No more crying at work: How to prevent a toxic workplace

As workers become increasingly dissatisfied and burned out by work, they're quick to brand their office a "toxic workplace." With examples permeating social media and pop culture, employers need to be proactive so they're not joining an unsavory club. 

More than one in five workers have experienced harm to their mental health at work, according to recent data from the American Psychological Association, and 22% of workers have experienced harassment in the workplace in the past 12 months — up from 14% in 2022. And without deliberate intervention from leadership, it's only going to get worse. 

In the past several months, "toxic rock stars" have been thrust into the spotlight, says Natalie Norfus, an HR and DEI expert and founder of The Norfus Firm. From talk show dramas at Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show and Drew Barrymore's daytime gig, to the Elon Musk takeover of Twitter, first-person accounts from staff past and present detail how harmful and unhealthy a bad boss can be. 

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"We've heard about toxic workplaces for decades, but organizations have generally been slow to evolve in addressing the unhealthy behaviors of so-called 'toxic rockstars,'" Norfus says. "As we see on a daily basis, employees across the board have had enough. They want more intentionality from their leaders in how they behave at work."

Sixty-four percent of employees say they've experienced some form of workplace toxicity, which they've defined as a disrespectful, abusive, non-inclusive, unethical and cutthroat environment, according to a 2023 study from job seeking platform The Muse. Of those, 44% blamed not only their direct manager, but the entire leadership team, including HR. 

While employees may argue that HR can and should do more to prevent toxic situations from occurring at work, it's important to understand their role in workplace conflicts, Norfus says.  

"HR does not typically have the authority to fire or discipline people," she says. "Rather, HR advises management teams on how to address problematic behaviors." 

Tackling toxicity

This is not to say that there aren't preventative measures an HR leader can take when faced with a crisis situation: HR departments can tap into data from engagement surveys and retention trends to help inform their strategies and find out what's going on with their employee base. 

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"It is important for HR professionals to be trusted advisers and business partners," Norfus says. "This means keeping up with the trending people topics, getting familiar with your organization's business goals to understand how people practices should evolve, and regularly sharing the stories of your people's data with business leaders." 

If a conflict does arise, employees should be given the physical space to handle it, advises Lauren Gant, a senior workplace advisory manager at workplace furnishing company HNI. For example, Tonight Show employees alleged they needed to go into a bathroom or an empty conference room to collect themselves after a negative interaction with the star host. They're among the 45% of professionals who have cried in their workplaces, according to a report from management consulting company Robert Half. If necessary, Gant advocates for "recovery rooms:" spaces specifically designated for employees to decompress from a stressful day or situation. 

A well-designed wellness room will include considerations for acoustics, as well as provide space to be able to sit in comfortable furniture or lay on the ground. Leaders should also be considerate of the location to give employees necessary physical and emotional space.

"Inclusive design fosters support for a vast array of individual needs, communicates a sense of security, and permits employees to navigate [the workplace] easily," she says. "Having a place with visual and auditory privacy to recover, pray, meditate, or practice therapy techniques is helpful in allowing employees a space to ensure they are taking care of their needs." 

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Gant recognizes that not all workplaces and people teams have the budget or the luxury to build these rooms, but  workplaces can be intentional with the space they do have at their disposal. This could mean simply allowing employees to book and reserve conference rooms for moments of recollection. 

"Human-centric design considerations cannot be limited to one space," she says. "We should instead think of the work environment as an ecosystem of inclusive spaces. With an array of space types, and product types within the spaces, the likelihood of finding a location that meets needs increases." 

Behavior change is still needed

As for what employers should be doing on top of HR's efforts, The Norfus Group's head of DEI strategy and wellness facilitator, Shanté Gordon, has always encouraged leaders and managers to resource themselves well, never settle for negative leadership strategies already in place and always welcome criticism and room for improvement.

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"Do you have mechanisms in place to listen to your employees, understand the needs of your organization and, most importantly, act on that feedback?" she says. "Because if you aren't willing to act on employee feedback, you are undoubtedly leaving employee engagement up to chance and your employees won't trust you." 

In the end, the effort to avoid becoming a toxic workplace is a collective one. Real, long-term changes to culture will take collaboration, communication and innovation from everyone at every level. 

"The biggest takeaway is the need for intentionality in the evolution of people's practices in the workplace," Gordon says. "To be an employer of today — and the future — it is critical for companies to foster inclusive workplaces, address toxic behaviors promptly, and create environments where employees feel safe and valued."