A Toxic Workplace Culture Damages Employees’ Brains. Here’s How to Avoid It

Dealing with a toxic workplace culture is unfortunately common. In fact, one poll found that nearly one-quarter of all workers will experience workplace harassment or violence in their career, though other studies report even higher numbers.

While harassment is obviously unpleasant, it can be even more harmful than you’d think. In her book The Bullied Brain, Dr. Jennifer Fraser explains that bullying and harassment cause physical damage to the brain, leading to long-term negative effects for the victim.

In this article, we’ll outline what a toxic workplace culture is, how it can harm employees, and how to create a safer work environment.

What is a Toxic Workplace Culture?

A toxic workplace culture can be tough to define, but it is marked by an environment where employees’ mental (and maybe even physical) well-being isn’t prioritized. Some signs that your internal culture is toxic could include:

• Employees feel undervalued, overworked, or unappreciated.
• Harassment, bullying, and discrimination are common.
• The success of the company comes before employees’ health.
• Management models and/or encourages unethical behavior.
• Trust, respect, and communication are poor, especially from leadership down to employees.

READ MORE: How to Identify and Prevent a Hostile Work Environment: Your Complete Guide

The Harms of a Toxic Workplace Culture

According to Dr. Fraser, the physical harms of a hostile work environment begin because the brain feels threatened. “If the brain worries about whether or not it is part of a community, a respected part of the team, a valued employee, then it is diverting precious resources that could be funneled into problem-solving, productivity, creativity, innovation, and service,” she explains. “If the brain is afraid it might get hurt or burned, it channels its resources into being alert for danger, scanning the environment for threats, and in toxic environments can develop hypervigilance. Ironically and sadly, all of this energy is being directed toward safety because we are failing to ensure psychological safety or brain safety is a human right at work.”

But decreased productivity is far from the worst harm workplace harassment can cause. “If it is repeatedly berated, put down, threatened with being excluded, ignored, humiliated, yelled at, made to feel stupid or irrelevant, publicly shamed, blocked from opportunities, and so on” the amygdala becomes enlarged. As a result, it “diverts energy and resources away from the brain’s ability to concentrate, learn, hone skills, produce, and connect with colleagues or clients,” Fraser says.

“In contrast,” she explains, “rather than becoming enlarged, the hippocampus becomes shrunken and shriveled.” Because this part of the brain is responsible for memory, learning, and emotion, harassment victims might “struggle to focus, remember, problem-solve,” and have a reduced capacity for creativity.

In short, when employees are constantly subject to psychological abuse in the workplace, their ability to think critically is permanently hindered. They can’t do their best work, but, even more disturbing, their personal lives suffer. When harassment is allowed to run rampant, nobody wins.

How to Avoid a Toxic Workplace Culture and Protect Employees

So, how can you protect your employees while promoting an ethical corporate culture? Take the three steps below.

Implement a Whistleblower Hotline

First, you need to find a way to nip harassment and bullying in the bud. Providing a safe place where employees can report incidents (such as a whistleblower hotline) helps you resolve issues before they have time to escalate.

Set up multiple reporting avenues (e.g. phone hotline, dedicated email, webform, physical forms) so employees can choose their preferred option when reporting. Everyone has different comfort levels and communication styles, so offering numerous options empowers employees to speak up.

Then, make sure to include information on how to report during your annual harassment training. Teach employees how to report harassment as the victim, but also on another person’s behalf. Sometimes employees fear retaliation or just don’t want to cause drama, so they won’t report for themselves; when coworkers learn how to stand up for one another, you’re well on your way to an ethical internal culture where bullying isn’t tolerated.

Offer Mental Health Resources

When an employee experiences harassment, their mental health might suffer. While you obviously want to prevent as much of this behavior as possible, it’s also important to offer resources to those employees who do fall victim to bullying.

Some ways to promote a mentally healthy work environment include:

• Covering mental health services/treatments in your benefits plan
• Training managers in supporting employees’ mental well-being
• Encouraging managers to schedule one-on-one check-ins with their remote employees
• Allowing flexible working hours
• Sending bi-annual surveys to employees to assess the organization’s overall mental state
• Sharing mental health resources such as educational content and contact information for helplines and treatment centers
• Encouraging strong work/life balance
• Creating a transparent, open culture where honest communication is standard

Show employees that you care about them as people, not just workers. Doing so will not only protect their mental health, but also promote ethical behavior, decrease harassment incidents, and reduce turnover.

Promote Civility

Catherine Mattice, founder of Civility Partners, explains that negative behavior begins when unprofessionalism, microaggressions, and incivility are allowed to slide between employees. For example, an employee might take a rude tone with their coworker, or a manager “plays favorites” with their staff. As a result, bad actors might move on to more intense bullying and harassment, and, finally, workplace violence.

The more disruptive behaviors are harder to stop and do more damage, both to the victim and to the organization. That’s why you need to start small when creating an ethical workplace culture. Promote civil behavior and take a zero-tolerance stance on harassing behaviors. To do so, Mattice suggests:

• Building empathy and respect into everyday communications
• Creating equity in your hiring, firing, and promotion processes
• Offering “allyship” training that teaches employees how to step in when they see a coworker being victimized

A workplace culture focused on civility builds a strong sense of community amongst employees and reduces the risk of uncivl behavior escalating into something more serious.

READ MORE: Psychological Safety in the Workplace: Your Top 8 Questions Answered

How Case IQ Can Help

Case IQ empowers your employees to report incidents and concerns through the widest variety of channels, including the industry-leading hotline powered by WhistleBlower Security. Learn how you can help your employees feel safe speaking up here.