Understanding the Impact of Toxic Work Environments on Today's Youth Workforce

Toxic work environments are driving many youths from the workforce.

President of the Human Resource Management Association of Barbados (HRMAB) Nicholas Roberts said poor leaders, ineffective human resources (HR) personnel and even employees with poor work ethics were all to blame for the growing trend of youth setting off for greener pastures.

“Poor leadership and toxic working environments [are an issue], there’s no way to sugarcoat it. A lot of leaders within businesses leave a lot to be desired. They do not take the advice given to them by their HR practitioners but we also have HR practitioners who, when they go into the business and see the environment that they’re working in, they assimilate [and propagate the toxicity],” he said.

Roberts charged employees were not animals or children and had to be treated properly even when they were being reprimanded.

“There’s a way to tell people that they’re doing things wrong, we’re not working with sheep, pigs or children. Even when you’re dealing with sheep, pigs and children, there are ways to do things. I think a lot of leaders speak at people and not to people or with people and by extension, they create toxic working environments,” he said.

The HR professional said a comfortable workplace resulted in productive workers but noted employees themselves were not exempt from creating toxic work environments. “We also have to put the onus on employees as well. Some people come into the workplace and treat the workplace as if it is school – a lot of gossiping, a lot of backstabbing, a lot of people trying to climb the corporate ladder and trying to kick the only person behind or in front of them to get what they want,” he said.

This all resulted, Roberts said, in work environments today’s youth would not stand for. He said the tradition of staying decades in a job was fading, adding millennials and Gen Zs were unwilling to put up with certain behaviours.

“So they are going to come in and if it is an environment that is not working out for them or not aligning with their core values, they’re going to leave – that is the reality of it and we’re going to see it more and more as generations become

younger and younger and come into the working environment,” he said, adding this trend was being seen worldwide.

Roberts also chastised some organisations for trying to cover up the problem with tokens of appreciation which did not get to the root of the issue.

“I think some businesses a lot of the time like to put plasters on sores. So they like to throw staff parties, they like to do pizza parties, they like to do all of these things which are beautiful and they are great, but they are not fixing the core issues – it is just icing on top of a very bad tasting cake.

“They don’t fix what is at the root of the issues and the problems within the business. So I think HR and businesses need to work together. HR does not have all of the answers, but we have a lot of the answers though we too have to be listening to leaders because we can’t also just put it all on them. Leaders have to work within their environments so sometimes they may recognise they are working with staff that don’t come to work,” he said.

The president said constantly working within a toxic environment impacted both mental and physical health stressing it was a “definite” concern for HRMAB. He said it was possible many noncommunicable diseases could be attributed to issues faced at work so it was vital for leaders and HR practitioners to work closely together and ensure workplaces fostered healthy environments.

(CA)