How to survive a toxic workplace

Ever feel that knot in your stomach on Sunday night, dreading Monday morning?

Or constantly walk on eggshells, unsure when the next “explosion” will happen?

Chances are, you might be in a toxic workplace.

It’s not just about a bad boss (though that’s a big part of it!) (LINK). A toxic workplace is like a bad relationship – it slowly chips away at your happiness, confidence, and even your health.

It’s an environment where negativity, drama, and dysfunctional behaviors become the norm, rather than the exception.

Think of it less as a single bad apple and more like a whole rotten bushel. This isn’t just about a few annoying quirks; it’s about a pervasive atmosphere that actively harms employees, stifles growth, and makes showing up for work feel like a daily battle.

It didn’t happen overnight, but it’s been slowly eroding because the early signs were ignored, people were complacent, no one spoke up, leadership dismissed it, colleagues (LINK) changed to adapt to it’s environment, low HR participation, the constant fear of retaliation, lack of psychological safety, etc. The avoidance of the problem it made the one bad apple, into a bad department, into a bad culture, into a bad company.

All could have been avoided, or rectified if proper investment were done.

How to spot a toxic workplace

Sadly, workplaces aren’t holding a giant, flashing “DANGER!” sign. Although there are organization who celebrate “Best work culture”, and every city has their list of those with the best workplace culture. But, those who don’t, they are rarely on the news or any outlet until the company explodes with corruption, scandal, and/or harassment that have been silenced for far too long.

Sometimes, the toxicity seeps in slowly, making it hard to pinpoint. But if you see a few of these red flags, it’s time to pay attention:

Gossip Gone Wild: Is the office rumor mill churning 24/7? Is personal information shared openly and maliciously? When gossip becomes the primary mode of communication, trust goes out the window, and paranoia takes its place. You’ll find people spending more time talking about each other than to each other. Watch out for gossipmongers, they can be entertaining until it becomes destructive.
Blame Games & Finger-Pointing Olympics: Does no one ever take responsibility for mistakes? Is there a constant hunt for who to blame when things go wrong? In a toxic environment, accountability is a foreign concept. Instead of problem-solving, it’s all about self-preservation and throwing others under the bus. Watch out for those who actively avoid taking personal responsibility for their impact, intentions are always great but execution is what matters most.
Cliques & Exclusion: Think high school, but with paychecks. Are there “in” groups and “out” groups? Do people actively exclude others from meetings, conversations, or opportunities? This creates an incredibly isolating atmosphere and stifles teamwork.
Micromanagement Madness: Is every single step of your work questioned, scrutinized, and controlled? Do you feel like you can’t breathe or make a single decision without approval? Micromanagement signals a deep lack of trust and crushes any sense of autonomy or initiative.
Burnout is the New Black: Are deadlines unrealistic? Are long hours expected without recognition? Does everyone look utterly exhausted? When the focus is solely on output without regard for employee well-being, burnout becomes rampant, leading to a zombie-like workforce.
Constant Drama & Conflict: Is there always some sort of major blow-up, passive-aggressive tension, or unresolved argument simmering? A workplace that thrives on drama is emotionally draining and distracting, making it impossible to focus on actual work.
Zero Recognition, All Criticism: Do you only hear from your boss or colleagues when something’s wrong? Is good work ignored, but every tiny mistake highlighted? This imbalance makes people feel unappreciated and demotivated. Ideal situation for everyone to turn to the toxic side for self-preservation.
High Turnover Rates: Are people leaving left, right, and center? Do you joke about the revolving door? If employees are constantly bailing, it’s a huge sign that something fundamental is broken in the company culture. People don’t leave jobs, they leave bad environments.
Lack of Communication (or bad communication): Is information hoarded? Are decisions made behind closed doors? Or is communication consistently unclear, confusing, or even aggressive? Poor communication is a hallmark of a toxic environment, leading to misunderstandings and frustration.
Fear Factor: Do people hesitate to speak up, share ideas, or challenge the status quo for fear of retribution, ridicule, or losing their job? A culture built on fear crushes innovation and honesty.
Leadership Leads the Charge (in the wrong direction): Often, toxicity trickles down from the top. If leaders exhibit many of these behaviors, or turn a blind eye to them, it signals that toxicity is embedded in the company’s DNA.

Personal impact of toxic workplace

It’s not just “annoying” to be in a toxic workplace; it genuinely harms you. Think of it as chronic stress with a daily dose of emotional battering.

