Imagine your first day at work, the eagerness to meet the team members and manager, the concern about first impressions.

Do you feel exhilarating? It’s the first day.

Photo by Mimi Thian on Unsplash

The first days are best. Imagine: on your first day; your supervisor makes an astonishing remark questioning your skills, implying that you are fortunate to be selected in the first place for the role. Well, you’ve got a toxic workplace problem. That one remark will highlight your career forever because the first job, first manager, defines how you will grow in that organization.

More than 21% of women resign from the workplace every year due to their inability to tolerate their toxic environment. The news is not unique, and every one of us has experienced the same during our careers.

From FAANG to startups, it’s the atmosphere that retains the employees and encourages them to develop professionally and personally.

The power the supervisor holds in boosting your spirit or bringing you whirling down is remarkable. In turn, their actions cause a ripple effect and determine the worker’s tenure in the organization.

Having dealt with a toxic manager somehow made me cynical about the whole organization, and I planned never to return after my internship in the past.

Most toxic environment victims are the minority folks. Especially being a tech industry woman, it’s always challenging to push and ignore the toxic noise in our environment.

With the pandemic’s onset, the analog and digital worlds are merging; having a positive working atmosphere is essential to survive in the remote world. With the blurry boundaries between work and personal space, a toxic place might stifle creativity and innovation in a person’s life, affecting the performance and mental health.

What makes a toxic workplace environment?

It is the overworking, micromanaging, no regard for opinions, blaming, favoritism, and of course, office politics. We all are familiar with everything, but we witness how they corrode our organizations’ core values as bystanders. Research showed that ostracism, incivility, harassment, and bullying directly affect job productivity.

Source from : An Empirical Study Analyzing Job Productivity in Toxic Workplace Environments by Amna Anjum,1, Xu Ming,1 Ahmed Faisal Siddiqi,2 and Samma Faiz Rasool3,**

We find junior developers looking for a job change within a year because it’s their manager or mentor who is dragging them down instead of providing guidance.

When entering the industry for the first time, it’s difficult for recent graduates to understand the ominous consequences of the toxicity they face every day. In turn, it will make them resentful regarding working itself, as first experiences are defining moments.

Silently tolerating the toxic behavior is not the solution, as one feels that having a job itself is fortunate enough, and speaking out might get you fired.

But is such a job worth all the trouble?

As it’s arduous to speak up to the supervisor; but taking the first step is the way. If the organization’s norms encourage people to speak up, it will bring a positive difference; the concept of ethical efficacy resonates with this.

You are an asset to the organization, and if they don’t appreciate your opinion, then that organization is not for you. Compatibility with the company’s values and your values should be non-negotiable.

If it’s not the case, then

Pack up and leave.

Photo by **Toby Tan Xun Yi**

All the silicon valley companies follow the same core values: respect, integrity, authenticity, appreciation, empathy, and trust. Its the role of the leadership team to ensure all the employees imbibe the values. Thus as organizations realize that it’s the employees who are their greatest strength, they are focusing more on eliminating the environment; one of the popular ways is by circulating anonymous feedbacks across all verticals to strengthen employee’s trust in the system.

The tech industry flaunts itself as one of the largest talented communities, believes in mentoring, guiding, and supporting. Hence, everyone in the organization must ensure that the workplace is fair and equal, easy to say, and challenging to implement.