Workplace Hazards
In her May cover story, “Danger: Your Job,” Samia Madwar asks, “Are workplaces inherently toxic?” The short answer is yes. But they shouldn’t be. When I was a student at a business faculty, we learned that while bosses might justify toxic behaviour as a tool to motivate their employees, it often has monetary consequences for the firms. In service organizations, the consequences will inevitably be reduced performance and increased staff turnover. In manufacturing organizations, the likely blowback is various forms of sabotage, with workers displacing their rage onto the employer’s products. As for eradicating workplace toxicity, managers should be privy to the same business education and human resource training I was privileged to receive. But I have no answer as to whether they’ll be receptive to such an education.
