Christchurch woman Carolyn says it took her a long time to shake the effects of a toxic workplace.
Carolyn, whom RNZ has agreed not to name, was working in a part-time job that she had initially found through temping and had made permanent. It was paying well and she enjoyed it.
But she shifted to a new role with a not-for-profit because a friend worked there who was treated well, and she respected the work they were doing.
But before long, she was being “micromanaged”, her emails and texts read and being shouted at across the office.
“My mental health started to fail.”
It became untenable and she left after two months.
“No job is worth sticking out a terrible manager. Morale drops and people either do the bare minimum or lose their sense of self and their self-confidence,”
She offered two weeks’ notice but was told to leave after four days – but to come back to volunteer for an event.
“I’d never left under those circumstances before – it felt like it was about me.”
She went back to her previous job and “cried”, asking to be rehired but they weren’t replacing part-time roles.
“I felt terrible too because they had championed to get my part time role approved.”
New data from Seek shows her experience is not uncommon. It found nearly two-thirds of people had experienced a toxic work environment.
Things like public rudeness, favouritism and poor communication were common and leading to higher turnover and poor mental health.
More than half of the people who had experienced a toxic environment said they had rude behaviour directed at them in front of colleagues. Almost half had experienced bad communication.
Three-quarters said that led to significant mental health effects and 44 percent had taken time off work to cope.
A third quit and 45 percent said they were looking for new jobs because of it.
Seek career coach Leah Lambart said it was disturbing.
She said the behaviour had probably always been around but people got away with it in the past when it was accepted as normal, particularly for some industries.
“The younger generation is standing up to that behaviour and saying ‘I’m not willing to work for people who treat me this way’.”
Employers needed to have a clear idea of what behaviour was acceptable and what was not, she said.
Sometimes the behaviour was not obvious to others.
If a complaint is recorded, a business should have a process to investigate and follow it up.
Jobseekers should research a potential workplace, she said, including beyond the recruitment process.
“[Talk to] someone who works there currently, can you have an off-the-record conversation about the culture of the organisation?
“If you do some of that research upfront you might find out things that suggest the culture is not going to be compatible with your personality… often clients don’t do enough research upfront,.”
She said it could be a problem if there was a run of toxic workplaces and people ended up with a lot of short-term roles in their work history.
“I’m working with a client who’s started in roles twice in the last two years that have not been the sort of environment he’s willing to work in… he’s got two jobs on his resume that are only six months. Prior to that, he had quite a long tenure in all organisations. It’s not because of him, it’s because he’s got strong values himself and isn’t prepared to compromise on those.”
Lambart said people should also “sense check” themselves to ensure they weren’t accepting poorer treatment than others would.
“If someone has been in that environment for a while they might start to think it’s normal and what I have to put up with. Speaking to friends and family and past colleagues who’ve moved into different environments can help.”
She said people should focus on what they could change and what they couldn’t. “If you are in this position, find support through family, friends or a professional who can provide you with strategies to deal with this behaviour. If the behaviour is out of your control and you don’t believe you can influence it positively, you may need to consider leaving the workplace to keep your mental health intact.”
People in management roles might be able to change a culture but it was more difficult for more junior positions.
Another woman who experienced a toxic environment while working as a teacher said it had changed her career permanently. She gave birth two months prematurely after being put under sustained pressure and being poorly treated compared to her colleagues.
“On the day I went into labour, the deputy principal had given me her lunchtime and interval playground duty, on the back of my own playground duty – no break.”
She now took a different approach to work, she said.
“I taught haka part time, lectured…on my terms. I walked from one haka school after a term – I couldn’t have done that previously. I’ve always been very conscious of pulling my weight for the economic well-being of my family, but our priorities changed post-kids and this awful experience. Whānau first. Nothing, nothing is more important.
“I know what I’m worth, not just in terms of salary, but in terms of what I bring to my mahi. Of course, we all have doubts about ourselves, but I guess I’ve since worked at places that are way more supportive and value what I can bring… which motivates me to go above and beyond, because I do love what I do! I didn’t know how bad it was until I worked elsewhere.”
