The Cost Associated With a Toxic Work Culture (And How To Avoid It)

According to Staffing Industry Analysts, as many as one in four employees report that they dread going to work, and 49 percent of employees have considered leaving their current workplace because of a toxic work culture. This turnover costs businesses an estimated $223 billion. In this post, we will talk about the prevalence and impact of toxic work cultures, as well as the cost of losing employees as a result of a toxic work culture. We will also give you some tips to help you improve your work culture and avoid employee loss.

Costs of Toxic Workplace Culture

The importance of workplace culture cannot be ignored, and a toxic culture will be costly to your business in many ways. Two of the most notable costs include:

Reduced productivity

Toxic work cultures often come with disruptive, negative behaviors in the workplace on a daily basis. These incidents typically impact the employees' ability to do their jobs efficiently, leading to a decline in productivity. This costs your business money in a variety of ways.

High employee turnover

Perhaps the greatest cost of toxic work culture is in the form of employee turnover. According to OCAI Online, 1 in 5 employees report having left a workplace because of poor workplace culture.

Avoiding Costs of a Toxic Workplace Culture

The costs of toxic workplace culture will impact your company's bottom line, as well as its reputation. Fortunately, you can avoid these issues by avoiding toxic workplace culture. When you instill a more positive work culture, employees increase their productivity and improve their on-the-job performance, which in return can save the company money. A better workplace culture will also prevent your employees from becoming frustrated and leaving the company.

In order to improve workplace culture, you need to understand the factors that are most likely to cause a toxic culture. These factors include:

Inability to talk to managers

If you want to know how to avoid employee turnover, start with management. When employees feel like they can't be honest with their managers, workplace culture suffers, and employee turnover increases.

How to Avoid It:

Hiring and training managers who promote honesty and know how to keep the lines of communication open are able to create a culture in which employees are more satisfied and, as a result, more likely to remain in their positions.

Managers with poor leadership skills

SHRM reports that 1 in 3 employees report that their manager doesn't know how to lead them effectively. Poor leadership causes frustration among employees, as well as low job satisfaction.

How to Avoid it:

Employees often relate their managers to the overall culture of their workplace.

Having managers who know how to lead their team members properly is important for any business and will help you avoid this particular cause of toxic workplace culture.

Lack of respect and value

Employees that don't feel respected and valued at work might dread going into work, which affects their communication with their managers. Unfortunately, 3 in 10 employees say workplace culture makes them irritable at home, which can cause resentment towards their job and ultimately lead them to leave.

How to Avoid It:

When employees feel safe voicing their concerns and opinions, it can open lines of communication with their managers. To ensure employees feel valued, make sure you have enough staff to properly manage and coach your staff, as well as an HR department (whether internal or outsourced) that can effectively navigate concerns and issues.

A positive workplace culture is essential to employee retention, which will help to avoid the costs of employee turnover. When you work with a qualified PEO company, you are able to rely on their expert advice to guide you as you work to build a positive, productive workplace culture.