Dive Brief:
- Six out of 10 adult U.S. workers said they’re currently working with a toxic boss, and 7 in 10 said they’ve previously had one, according to recent research from The Harris Poll.
- However, workers said the toxic behavior was a result of systemic failures, as opposed to character flaws, with 71% blaming current economic pressures for poor leadership conduct, per the poll. Nearly half of the more than 1,300 workers surveyed said their organization was more invested in artificial intelligence than in management coaching for new leaders.
- “Toxic leadership isn’t a character flaw — it’s an investment failure,” Libby Rodney, chief strategy officer at The Harris Poll, said in a statement.
Dive Insight:
Toxic bosses aren’t just frustrating. A poor relationship between employees and supervisors can cause mental health problems and negatively affect workers’ financial well-being, the report showed. It also can lead to job loss.
Almost half of workers (47%) said that toxic behavior from a boss made them feel stressed or burned out, or led to an overall decline in their mental health. Another 53% of workers said they have gone to therapy to cope with challenges specifically related to bad behavior from a boss.
Meanwhile, one in three workers said they lost money “through missed bonuses or stalled promotions,” per the report, while two thirds of employees reported leaving a job entirely as a result. Two-thirds of employees said they’ve tried working harder or working more hours in an effort to satisfy difficult supervisors.
For LGBTQIA+ workers, the impacts are even more pronounced, with 75% saying they’ve dealt with a toxic boss at one time or another, versus 70% of overall workers surveyed.
The report outlined some of the most commonly cited toxic behaviors, including unfair preferential treatment, taking credit for someone else’s work and discrimination. In addition, employees said some bosses exhibit unprofessional conduct such as blame shifting, micromanagement, setting unreasonable expectations or refusing to recognize when a worker excels.
However, workers — and especially younger workers — are becoming more vocal about these situations. More than half of respondents (55%) said they’ve tried to do something to address the issue, and 73% of Generation Z workers said they’ve “pushed back against a toxic boss.”
Workers want better relationships with their bosses, and 64% said leadership training was the best way to reduce toxic behavior. More training outranked better pay and increased head count as a solution, per the poll.
“The ask is simpler — and more achievable — than most companies assume: invest in the people who manage people,” per the report.
Meanwhile, the best leaders manage with gratitude and express appreciation for workers every day, according to a March study from The Grossman Group with The Harris Poll. These “exceptional leaders” were significantly better than “good leaders” at empathizing and creating safe spaces for workers to feel vulnerable and give feedback.