Surviving The Hostile Work Environment - CareerAlley

Surviving The Hostile Work Environment - CareerAlley We may receive compensation when you click on links to products from our partners. Those terrible workplaces are out there. Poor management, a lack of job satisfaction amongst employees, and hostile influences can all band together to make an awful company culture. Sometimes, you wont know about it until you start work. If you find yourself in a toxic work environment, it can have real effects on you as a person. It will stress you out, hold you back, and perhaps even teach you some bad habits. But that doesnt mean you cant come out on the other side of it intact and perhaps even better than you went in. You just have to learn how to survive it. What constitutes a hostile work environment? Some employees believe that a bad boss, an unpleasant work environment, a rude coworker, failure to qualify for a promotion, or the lack of perks, privileges, benefits, and recognition can create a hostile work environment. thebalance.com Pick your battles When you work in a bad work environment, its easy to get wound up by just about every borderline offensive, nasty, or unfair thing that happens. However, voicing your disagreement or disapproval at every turn will only paint a bigger and bigger target on your back. Pick your battles and speak out only when it makes the most sense. Is it important to you or your colleagues ability to work? Is it about a personal dislike? Can you offer a solution? Of course, if there are signs of bullying or harassment directed at you, dont be afraid to stand up and put an early stop to their aggressive behavioraggressive behavior. Tune it out Gossip, sniping, or disagreements that dont affect you shouldnt even be given the headspace. Not only will it get you down, but its easy to pick up the habits by osmosis until your own interpersonal values are starting to get influenced, even slightly. At TheMuse.com, theres some great advice on practical ways to avoid office gossip, including finding ways to change the topic to shut down gossip-sharing sessions before they start. Dont give in, even if its about someone in the office you just cant stand. The better youre able to tune out the petty politics of the office, the less it will all affect you. The worst thing a toxic company culture can do is infect you, so dont give it the chance. Pic by TeroVesalainen Find the positive Sometimes, the work environment can genuinely get in the way of your ability to excel at work. You might have to deal with uncooperative colleagues who make collaboration difficult. Or perhaps you have a boss that youre pretty sure wont ever give you the chance to advance. If you have to grin and bear it, give yourself real reasons to grin. PickTheBrain.com shows some advice on how to keep working on yourself and developing yourself even when youre not given the room to do so by the workplace. Find opportunities to network in your industry outside of your own office. Work on your time management and give yourself means to track and improve your own productivity. Take some time to educate yourself further in a certain aspect of the job or a tool that you use to work.