Work environment is a very important part of our lives & pragmatically could be seen as a dwelling that makes one earn bread and butter. In the post covid-19 era though much importance has been given to a hybrid work culture, where one has the liberty to opt either for a physical office or work
from home, yet the work culture is inevitable & preordained. It is worth to understand that if working environment or culture invites stress, depression, anxiety or ignites experiencing loss of focus, weak memory, diminish attention, shrink confidence, stomach butterflies and migraines, then it is more than likely thatone is exposed to a toxic work culture.Surviving a toxic work culture is surely not a piece of cake but doable. Neuroscientific rationale behind these psychological, emotional & physiological perturbances is that any unpleasant or frightening milieu keeps oneself in a fight/ flight/fright mode, activating the sympathetic nervous system. Continuous exposure to such an environment pump in stress hormones like cortisol & adrenalin & flushes out serotonin & dopamine (neurotransmitters for wellbeing & motivation) hence putting ones mental health at risk. Following problems are commonly seen at workplace.
- Chock-a-block of toxic people : Toxic workplaces are usually seen packed with selfish, mean, judgmental, manipulative, untrustworthy people inkling drama. Besides, dealing with a horrible boss oracoworker with ‘always right’ approach is a herculean task.
- Rumours & gossip all around: Mostly, a toxic workplace gives a feeling of roaming in a high school environment with rumors, gossips, and cliques all around.
- Disruptive work lifebalance : A vocation intended to be 9-5 feels like an overwhelming job of 24/7 since work is allguzzling. Non-stop string of emails, texts,and calls aiming all‘exigent’,working during lunch with a bit of crambites and flush of caffeine, postponing afterwork plans to stay late at work surely disrupts work life balance.
- Helplessness to say NO to WORK : Sometimes there is nothing much one can do to put aquell on annoying after-hours emails or task sespecially if coming from superiors.
Effective strategies to survive the toxic work culture until you would really want to serve a month’s notice.
- Try and build a network of trustworthy co-workers to ride out a toxic work environment & to boost morale by offering support & understanding frustrations of each other
- Make sure to choose your network judiciously to vent out candidly
- Stay focused on important goals and don’t let workplace stress to override
- Do not join the chin wag talk to spread unhealthy gossip
- Be nice and don’t backstab or steal ideas of your colleagues, instead try to win others with kindness, honesty, and care. Psychologically,this willhelp in replacing animosity provoking thoughts with values, virtues inducing a positive change
- Hard work matters but so does smart work with integrity
- Understand that this is not the permanent place to dwell but just a sojourn.
- Proactively search other opportunities to move on as seeking will help to keep oneself motivated, confident to sail through the situation effectively
- Enhance creativity & keep on sharpen ingcognitive functions to direct negative thoughts or pressure towards something helpful and constructive
- And above all do not be a victim of gaslighting. Instead move on, be vocal or seek helpasdesired.