*Detoxification is quite popular. It is used to describe getting rid of negative things that affect us in terms of physical and mental health. However, it is not only limited to that. As a human resource manager, you need to give attention to those toxic behaviors in your department because they are likely to threaten the productivity of your company.
A toxic work environment affects most of your employees’ work time, and they expend energy on negativity. Creativity and innovation start to suffer because your workers will become reluctant to engage in teamwork, take up responsibilities, and new roles. Toxic workplaces do not only result in negative outcomes, but they also impact the organization. According to research carried out by the society for human resource management, one in five American workers had to resign from their jobs in the past five years due to toxic work environments, leading to an estimated loss of $223 billion for those companies.
Negative attitude spreads like a virus affecting workers who lack the fortitude to understand what is happening to them. Aside from using efficient HR management software, the HR manager must address toxic behaviors in the workplace. So, what can you do?
Here are top 5 tips to get you started on how to detox your HR department
1. Identify the Toxic Behaviors
Before you can do a detox, you need to be able to spot and identify these toxic behaviors. Here are some of the common toxic traits amongst employees
- Bullying and harassment of co-workers: These bullies are always there to highlight other co-worker’s mistakes on public platforms, pointing out their faults in an embarrassing and disgraceful manner.
- Sabotage: These are employees who deliberately make themselves look good and put down other co-workers. At times they paint the company bad.
- Gossip: Gossiping employees form cliques, groups and create “us versus them” competitive environment.
- Clock-watchers: These are employees who waste their working hours. They spend work hours surfing the net, chatting on social media, online shopping, and other irrelevant things that occupy working hours instead of being productive and committed.
- Unwilling to take responsibility: Every mistake or issue is someone else’s fault. They make themselves victims and often turn out blaming and cheating others
- A negative attitude: Some employees in your department have a negative attitude toward others. They exude negativity regardless of how positive the environment is. They are quick to anger, and they let out their frustrations on their co-workers.
Once you have been able to identify these traits amongst workers in your department. You can proceed to deal directly with the problem.
2. Address These Toxic Behaviors
Once you see these traits, you need to take action. Create a consistent policy to detox your department. The policies have to be fair and unbiased. Apply the following process to address toxic behaviors in your department.
- Schedule a meeting with your department to discuss these traits
- Outline these traits in express words and not vague descriptions
- Document your meeting
- Acknowledge improvements
- Be free to terminate the appointment of employees if there is no change after you have set deadlines for improvements.
3. Share Educative Materials
You can’t be everywhere at the same time. You can share educative content that will help your employees identify these toxic behaviors and also ensure compliance with office core values. In situations where you have procrastinators and selfish workers, these people may not know how their negative behavior affects productivity and their co-workers.
They should have access to materials, training sessions and email newsletters. Provide study kits like a THC detox kit for them to read. It will help in identifying these toxic habits. You should always look out for them.
4. Build Trust in Your Department
You need to build a sense of trust in your team. When it is obvious that you distrust your employees, it will lead to a lack of motivation, and they will not be able to unleash their full potentials. You can build trust by encouraging communication, give room for feedback and be empathetic when listening to their concerns.
You’ll be able to make informed decisions by listening and paying attention to grievances. When you listen, you will be able to correct the behavior causing the problem.
5. Develop a Positive Work Policy
You must have clear-cut policies in your department. These policies allow you to guide operations without constant intervention. It will also help in eliminating common misunderstandings, identify job roles, and establish boundaries between workers in your department.
Positivity reduces stress, and it makes everyone happy. Happiness promotes productivity. You can develop a positive work policy by treating everyone in your department with respect. Implement social activities where everyone can have fun away from the tension at work. Encourage collaboration. Reward teamwork and recognize hard work.
Conclusion
HR managers are the backbone of any organization. A toxic HR department will drain energy and morale from its employees. Follow these tips and make your way into detoxing and building a positive HR department.
Mary Walton is a professional editor, content strategist and a part of MarijuanaDetox team. Apart from writing, Mary is passionate about hiking and gaming. Feel free to contact her via Facebook.
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