Toxic workplace behavior number four. I've given a document that has 15 and I
posted this a few days ago so every day I want to talk about those and give you
a few tips on how to either identify it, navigate it, work with it - those kind of
things, so that you're not feeling like you are just kind of out there alone. So
while I'm waiting for people to get in I'm gonna just write a question
and today we are talking about when more people resign than stay and
we're going to talk about some two different angles. One is if you're just
taking a brand new interview with the company - how do you find out if this is a
toxic workplace. And number two what if you work in a workplace and you're kind
of you're immune to it, you're not bothered by it, but there's things
happening around you; I want to give you some sign so that you can recognize if
your workplace is a toxic workplace. So question of the day we're talking about
resigning - let me see, let's ask about interviewing
because I think a lot of people do not take advantage of an interview for
themselves. You know we often go there and we think that we're being
interviewed to see if we are good fit, but we don't actually take the time to
find out if they're a good fit for m. So my question will be "have you
ever asked an interviewer questions about culture?"
And my polls are always like yes and no. So I am going to get ... there you go
Alright, so you should be seeing that along the bottom
of your screen now and you just simply click on your answer - yes no - have I
been a part of this process. Give me an idea. Of course if you're tuning in say
hi in the chat box. let me know you are there. If youany questions put them in there as
well if they I do watch for comments so that's not a problem. Let's talk about
toxic behavior number four when more people are resigning. So you've just got
this interview you're super excited, there's a new opportunity, maybe this is
that leadership position you've always wanted and finally somebody sees your
value and they want to talk to you about what you can bring to the company, and we
get so excited about the opportunity that we forget, or we don't invest in
finding out if the company actually is a good fit for us. So I want to give you
three questions you can ask and there's lots, actually I've got probably about 15
on my document, and if you want this document this down load
just join the conquer conflict facebook group. It's free it just it's a place where I
give you a little bit more information the Facebook page is great but in the
group you can get a little bit more in depth. So go ahead and join that group
and you can download these documents they are all free too. Okay I'm gonna
give you three questions. You're sitting in the interview it's gone really good,
you're vibing, and you think oh my god - I just want this environment - I want to
work here. Just take a pause and remember that you also need to
assess them. That's an important piece in an interview. Question number one I will
give you. What if you were to ask them "how long have you worked at this company?"
And just inquire as to how they came to know about this company, what they like
about this company. Have a casual conversation with your interviewer and
get a sense. So if they're brand new I might be wondering - hmmm you're brand new
and you're hiring me brand new and maybe a leadership position or not, there may
be a little red flag for me. If they've been there for 20 years
okay then maybe this is maybe a little better. So you can ask that question.
That's a harmless question. Can you tell me how long have you worked here and
what is the thing you like most about this company? They're gonna give you some
insights as to what their favorite thing is. We could also ask - let's see which one
will I give you? Okay. "When there's conflict in the workplace, how is it
managed and who makes the ultimate decision as to what will be the process
going forward?" This will give you a little bit of insight as to what their
hierarchy is or some organizations are using a different term to maybe decrease
the emphasis of hierarchy and more of a collaborative; but you'll get a sense of
that when you talk to them, and identifying - sorry I keep looking over at my
screen over here- and identifying what processes, how do they support employees
through conflict because listen conflict is always going to happen. There's a
fantastic question to ask about is what kind of things have caused conflict in
the past six months? How has it been managed? What were the outcomes? It is
okay to ask those questions. So, so I feel like I have to stop saying
that word because it really resonates with me every time I say it
now, which means I say it too often. Call me on it people! Tell me tell me that's
distracting or not, let me know now. What if you work in a culture already
and you've been enjoying your job, you come to work, you put in your day, you
leave, and you haven't really noticed that there are issues; but there's stuff
happening around you and you're curious as to why are all those good employees
leaving? That's one of your first signs, when good employees leave. That's
probably one of the biggest signs and I have seen this in workplaces before. I
have been there. I was working in a place and that probably wasn't six months and
people who I respected and admired - I thought they were leaders in in our area
we're resigning and when I would talk to them it would be about values that were
not being mirrored in the organization. So for example, if they had implemented a
certain situation with a - yes it was school, with a student - and then the
organization overrode that decision; they felt like their decision-making ability,
that their professional opinion did not matter and that was a value set for them
that they couldn't overcome. So good people left this organization. It didn't
sit well with me obviously. It bothered me they were leaving. It made me
wonder what kind of a place that I come into. It didn't affect me personally. So I
stayed longer, but I did see signs of a toxic workplace and I certainly
experienced more of it near the end of my time there. Let me give you three
things you can look for - three is the magic number,
there is more on this document. Get it it's free. Finding out why good employees
leave. Talk to them. You may find out that it is for reasons of trust and autonomy,
those are two big ones, and a lack of appreciation and respect. Like the list
goes on. Some of the big ones are a lack of appreciation - it's one of the primary
reasons people leave and this can come in many different forms. A simple thank
you - when there's never a thank you for the work that you do. When there are
clicks, So you can recognize in workplaces there are certain people
who are always hitting praise, and thank you, and appreciation; both one-on-one and
in the public forum like maybe a staff meeting. I have seen this too. The same
people repeatedly getting thank-yous and acknowledgement. While there's a whole
group of people who never get a thank or never get an acknowledgment.
Sometimes that's just a genuine oversight but sometimes it's part of the
process that they have established to create this culture of appreciation.
They're not always working effectively so check in with your people leaders. If
people are not feeling valued, if they're rolling their eyes when you give these
public thanks, check in with them. Now when you have a high-performing employee,
or if you are the high-performing employee, you will know this to be true
when you become micromanaged, when your leader no longer trusts your
decision-making process and they come in and they are micromanaging your day - that
feels insulting. And so people who are high performers they thrive in that
trust they thrive in that autonomy and they give you better results. When you start
to micromanage then they start to leave and exit. You will see that in your
workplace as well. One more thing that you might notice is
people are talking about a lack of opportunities for growth. So what are
they talking about at the water cooler? what are they sharing at lunchtime? Are
they still contributing in staff meetings? Are they still volunteering?
Because you're high performers, those employees who feel valued, will
definitely be jumping in on anything they can to make the company look good
because when you have a person who feels valued - the organization's values,
missions, purpose take on a higher meaning in their life.
Now when that starts to be chipped away at and eroded away at those good
employees start to look elsewhere because they want to feel valued. So if
they're talking about that there's no growth, there's never any opportunities
for training, there's never gonna be a promotion, people who are good
what more. That's how they become good that's how they stay good. They don't
want to say stay stagnant. So that's another thing you can watch
for a new workplace if you're wondering why are these people all leaving - What
are they talking about? Find that out and that's going to give you insights into
the culture, and maybe this is just simply a new supervisors come in or
perhaps there's been a new policy or there's been an abrupt shift and a
change in how the organization works - those things can happen and that can
cause a lot of turbulence, but good employees can still work through that.
It's when they persist they your good employees will leave. I'm gonna leave - I
didn't say the word so it's going through my head- I'm gonna leave this
here for you now and I really would love to hear from you. Send in your comments.
Let me know if you have witnessed this or you've been in that position where
you feel like the toxicity and the culture has caused more people to resign.
Which is a shame because there's a lot of costs involved with on-boarding a
person and the turnover can be detrimental to those who stay behind.
That's another negative side effect so share your stories let me know below and
I hope to see you inside the group