Do you ever actually stop and look around to see the signs of your workplace culture?

Where is all the attention going?

What is being rewarded?

And what do people know not to talk about?

Many organisations say that they want to create a supportive and high-performing workplace. Yet good intentions aren’t good enough.

Culture is built in how people behave day to day. So if we don’t pay attention to the warning signs, rest assured, people are going to start disengaging, they’ll stop trusting leadership and you’ll be lamenting about how bad turnover is in this town, or this industry.

So, what should leaders and HR professionals be paying attention to?

1. Great People Keep Leaving

Sure those Pizza Fridays, knock off beers and coffee machine are great. At the end of the day, people stay when they feel valued and supported. When those needs are missing, workplace perks don’t become some ‘perky’ anymore.

A positive culture creates belonging, trust and genuine opportunities to contribute. While benefits may entice people initially, culture influences whether they remain and do their best work over time.

If you feel like good people are regularly heading for the door, it is worth looking at more than just the salary and benefits and ask about people’s every day experiences – especially if they leave.

2. Burnout Is Praised as Dedication to the Work

Are you unconsciously celebrating people that are overworking? Are you aware of people sacrificing personal time and their performance starting to drop? Please don’t ignore thee warning signs.

We all know that burnout can lead to reduced productivity, increased mistakes, lower morale and higher turnover yet we still ignore the warning signs.

If we are going to ensure that people can sustain their performance, the we need to support people to do good work, not expecting them to operate beyond healthy limits.

We can’t keep telling people, “you should take a break, you need to manage your time better” and ignore the capacity load we are putting on people.

3. Promotions Feel More About Politics Than Performance

When people’s career advancement appears to be linked to relationships rather than the work, you can only predict that trust will break down and people will become sceptical.

People will start naturally start questioning whether or not decisions are fair and whether it’s worth them putting in the effort.

Watch the gossip rise.

You can expect that over time, people will lose their motivation and start to resent their colleagues. They’ll believe it’s not worth putting in the effort because no one actually cares. I’m not saying that to be fair, everyone gets a promotion, I’m saying that it’s good practice to ensure that people understand ow and why decisions are made.

4. People Don’t Feel Safe Speaking Up

Psychological safety allows people to speak honestly, raise concerns, admit mistakes and offer a different perspective without worrying about negative consequences.

If people decide it is safer to stay quiet, you lose valuable insights and early warnings. We don’t see things evolve, we don’ see innovation and we learn about things later (or after the meeting.

Healthy workplaces make room for respectful challenge (we call it safe conflict). This is a structured framework that allows for open dialogue and constructive disagreement.

It’s not always a good sign if everyone agrees all the time. It might be worth asking whether they genuinely agree or are they holding back some thoughts or ideas?

5. Meetings Replace Decisions

I’m starting to see people resent meetings. Yes, meetings can create clarity and solve problems. I guess, the red flags are when meetings become a replacement for real action.

When the same issues are discussed repeatedly without clear decisions, ownership or accountability, frustration grows.

A healthy culture does not measure progress by how many meetings are in the calendar. It looks at whether conversations actually lead somewhere.

6. Feedback Only Travels One Way

When leaders provide feedback but don’t seek it themselves (or worse still, don’t listen to it), communication is not really collaborative. I feel sometimes the most damaging situations are when team members feel unheard. People want to know that their perspectives are welcomed and taken seriously, even when the feedback is uncomfortable.

Too often people think that performance management is a one way conversation to let a team member know how they’re doing; what they’re doing well and where they need to improve. I feel, what is most important in performance management reviews is for the team member to let their leader knowing how they’re doing. This is how two-way feedback can build trust and strengthens workplace relationships. It is a gift for leaders to see problems they might be missing and for them to development their own leadership skills.

Asking for feedback is important. What happens after people provide it is even more important.

7. Innovation Is Talked About but Not Supported

It is easy to say, “We want new ideas.” However, what happens when there’s no environment to support that or no resources. When organisations talk about innovation, being the leaders in industry or thinking, but don’t support exploration, experiments or safe mistakes, you can watch enthusiasm simply slip away. Have you actually accessed your methods for continuous improvement? The best people to provide this feedback are the people on the ground. If people feel their suggestions for improvement have nowhere to go or nothing happens, then they’ll just stop sharing.

