don’t hire people just to be bigger. Don’t hire a person just because you need a warm body in the room to make your team look bigger. Hire because you find people whose gifts and passions align with your culture and will add value to your team.

Encourage and insist on teamwork. If you want to build your team its best to create projects that are designed to be tackled by several team members working in tandem. This will help to strengthen your team and build a bond and culture of family.

Again, these strategies won’t stamp out your toxic culture immediately—but they will help you to build something truly healthy and positive.

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