Virtual

The Toxic 9: Eliminating Unhealthy Habits to Get Your Culture Back In Shape

The Next Practices Weekly call series has become a well-attended and wide-ranging discussion for HR leaders each Thursday at 11am ET / 8am PT. On this week's call, i4cp Senior Research Analyst Tom Stone hosted two of his colleagues, Kevin Oakes, CEO & Co-Founder, and Katheryn Brekken Ph.D., Senior Research Analyst, who discussed key elements from recent i4cp research on on toxic and healthy cultures. Here are some highlights from the call:

  • We began by asking the following participant poll question: "Which culture traits best describe your organization’s culture today? (Select up to 3)"
    • 55% Collaborative
    • 48% Employee focused
    • 48% Inclusive
    • 26% Hierarchical
    • 20% Bureaucratic
    • 19% Chaotic
    • 8% Conflict avoidant
    • 4% Complacent
    • 0% Disrespectful
  • More than a third of large organizations surveyed (34%) in i4cp's recent study reported that their cultures had become more toxic overall since the start of the pandemic.
  • During the pandemic, organizations with toxic cultures were far more likely to struggle with…Disrespectful behavior; Senior leaders who don’t trust employees; Employees who don’t trust senior leaders; Leaders favoring on-site vs. remote employees; Unsafe environments for expressing opinions/concerns; Bullying; Pay inequity; Lack of recognition; and Lack of inclusiveness.
  • I4cp's research has found what we call "The Toxic 9," the culture traits that most often explain organization's poor culture health: Bureaucratic, Non-inclusive, Disrespectful, Chaotic, Complacent, Cutthroat, Hierarchal, Insensitive, Conflict avoidant.
  • The research also found that:
    • Leaders in organizations with toxic cultures were 4 to 5x more likely  to be described as disregarding poor behavior when making decisions about advancement, compensation, succession planning, performance rating, awards and recognition, and high-potential employee designations.
    • Those who described their organizations’ cultures as toxic were 16x more likely to say “lack of trust in senior leaders” is an issue that needs to be addressed.
    • They were also 10x more likely to indicate an “unsafe environment for expressing opinions or concerns” as a top issue in their organizations.
  • The fitter the culture the better the performance: High-performance organizations are nearly 6x more likely to have fit cultures compared to low-performance organizations.
  • Fit cultures reported excellent (71-100) eNPS scores 9x more often than their unfit or toxic counterparts.
  • Since the onset of the pandemic, they are also:
    • 4.5x more likely to report an increase in employee engagement scores
    • 4x more likely to have experienced improved retention of existing employees
    • 3x more likely to report their ability to attract top talent
    • Nearly 3x more likely to report improved well-being
    • 2x more likely to report increased employee productivity
    • Nearly 1.5x more likely to report improved diversity/representation
  • The research unearthed "The Seven Habits of Very Healthy Cultures" which are:
    • More flexible work arrangements
    • A learning mindset
    • Boards care about culture
    • Leaders lead by example
    • Leaders held accountable for employee outcomes
    • Leaders regularly communicate values
    • Poor behavior is addressed immediately
  • The study also found that organizations that have workforces that are currently mostly remote are more likely to report having:
    • A healthier culture
    • Culture improvement since before the pandemic
    • Increased employee well-being
  • A key finding is that leaders are the linchpin: very healthy cultures have leaders who:
    • Lead by example
    • Are held accountable for employee outcomes
    • Regularly communicate values
    • Address poor behavior immediately

Links to resources shared on the call: