Hi there and welcome. It’s Kerstin Jatho here from 4Seeds Consulting, a transformational coach who shifts people from languishing to flourishing. In this video, I want to talk to you about the cost of a toxic work environment.
You might have seen in the media many articles about the latest trend called the great resignation. We currently have up to 48% of people in organisations resigning and going to other organisations. And you might be wondering, why now?
And the reason is honestly two-fold. The one is that we have a tremendous skills shortage, and that is globally. So, companies are offering very lucrative salaries for people to move. And that is absolutely fine if that is a need that a person has to fulfil. But the second one is that people are starting to feel that they have a choice to leave toxic work environments. Companies where the culture no longer serves them, or they would like to remain in it.
And if you think about it, what makes up a big component of an organisation’s culture, which is in our control, which means we can stop people from resigning, is diversity, equality, and respect.
According to an MIT Sloan programme study, the reason most employees leave is because of a lack of diversity, equality, disrespect, and unethical or unmoral decisions that are being made within companies. Those are the key reasons. It actually is very seldom about the salary or the reward that they get. It’s more about the culture that is happening.
So, if this big great resignation is happening and it’s filtering through to our organisations, which is the most costly thing for an organisation, is we can control it. We can actually stop it and we can prevent it by getting active in changing the culture in an organisation.
I know it’s something we don’t want to spend time on because we don’t always see the benefit to the bottom line of changing a positive culture. And it takes a lot of energy and it’s draining, and you need somebody to always have their eyes on it. But if you honestly want to have well-being in the organisation and keep your people and have a positive culture, you do need to invest a lot of time in your culture and what that is.
So how do we behave towards each other? I’d like to invite you to perhaps take a step back and be neutral and look at your current organisational culture. And ask yourself honestly, ‘do I want to work here? If I have a choice, would I go somewhere else?’ Depending on your answers, I think you know what needs to happen to start changing it.
Over to you for sharing your comments and experiences.
What do you do when you are in a toxic environment or situation at work?
About the Author: Kerstin Jatho
Kerstin is the senior transformational coach and team development facilitator for 4Seeds Consulting. She is also the author of Growing Butterfly Wings, a book on applying positive psychology principles during a lengthy recovery. Her passion is to develop people-centred organisations where people thrive and achieve their potential in the workplace. You can find Kerstin on LinkedIn, Soundcloud, YouTube and Facebook.
