We all know that a toxic workplace is bad for business, but what do you do if your employee policies have created a a company vulture instead of a company vulture? The answer might surprise you, especially if you read on to discover the three things every toxic employee needs to survive. For the rest of this article, I’ll be discussing how to remove these poisonous elements from your organization to create an environment where everyone thrives, instead of just existing.
A company vulture is an individual who eats the flesh of their peers and works as a saboteur, spreading toxicity throughout the organization. The worst part is they don’t even realize they’re doing it! Some examples of company vultures are toxic employees, gossipers, backstabbers and office bullies. As a leader, one way you can avoid creating these vultures is by being aware of them in your workplace. If you know what behavior to look out for, you can put mechanisms in place that will allow these individuals not only be called out but also stop these behaviors from happening altogether.
1. Low Morale. Morale is defined as the general attitude of employees toward the conditions and atmosphere at work. In other words, an organization with low morale will have employees who are not engaged in their work, who don’t feel like their contributions matter and don’t feel valued.
2. High Turnover Rate. A high turnover rate means that people are quitting their jobs, which can be due to many factors such as low morale, poor management skills or lack of opportunity for growth.
3. Lacking Respect. Employees that do not feel respected may experience feelings of powerlessness and disempowerment. As a result, they are likely to disengage from their work environment and perform tasks halfheartedly because they do not care about how their efforts will affect the company’s goals.
4. Lack of Clarity on Values. When an organization lacks clarity on its values, this leads to inconsistencies in decision-making processes as well as confusion among employees on what is expected from them. For example, one person might be told to show up at 8 am while another employee might receive instructions to arrive by 10 am.
5. Unclear Expectations. Clear expectations allow employees to understand what needs to happen in order for the business objectives of the organization to be met. Without these clear expectations, workers lose motivation and become unmotivated – which often causes burnout or fatigue – and ultimately disengage from their work duties
A toxic workplace is expensive. It’s expensive for the company because it’s hard to retain talent and people will be unhappy and unproductive, which can lead to low morale, high turnover rates, and decreased productivity. It’s also expensive for employees because they may have a negative work experience that may leave them feeling burned out or demotivated. The long-term costs of a toxic workplace are often greater than any short-term gains made by an organization when they decide not to do anything about it.
-Recognize workplace issues.
-Take care of the people and the culture.
-Promote positivity and respect.
-Encourage growth and development.
Leaders must be intentional in their efforts of removing toxic elements from your company’s culture or they might end up with a Company Vulture. Tolerance of a behavior is tantamount to endorsement of that behavior (read more about that here). Stop toxicity when you see it, make suggestions for behavior modifications, and outline clear expectations and consequences associated with refusal to change.
Check out what Recruiter says about what might be destroying your organizations culture.
Also please note that this bird is not a vulture. It is actually a Crested Caracaras from the falcon family.