Organisations that actually care about innovation create space for ideas, experimentation and learning, including when an idea does not work the first time. Mistakes are celebrated and shared as opportunities.

8. Professional Development Has Slipped Off the Priority List

It frustrates me when succession planning is not properly thought through or implemented into performance management. Personal growth is an important driver of engagement and retention. If people want to learn, give them the opportunities and pathways. If organisations, stop investing in learning and development, people can feel stuck or even bored.

Development does not always mean a promotion or an expensive training program. It can include mentoring, coaching programs, secondment, new responsibilities, project opportunities or the chance to build a new capability. When people cannot see opportunities to grow where they are, they may start looking elsewhere.

9. Poor Behaviour Is Tolerated Because Someone Gets Results

I’ll never forget working for a large company and letting the business owner know that I was observing bullying behaviour from one of his senior staff to their direct report. He pretty much said that the direct report need toughen up because the senior person was making him money.

A high performer who consistently undermines colleagues, dismisses concerns or behaves in ways that contradict organisational values sends a strong message when nothing is done about it.

The message is simple: results are more important than behaviour.

People will stop trusting each other.

10. Organisational Values and Everyday Decisions Don’t Match

Values on a wall become a joke amongst the team when they’re not reflected daily. In fact, they start to become invisible. They only mean something when people can see them reflected in everyday decisions.

If an organisation says it values wellbeing but regularly reward or applaud those that put in excessive hours, people notice.

If it says it values openness but difficult feedback backfires on those that speak up, people notice that too and don’t speak.

When things don’t line up between what an organisation says and what people actually experience, it tells you a whole other story on the organisations culture.

Leaders should regularly ask:

• What are we rewarding or applauding?

• What behaviours are we putting up with?

• What do we do to ensure our actions reflect our stated values?

• Are people comfortable speaking openly?

• Are we investing time, money, resources in growth and development?

The answers can reveal more about workplace culture than the values statement itself.

What Are the Red Flags in Your Workplace Saying?

When I asked people in workshops what the values of an organisation is, what their vision, mission or purpose is, people can rarely answer, but if I ask them what it’s like to work somewhere and what’s the organisation all about, that’s a really interesting narrative.

Culture is more defined by what happens every day.

The signals people experience; the behaviours leaders reward and the decisions organisations make all determine the workplace people face every day.

If some of these ten red flags feel familiar, it may be worth pausing and taking a closer look.

Healthy cultures are set by the leadership and done with mindful intention.

FAQ

What causes workplace culture to become toxic?

Toxic workplace culture often develops when problematic behaviours are regularly tolerated, feedback is ignored, burnout is inadvertently rewarded and there are signs of lack of trust.

How can HR identify culture issues early?

HR teams can look at turnover trends, engagement data, feedback patterns, types of conflict, absenteeism and recurring workplace concerns to identify trending issues before they become widespread.

Why do high performers leave organisations?

High performers may leave when they feel unheard, unsupported, overlooked for development opportunities or increasingly disconnected from the organisation’s values and everyday culture. If they feel they are carrying or fixing the load of incompetence around them.

What is one of the biggest culture mistakes leaders make?

Assuming that a healthy culture will develop on its own. Culture is influenced by everyday leadership decisions, behaviours, expectations and what an organisation chooses to reward, talk about or tolerate.

How can organisations improve workplace culture?

Start by listening carefully, acting on feedback, supporting development in diverse ways, encouraging open communication and making sure everyday behaviours and decisions align with organisational values.

What are the early warning signs of a toxic workplace culture?

Common warning signs include burnout being treated as dedication, people being reluctant to speak up, one-way feedback, perceived favouritism, poor behaviour being tolerated and a growing gap between stated values and everyday decisions.

Why do workplace perks fail to retain good people?

Perks can be appreciated, but they cannot compensate for a culture where people feel unheard, undervalued or unable to grow. Long-term retention is more strongly influenced by people's everyday experience of leadership, trust, fairness and opportunity.

What makes a healthy workplace culture?

A healthy workplace culture is one where people can contribute, communicate honestly, develop their capabilities and understand what is expected of them. Leaders reinforce that culture through consistent decisions and behaviour.

Source: 10 Red Flags of a Toxic Company Culture, C-Serv - LinkedIn

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