One of the undeniable fallouts of these disruptive times has been the recasting of the employer-employee dynamics at the workplace, especially in the context of performance and productivity.
Work from home, or remote working, was an important convenience to facilitate business & productivity, and has in fact been described as the largest global transition programmes in recent times. It served its purpose in a crisis, but not without a price for many organisations that struggled with underprepared people managers, unfamiliar work processes and deploying technology for self-directed working, most times settling for ‘best effort basis performance’.
Many claimed toxic work cultures developed during these times accentuated the displacement of talent as job markets opened up. For the uninitiated, toxic work cultures are marked by practices, policies and management styles that perpetuate unhealthy habits and conflict among teams.

One research indicates the following dimensions of toxic cultures:

• Lack of freedom to speak up, experiment, bring your authentic self to work, regimented command & control leadership styles
• Poor communication across the organisation, leading to lack of understanding and disconnect between teams — problems multiplied by silo working
• Micromanaging by people managers who are insecure, unsure about performance and perpetuate fear
• Lack of trust that perpetuates across levels, making it difficult to predict success and validation for performance — impacts teams, external stakeholders, management
• Letting poor behaviour slide or no consequence for poor behaviour, making a reduction in the ‘experience of work’ inevitable

Another leading research indicated toxic work cultures as being:

• Disrespectful: Lacking in consideration, courtesy and dignity for others
• Unethical: Dishonest in commitments made to customers and each other, including lack of regulatory compliances
• Non-inclusive to diverse talent: Cultures of cronyism and nepotism with disinterest in employee voice
• Cut-throat competition: Backstabbing and being ruthless at the workplace
• Abusive: Bullying, harassment, and hostility going unchecked

If any of this sounds familiar, it will need urgent addressing as it has already impacted stickiness of talent, much as we may want to justify attrition as a ‘market condition’. This requires urgent attention as it may have already begun eroding your employer brand for new talent.

Teamwork cultures for productivity are largely defined by the interplay between how work is allocated and the support the manager provides for performance. This must start from people managers and go right up to senior management in any organisation.

This starts with: What we need you to do/accomplish? And must include: How can I support you to get there? This is right at the heart of playing the connector role within organisations and leveraging the occupational intimacy space, which only the immediate manager has access to.

Not receiving civility and support at this juncture can be debilitating for contribution and performance. This holds true even higher up the hierarchy where managers are leading other managers and senior professionals. The lack of compassion in this space is acute, especially for lateral senior hires who are left to fend for themselves and demonstrate performance with often little or no support at all.

Here are some hacks to consider to begin transforming your culture and especially address toxic energies at the workplace:

• Invest in a discovery or reassessment of your structures, policies, programmes, communication and management styles, open up to feedback
• People manager is the most important position within any organisation for defining work deliveries, culture and morale. There must be stringent criteria for qualifying to be a people manager. It’s not just the next level reward for residency and loyalty, it can set off a vicious cycle threatening retention at next levels
• Leader as coach is an important style every organisation must adopt to reduce the toxicity of power distance, and enable managing the dynamics of multi generations at work
• Transactional, bureaucratic, Laissez-faire management styles need to be addressed by having mechanisms to track regular feedback from teams to leaders. It can’t take too long to get help to teams struggling with this
• Command & control styles are passe. New age management styles are democratic with voice, inclusive for decision making, creating ownership and accountability for outcomes and performance
• Servant leadership is the need of the hour with an ability to combine accountability with compassion cultures
• Grooming people managers for everyday leadership by creating spaces for reflection and learning are key. These are easily the most difficult times to lead business and people. Spaces for meaning-making are the need of the hour
• Finally, consideration for holistic wellness and well-being are the bedrock to happy workplaces. Support for employee well-being through everyday leadership is the sign of a refined, human-centric workplace that is preparing to succeed through people in the 21st century

The opportunity of these times is manifestation of personal leadership across levels which workplaces must enable for building sustainable high-performance cultures. A belief that there is a leader within each one of us and our most important work in life is releasing that leader.

_{This article was featured on The Times of India on February 1, 2023}