Key Role of Bad Bosses and Toxic Workplaces in Employee Turnover Revealed by Barbados' HRMAB President

Bad bosses and toxic workplaces are the main drivers of a high rate of employee turnover in several businesses across the island, according to the Human Resources Management Association of Barbados (HRMAB).

HRMAB President Nicholas Roberts said this trend could pose serious challenges to the sustainability and growth of companies if not tackled effectively.

“There is no way to sugarcoat it; [it comes down to] poor leadership and toxic work environments. I think a lot of leaders speak at people and not to people and with people and, by extension, they create toxic work environments,” he said on Wednesday on the sidelines of HRMAB’s Annual Conference, at the Wyndham Grand Barbados Hotel in Long Bay, St Philip.

Roberts warned that younger generations, particularly millennials and Gen Zs, are more willing to leave positions that do not align with their core values: “What the generations before would put up with and stay in a job for 10,15, 20, or 25 years, they’re not going to put up with. They are going to come in, and if it is not a work environment that is working out for them, they are going to leave. That is the reality of it, and we are going to see it more and more as generations become younger and younger and come into the working environment.”

He noted that the trend is not limited to Barbados, but is also prevalent across the region and internationally. “We are definitely seeing younger people and people generally leaving workplaces because of the type of environments that they are forced to work in, whether it be toxic working environments or they’re just not assimilating with what is expected from them based on the level of poor leadership that they see they’re being given or what they’re being asked to give to the organisation in return.”

Roberts also stressed that toxic work environments can have a detrimental impact on employees’ health.

“If it is that you’re coming into a working environment that is toxic, it is going to impact your health, both mentally and physically. When we look at the NCD [non-communicable disease] rates within the country, when you see people that have hypertension, high blood pressure, heart issues, all of these . . . some of these things can be attributed to the type of issues that people are facing at work. It’s the stress of coming to work and working in a toxic environment,” he said.

However, the HRMAB president acknowledged that employees also contribute to negative work environments.

“When some people come into the workplace, they 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 down the person behind or in front of them to get what they want,” he noted.

Roberts argued that while human resources managers should play a critical role in managing workplace toxicity and promoting effective leadership styles, the profession is often overlooked and misunderstood in many businesses.

“HR professionals still struggle within organisations to be seen as strategic business partners. A lot of leaders within businesses leave a lot to be desired. They do not take the advice given to them from their HR practitioners,” he said, adding that HR personnel are often relegated to administrative functions or tasked with carrying out unpleasant duties on behalf of management. “[We are seen as the] people that hire and fire staff or we do the dirty work . . . . While that may be a [small] part of the job, our biggest role within organisations is to shape strategy and to impact strategy when it comes to people.”

The HRMAB president urged business owners and managers to better utilise the expertise of HR professionals and work to improve employee relations. He stressed that HR is often privy to critical information on employee frustrations and workplace issues, which could be used to formulate solutions for the future.

“HR is supposed to help guide and support and encourage and strategise when it comes to culture . . . . You can only do that when you have a leadership team in place that is going to help you do that. By and large, the leaders within any business are the ones that are supposed to be responsible for how they lead teams, how they guide teams, and what is expected from people,” he said.

Roberts cautioned that if the advice of HR professionals is ignored, they may either conform to the existing culture or leave the organisation in frustration.

“When you have an HR person that feels as if their advice is not being heeded or being acknowledged or being listened to, they either throw their hands up in the air and leave the organisation, or they just go with the status quo,” he said.

The HR professional also criticised some businesses for using superficial measures to address deeper issues. He said they often “put plasters on sores” rather than deal with the source of the problems.

“They like to throw staff parties, they like to do pizza parties . . . but they’re not fixing the core issue and the problem. It’s just icing or sugar on top of a very bad-tasting cake . . . . They don’t fix what is at the root of the issues and problems within the business.”

sheriabrathwaite@barbadostoday.bb