Employers must be proactive in taking action, Heidi Lynne Kurter, a leadership coach and human resources consultant, writes for Forbes. The Workplace Bullying Institute’s 2017 survey found that bullying impacted 60.4 million Americans and that 61% of bullies are managers.
“By acknowledging toxic behaviors, leaders can take action to cultivate a greater understanding of what’s appropriate and what won’t be tolerated,” Kurter writes. “Some elements of a toxic culture include micromanaging, inflexibility, negative gossip, unhealthy levels of competition, bad attitudes and office cliques.”
Bringing in a third-party may be necessary in some cases to ensure that the root causes of the toxicity are properly addressed. “Outside parties are able to see toxic individuals for who they really are instead of who they try to portray themselves to be,” Kurter notes. “After careful observation, the third party creates a solution to address negative behaviors and hold those accountable for contributing to the toxic culture.”