Toxic workplaces are more common than you may realize. According to research conducted by the MIT School of Management, around 30 million U.S. workers believe their workplace is toxic. The research found that there were three basic factors that lead to toxic workplaces: bad leadership, social norms, and poorly designed job roles.
Bad leadership spreads, and the attitudes of leaders can permeate through an organization. The worst kinds of leaders create toxicity by encouraging disrespect, backstabbing, favoritism, and pitting employees against one another. Even if they don’t exhibit it themselves, toxic leaders may notice unsavory behavior and do nothing about it, creating toxic social norms which can easily become standard practice among employees.
Even if bad leaders leave, toxicity can become ingrained in an organization’s culture. Plus, poorly designed jobs can lead to overwork and confusion. When workers feel powerless, like they can’t manage their workloads or are being micromanaged, toxicity can spread and stress can rise.
Fortunately, employing emotional intelligence can help prevent toxicity in the workplace. Here’s how.
Connect to avoid favoritism
Healthy workplaces don’t just come about by themselves. Leaders must take a proactive role in building them. One way to do this is by demonstrating meritocracy and looking closely at what each individual team member contributes. To do this, leaders will need to overcome any inclinations to favor and promote those that they like and use their emotional intelligence to connect with all team members’ talents.
“More than two-thirds of managers are overwhelmed, so building a connection with each employee often gets deprioritized,” explains Jaclyn Margolis, associate professor at Pepperdine’s Graziadio Business School, “However, having a strong connection with your manager is the foundation for nearly everything in the workplace, from employee productivity to job satisfaction.”
Leaders can also use emotional intelligence to understand, and adapt to, the unique skills and needs of each team member. “The best leaders are those that flex to their employees, rather than those that expect the employees to adapt to them,” says Michelle Tillis Lederman, author of The Connector’s Advantage. In these ways, emotional intelligence can help create a culture of meritocracy.
Give recognition
Everyone wants appreciation and recognition. Often, people who feel appreciated will put in more discretionary effort. While it takes extra time and effort, emotionally intelligent leaders give individual recognition to make sure all team members feel appreciated, seen, and supported.
Leaders should consistently look for opportunities to recognize others. Recognition needs to be given not only for achievement but for those who are supportive of their fellow employees. “Often leaders need to seek out opportunities to appreciate efforts, especially with those that are focused on details rather than the decision-makers and problem solvers,” says Tillis Lederman.
And emotionally intelligent leaders cultivate a culture of recognition which creates the social norm that employees should recognize and encourage their fellow colleagues as well. Leaders can do this by communicating that how much an individual supports others will be considered when making decisions about promotions within the organization.
Plus, when someone makes an error, instead of telling them what they should have done, emotionally intelligent leaders tell them how they could do it better next time. This changes the interaction from criticism or shaming into a learning opportunity. According to research, high-performance teams get six times more positive feedback than negative. While all leaders need to correct errors and negative behavior, emotionally intelligent ones are constantly trying to catch people doing something right.
Embrace employee input
A final way leaders can use emotional intelligence to prevent creating or allowing a toxic workplace culture is to ask for—and actually embrace—employee input.
Embracing employee input is particularly helpful when designing roles and delegating responsibilities. This can create positions that help individuals and collective teams reach their goals. While it is important that work gets done, it is also important to get employees’ input into their roles as much as possible. The more say those doing the work have over their work, the more buy-in they have in their roles.
In order to embrace employee input, emotionally intelligent leaders take time to work alongside their team. Leaders who spend time actually working with their staff will learn a great deal about their jobs. In my book, The Other Kind of Smart, I explore the importance of leaders experiencing the work that their employees do. This collaboration can help leaders connect, avoid favoritism, give thoughtful recognition, and embrace employee input.
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