Dive Brief:
- Toxic bosses can fundamentally alter the way employees perceive their own humanity, according to new research published in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology.
- The research, co-led by Liu-Qin Yang, a professor of psychology at Portland State University, found that “organizational dehumanization” can strip employees of their agency and lead to “severe burnout and a collapse in workplace collaboration.”
- Researchers concluded that standard fairness initiatives might not protect employees from this kind of dehumanization effect. The study instead suggested “a human-centric approach to management” that focused on restoring employee agency.
Dive Insight:
The research was conducted in China and North America, and examined how specific supervisor behaviors, including ridicule and privacy invasion, caused employees to say they felt more like “tools” or “cogs in a machine” than human beings.
“Abusive supervision compromises an employee’s sense of agency,” Yang said in a statement. “Our findings show that this sense of dehumanization creates two distinct pathways of destruction within a company’s culture.”
When an employee’s sense of humanity is compromised, researchers found, it triggered an internal sense of inauthenticity, wherein employees felt they could not be their true selves at work. Enduring that kind of self-suppression led directly to emotional exhaustion and severe burnout, per the report.
In addition, the study found there was a social toll “characterized by powerlessness.” Dehumanized employees became significantly less likely to engage in the kind of voluntary teamwork that can be essential for organizational success because they felt they had no influence over their environment.
Researchers concluded that standard fairness initiatives might not protect employees from this kind of dehumanization effect. The study instead suggested “a human-centric approach to management” that focused on restoring employee agency.
“To mitigate these risks, organizations should adopt practices aimed at preventing leader abuse through development programs that emphasize respectful communication,” Yang said. “By fostering employee self-efficacy and implementing human-centric management, companies can protect their most valuable asset — the humanity of their workforce.”
The effects of bad management are well documented. For example, poor communication, lack of transparency and problematic managerial actions hold workers back, particularly women, according to a 2025 report from the Simmons University Institute for Inclusive Leadership. In particular, that study suggested that managers address poor leadership behaviors including conflict avoidance, micromanagement and active discrimination.
Meanwhile, workplaces that encourage employee autonomy and foster a sense of support can help employees thrive, according to a recent study from the Center for Professional Responsibility in Business and Society at the University of Illinois’ Gies College of Business. A separate study from the University of Phoenix also indicated that employees that feel they have a voice in the workplace are more likely to feel engaged.