Mental Health Takes a Hit: Anxiety, depression, constant worry, panic attacks – these are all common responses to prolonged exposure to a toxic environment. You might find yourself dreading work, losing sleep, or feeling perpetually on edge.
Your Confidence Evaporates: Constant criticism, undermining, or feeling unheard can severely erode your self-esteem. You start to second-guess yourself, doubt your abilities, and even wonder if you’re the problem.
Physical Ailments Creep In: Stress manifests physically. Headaches, stomach issues, fatigue, frequent colds, muscle tension, high blood pressure – your body keeps the score.
Your Motivation Flatlines: Why bother going above and beyond when your efforts are ignored, stolen, or criticized? You’ll start doing the bare minimum, or even less, because the passion is sucked right out of you.
Social Isolation: You withdraw from colleagues, fearing gossip or judgment. Or you might find yourself isolating from friends and family because you’re too drained to socialize or too ashamed to talk about work.
Relationships Suffer: The stress and negativity from work can spill over into your personal life, leading to arguments with loved ones, irritability, and a general inability to be present outside of work.

Surviving the toxic workplace

Don’t let the red flags scare you, you have autonomy and you can survive, change, and leave the toxicity behind. Here are a few steps to get you started:

Step 1: Self-Preservation & Documentation

Before anything else, protect yourself.

Before anything else, protect yourself.

Repeat it you if you need, but you don’t owe your organization anything. You owe yourself everything. Don’t stay is a toxic space because you feel you need to save/protect them. You don’t. If something happened to you, the company would replace you quickly. To you and your family and friends, you are irreplaceable.

Document Everything: This is your secret weapon. Keep a private log of specific incidents: dates, times, what happened, who was involved, and how it impacted you. Be factual, not emotional. Screenshots of emails, chat messages, or voicemails can be invaluable. Send it to your personal email as a record of every incident.
Set and Protect Boundaries: Learn to say “no” or “I’ll get back to you” to unreasonable demands. Limit your emotional investment in workplace drama. Disengage from gossip circles. Reestablish your boundaries and ensure you aren’t boundary creeping – making excuses to lower your boundary.
Find Your Allies: Identify trusted colleagues (who aren’t part of the toxicity) to vent or brainstorm with – A shared experience can be incredibly validating. There are always allies even in the worst environments that are seeking the “danger” signs like you, find them. The more you avoid your toxic colleagues, the more you’ll find the allies who see the toxicity of it.
Prioritize Self-Care: This isn’t optional, it’s essential. Exercise, hobbies, time with loved ones, meditation, nature – whatever recharges you, do it consistently. Don’t let work consume your entire life. Make this your non-negotiable.

Step 2: Weighing Your Options

Once you’ve set your foundation of protecting yourself from the environment and legally (documentation), you can start thinking about your options. What and how would you like to engage with your workplace?

Direct, Assertive Communication: If it’s a specific colleague’s behavior (e.g., credit-stealing), and you feel safe doing so, try addressing it directly and assertively. Focus on the behavior, not the person. “When X happens, I feel Y because Z.” This allows you to take accountability for the impact on you, and provides the situation that led you to be feel a certain way. Sometimes, it might feel odd to use the “I” statement structure, but it offers an way for the person to recognize the impact of their action.
Talk to Your Manager: If your manager is supportive, schedule a private meeting. Present your documented concerns calmly and professionally. Focus on the impact on productivity and team morale. Many managers will want specifics and personal impact because you cannot speak for the entire team. So, discussing personal impact, your impressions, and come with a solution of what it means to have the issue corrected for now and for the future.
Go to HR: If your manager is the problem, or if the behavior is company-wide, HR is your next stop. This is where your documentation becomes critical – do not speak with your HR without documentations. HR’s role is to protect the company, and widespread toxicity is a risk to the company (think turnover, lawsuits, reputation).
Seek External Professional Help: Sometimes, you need an unbiased outsider.
- Career Counselor: Trained career counselors have a background in mental health counseling and specializes in career development and professional trauma – like toxic workplace. They can help you assess your career goals, build coping strategies, provide tools and strategies for coping with anxiety, depression, and burnout, and explore whether this job aligns with your values. They can also help you polish your resume and job search skills if you decide to leave.

Step 3: The Exit Strategy

Let’s be honest, sometimes the best solution is a new job. If the environment is fundamentally broken and there’s no sign of improvement after you’ve tried all the channels, staying will only prolong your suffering. Going back to the first statement, “before anything else, protect yourself.” As soon as you identify you’re in a toxic environment, you need to figure out your exit strategy, because if you wait until you’ve attempted all modes to improve the situation, you’ll continue to expose yourself to chronic stress, which can have tremendous impact on your confidence and mental health. So, start at the early signs of toxicity.

