A company’s culture can either be its greatest asset or its most dangerous flaw. The secret is to watch out for the apparent characteristics of a harmful workplace environment and act to change it. So we recommend that every employee learns to know of the signs on how to recognize bad company culture.
Companies can benefit from the various apparent examples of poor company cultures that exist. Knowing the obvious characteristics of a bad or also called toxic company culture might help stop its rise.
In this article we will talk about what is a bad company culture and the warning signs to look out for.
Toxic company culture
A toxic work environment is one where management methods and rules encourage unproductive behaviors and disagreements among team members. Employees may suffer as a result, since this could limit their ability to be productive and advance their careers. Unproductive company culture can also lead to employee unhappiness and dissatisfaction, which motivates them to search for alternative employment.
On one level, a toxic company culture is institutional-centric. Meaning that the organization’s policies and procedures were created with the corporation in mind rather than the employees.
Ineffective work practices are another sign of a toxic workplace culture. Likewise, it’s common to see employees offered bonuses and perks that are simple on the corporate budget but difficult for them personally.
Workplace “illnesses” including poor team cohesion, increased absences and laziness, reduced productivity, and high turnover are frequently brought on by toxic work cultures.
How to spot bad company culture
Here are the basic warning signs to look out for in your company. If you feel like some values are off and they do not align with yours, this is probably a sign of a company culture that does not align with you. However, how can you spot a bad company culture?
High employee turnover
High talent professionals do not want to work for a company with a poor corporate culture. A toxic environment may be a major factor in a company’s high employee turnover rate.
Businesses should make sure that team members have access to the right training, resources, and growth opportunities in order to minimize turnover and a toxic work environment. There are various strategies to lower employee profitability and eliminate toxic workplaces.
Those can be something from management offering career counseling all the way to growth plans created by human resources specialists.
Ineffective communication
Good teamwork and organizational design depend on effective communication. Lack of communication is an obvious sign of a bad corporate culture.
A corporate culture that does not value cooperation and teamwork will soon experience the effects. Team members may decide to leave over time, even though employee engagement may suffer only in the short term.
To learn more on good communication in a company, read our article on What is organizational communication.
Lack of company values
Lack of core values is the biggest sign that your organization has a bad culture. Your company’s core values determine who you are as a brand and how you interact with both clients and employees.
Everyone on your team will act in accordance with their opinions and instincts regarding what works and what doesn’t if your team’s values aren’t documented. Your organization will become chaotic as a result of this lack of communication.
If employees don’t share the same values as the company they work for, they won’t feel like a cohesive team. This disconnect can result in badr customer service and low employee retention. That alone costs firms thousands of dollars annually in hiring and training expenses.
A bad work-life balance
Nobody wants to spend their entire day at work. Employees require time for their friends, families, and perhaps a vacation. Employees start to experience burnout and feel more anxious about their jobs when there is no work-life balance.
Some employees might struggle to strike a balance between work and personal life. They put in more time at work than is typical. Several workers might voice complaints about taking calls from management after hours and occasionally working on the weekends. It is clear a good work-life balance is a must in any company that values their employees.
Bad reviews on the company
Platforms for anonymous reviews have made any company’s culture more visible. Positivity at work and highly engaged teams only strengthen your attraction among prospective employees. Yet, job searchers will find out first, affecting your company’s reputation, if your workforce is dissatisfied with the management approach.
Develop your employer branding plan as a solution. Although you have little control over how the public perceives your business, you can influence the narrative. Building an appropriate employer brand is obviously crucial. And you can only achieve so if you first establish a dynamic workplace culture.
In conclusion
Your organization’s culture is not a thing to build one time and then it’s good to go. Even after you address these above mentioned indicators of a poor corporate culture, you should reassess your culture to identify areas for development.
By evaluating employee engagement and routinely asking feedback from your team, you can determine how strong your corporate culture is.
First, looking at the best examples of good company culture can be very beneficial!
