It's normal for a job to cause some level of anxiety and stress, due to having to meet deadlines, prepare and give presentations, work through interpersonal dynamics in the workplace, and balance your work and personal life. There are times, however, when work environments can have negative impact on your mental health and be a contributing factor to more acute anxiety including Generalized Anxiety Disorder, stress, burn out, clinical depression and possibly exacerbate and trigger past traumas. It is hard when working in these environments to see things with clarity as we're continuously bombarded with anxiety and stress put upon us by the toxic work environment.

It’s been said that people don’t leave their jobs, they leave the environments in which they work.

Do you work in a toxic work environment? Read more to find out and see if there is anything you can about it.

1. Gossip, rumors and drama are the norm

If your office or workplace has lots of closed-door conversations, or when walking by someone they stop talking, chances are that they are not talking about the actual work that happens at your workplace. These drive-by conversations are often gossip and emotionally filled interactions that detract from the actual job and work that needs to happen, and leaves employees feeling uneasy, anxious, worried, and paranoid.

2. Lack of communication and transparency

Like any relationship, communication helps build trust between people, and this is no different in the workplace. Lack of communication and transparency in the workplace can be unintentional, such as when information is not delivered effectively to employees, or other day-to-day breakdowns in communication exist. There are other times when information is purposefully withheld by leadership, which can have a greater impact on employees and their level of trust in leadership, and can lead to low morale, more gossip, and rumors.

3. Lack of work-life balance

Ding, ding, ding! Work-life balance is the elusive concept that has been talked about for a while but has come to the forefront of many people's preferences now when looking for a new job. This has become more important since Covid-19 and many employees are leaving in pursuit of jobs that will offer them an increase in work-life balance. Work-life balance can mean many things, but if you find that you are asked to stay late when you cannot, are expected to answer emails or calls after hours, or have vacation, personal time, or even sick time that you have not taken because it is expected that you “get the job done,” this could mean that there are issues with work-life balance at your workplace. Increased work-life balance allows employees to attend to personal responsibilities outside of work without disruption. This is a top-down approach that is typically modeled by leadership, so if leadership walks the walk, chances are that employees will follow.  

4. Lack of resources

Many workplaces right now are operating with the lack of resources, both in actual employees and possibly the resources that are needed for employees to do their job. Inevitably, when there is a lack of resources, the top performers are asked to pick up the slack for the deficit, and the low performers are not asked to do more than they currently are as it cannot be guaranteed that they will be able to get the job done. When this “resource well” runs dry from the top performers, they inevitably feel burned out, stressed and anxious, which impacts morale, and when morale is down, rumors and gossip ensue.

5. Poor leadership and management

This ends up being a combination of all the above. Sometimes it's not an issue with a particular person or boss, but toxic work environment breeds poor leadership either because the person does not want to be a good boss or leader or because the environment does not support it, as the resources are not available. This inevitably ends up creating an environment of fear and defensiveness from leadership, rather than leading with emotional intelligence and compassion, which increases trust, reduces anxiety, and creates an environment of inclusion vs exclusion.

6. No opportunities for growth or advancement

Are you a high performer, and maybe you have sought promotions, but have been told you need more experience or have even been told not to apply for promotions? Or maybe there are just no opportunities for growth and training in your workplace. This can lead to employees feeling stuck, low morale, getting burned out, and high turnover. See below.

7. High turnover and absenteeism

Another sign of a toxic work environment is turnover and absenteeism because people will not stay in environments that are stressful or leave them feeling burnt out. This perpetuates the toxic environment because when employees are feeling overwhelmed and stressed at work, they are also frequently out sick, which causes additional stress and strain on other employees at the workplace, and impacts morale.

8. Your job does not align with your ethics or values

Have you ever been asked to do something at work that made you feel uncomfortable? This is a good opportunity to check in with yourself about what you're responding to. This could possibly be an indication that what you're being asked to do conflicts with your personal values and ethics, but there's often fear of speaking up, because if you do it might be met with some sort of retaliation. This lack of autonomy, ability to speak up, and even being asked to do something that could be unethical, is another sign of a toxic work environment. 

This is not a full list of signs that you might work in a toxic work environment but highlights some of the characteristics and qualities of a work environment that is toxic, leading to feeling burnt out, stressed, depressed, anxious, and worried.

In addition to the above signs of a toxic work environment, you may notice that you have difficulty sleeping, think about work often, or have difficulty enjoying time out of work. You might even experience physical symptoms because of your anxiety or stress such as stomach pain, muscle tension, and other physical ailments caused by stress, and notice that you're irritable which impacts your relationships and self-esteem.

There is hope. Oftentimes we have two choices: one is stay in the job and try to make it work, or you may decide to leave the job. Depending on what you are experiencing, depression or anxiety counseling can be helpful to work through workplace stress and anxiety. At Whole Mind Therapy and Counseling, I provide counseling to help people establish better boundaries with their job, increase work-life balance, identify work environments and jobs that better align with people’s values, and help people develop stress reduction techniques. This can be difficult if you work in a toxic work environment, but an assessment of the issue can be helpful to see if you in fact work in a toxic work environment, and what you might be able to do about it. It is important for you to know your value and work through any self-limiting beliefs that might keep you stuck in a toxic work environment.  Currently, the job market is more competitive than ever, and employers are marketing their increased work-life balance. Now might be your time to make a change!

Want to improve your work-life balance or work through workplace stress? Contact me to schedule a free 15-minute phone consultation to see if we would be a good fit in working together.