Update Your Resume & LinkedIn: You need to update your resume every 6 months, if you have this habit, it’ll support your career development and you’ll be ready for any opportunities that present themselves. In a toxic environment, this doesn’t change – you update your resume with the latest responsibility and accomplishments. Continue engaging on LinkedIn, it doesn’t need to be about job search, but knowledge sharing or community building.
Network: Reach out to contacts, attend industry events, and start attending professional organizations (LINK), etc. is all about professional development. It doesn’t have to go against your company, you can represent your company and yourself in these spaces. Then following up for coffee meetings are a powerful way to build your network and find external advocates for you and your professional growth.
Job Hunt Actively: Dedicate time each day or week to searching for new opportunities. This proactive step can be incredibly empowering and give you a sense of hope. Avoid job searching in the later part of the week – focus on submitting your applications on Monday/Tuesday for the best chance of getting interviews. Most people apply between Friday-Sunday, which buries your material among a sea of applicants.
Don’t Burn Bridges: Even if you’re furious, try to leave professionally. You never know when paths might cross again. Protecting all of your relationships is a game is office politics, be diplomatic on why you’re leaving. But, this isn’t possible for everyone or every situation, if there is a valid reason to pursue justice for the impact on life, pursue what you believe is needed to advocate for yourself.

Organization's role in eliminating their toxic culture

Organizations have a massive role to play in preventing and eradicating toxicity, this starts at the top and empower all employees to take workplace toxicity seriously.

Lead by Example: Leaders must model respectful, ethical, and transparent behavior. Their actions speak louder than any policy. Communication is filtered heavily when it flows up, so leaders aren’t fully aware of the toxicity that may exist in their organization. This is why is crucial for leaders to speak directly with employees so they can be aware of situations that aren’t filtered out. Sadly, few leaders actually make time to learn more about their organization for their employees.
Clear Policies & Consequences: Have clear, accessible policies against harassment, bullying, and unprofessional conduct. And most importantly, enforce them consistently. Zero tolerance means zero tolerance. This is where many employees lose faith in their organization, they’ll bring up and advocate for less toxicity but HR or their leadership can find a reason to not let the toxic person/s leave the organization because of cost of replacement, bad timing, and a plethora of reasons that contradict the written “zero tolerance” policies.
Regular, Honest Feedback: Implement 360-degree feedback for managers and leaders. Create safe spaces for employees to provide anonymous feedback without fear of retaliation. This is a win-win approach to ensuring accountability and appreciation, but in my experience I’ve seen only 20% of the organization implement the 360º feedback to protect their company culture.
Invest in Emotional Intelligence & Communication Training: Investing in emotional intelligence and communication training is the best money for the impact. The training shouldn’t be once during orientation, but a regular practice of repeatings 2-3x per year for everyone. When this becomes a central point in organizational development, this becomes a change factor for proactively address toxic workplace culture. Teach people how to communicate assertively, manage conflict constructively, and develop empathy.
Promote Psychological Safety: Encourage a culture where employees feel safe to make mistakes, ask questions, and offer ideas without fear of humiliation or punishment. Celebrate learning, not just perfection. This is a byproduct of investing in communication and EQ training, as more people feel more comfortable with assertive communication, emotional regulation, and developing empathy, a the culture goes from “protect myself” to “protect everyone within my organization”.
Recognize & Reward Positive Behavior: Actively highlight and reward teamwork, collaboration, respect, and support. What gets celebrated gets repeated. Validation, recognition and incentives all create a drive to change behaviors and establish a pattern of repeating what we know will be rewarded. It doesn’t have to be a single event, it can be a team recognition, it can be a 1:1 recognition, it can be an annual performance recognition, or event an email recognizing the effort people put into their work.
Prioritize Well-being: Show you care about your employees beyond their output. Offer mental health resources, encourage work-life balance, and promote a culture that values rest and recovery, ensure the team have autonomy to manage themselves. Not everyone is equipped to work in the rigid structure of 9-5; many want to accomplish their tasks at their own schedule that work best for them. It’s seen as a punishment for those who work quickly to be present for the full workweek, when they’ve completed their tasks.
Onboarding & Culture Integration: From day one, immerse new hires in the company’s actual values and desired behaviors, not just the ones written on the wall. Culture is lived experiences that evolve around the company’s mission and vision, and it an unspoken behavior that promotes “this is what WE believe, this is who WE are, this is what WE accept, and this is what WE expect.” Not in a cult way, but in a positive space where healthy behaviors are instilled in the company culture.

Seeking support

Navigating a toxic workplace is one of the toughest challenges you can face in your career.

If you’re stuck in a toxic situation, you don’t have to carry that burden alone. The insights and strategies in this blog are a starting point, but sometimes, a professional guide can make all the difference. Your well-being is not just important; it’s paramount. Don’t let a toxic environment steal your passion. Take the first step towards a healthier work life. Remember, you deserve to work in an environment where you feel respected, valued, and safe.

Schedule a free consultation today to explore how professional guidance can support you through this challenge and beyond.

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