OPINION: Staff wellness is not just about team building or getting a tennis table in the lunch area. The only way to eradicate workplace toxicity is to accept its existence and implement ways to overcome it, writes Devan Moonsamy.
As we approach the busiest time of the year, most of our employees might be burning the midnight oil and doing the most to meet their targets and deadlines.
At the same time, the race to remain productive and meet the organisation’s requirements can leave us feeling burnt out. The burn out that employees may feel while doing work can leave them exhausted and stressed out.
But there is a different type of burn out that can leave an employee feeling disconnected and frustrated in the workplace.
That type of burn out is the result of a toxic work environment. The impact of a toxic work environment goes beyond just dealing with back-biting and gossiping in the workplace.
It is the backstabbing and constant negativity that plagues the mind of even the most composed and stable individual. A toxic workplace might do more damage to a staff member than the stress of the job.
The reality is that workplace toxicity has become a trend. There are no specific reason why it has become such a common phenomenon. There could be a long list of reasons why workplace toxicity is surfacing as a real problem now.
But one of the possible reasons for this might be the lack of communication in the workplace.
When we have team members who are not communicating clearly and efficiently, this causes stress and tension. It also results in a lack of results and an increase in complaints from staff members about other staff members. The toxicity results in staff members feeling demotivated and eventually morally burnt out.
What does it mean to be morally burnt out?
Moral burnout is the outcome of being exposed to a toxic work environment. This is when a person feels there is regularly injustice and no consequences for employee behaviour in their office.
When a staff member is morally burnt out, they might display signs of fear. They could experience physical and even mental health issues. A person who is morally burnt out might find it difficult to switch of at work. They might feel ashamed about incidents that occur in the workplace. But despite their feelings, they will not engage on what is happening around them.
When a staff member feels morally burn out, they might even be a victim of some type of toxicity. They could have been the joke in the office around their sexuality or beliefs. They might not have gotten the recognition they deserved for their role on a project. The team member might be bearing the brunt of not being promoted due to nepotism, etc.
If a staff member is on the cusp of moral burn out, chances are they might recognise it, at first. However, if they are submissive and unable to stand up or speak out for themselves, they might let it slide.
As a result, this escalates in their system, resulting in resentment and eventually apathy towards situations in which they do not receive the justice they deserve.
How to prevent workplace toxicity from causing moral burn out?
Start by conducting a staff wellness assessment. Getting a registered professional involved to manage and help staff cope with their mental health is the first step to managing the toxicity in the workplace. This can also form as a part of consultation for team members who might not see it fitting to seek help professionally on their own. Ultimately, improving staff wellness will improve the office environment.
Implement the open-door policy, but do not allow staff to gossip or backbite about other staff members. The open-door policy might cause some staff members to become friendly with management or take this opportunity to become a friend of the manager.
This will leave others assuming a type of favouritism, which might not even be the case. Shut down the gossip mongers in the office and try to be professional when having your one on ones.
As a manager, you might not be on the floor all the time, but having the wrong person feed you information about the team members might be the cause of severe miscommunication and disconnect in your team.
Staff wellness is not just about team building or getting a tennis table in the lunch area. It is about active dialogue and taking your staff’s needs seriously.
The only way to eradicate workplace toxicity is to accept its existence and implement ways to overcome it. Try having weekly meetings for motivation and encouragement for your team. Have training around communication and how to improve the work environment.
Taking the steps now will help improve your work environment, which will improve productivity for the business and staff contentment in the workplace.
* Devan Moonsamy is the chief executive of the ICHAF Training Institute.
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of IOL or of title sites.
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