What are the signs of a toxic culture?

The top three warning signs of a toxic organizational culture include:

1. Disparate staff treatment: This is where some employees are held to different standards than other employees. For example, if one employee is reprimanded for being late but another employee is also late on the same day and is not reprimanded. This biased behavior causes internal resentment, erodes organizational trust, and adds toxicity to the organizational culture.
2. Conscious avoidance of inappropriate behavior and language: This happens when one employee says something inappropriate to another employee, and the organizational leaders consciously avoid dealing with the situation. For example, if Julia reports to leadership that said Pierre said “Julia, I’d love to see you in a skimpy bikini,” leadership will ignore the situation.
3. Policy inequality: This occurs when some employees do not have to follow organizational policies and procedures, while others do. An example would be when some employees have access to a bonus and other employees do not, despite the same occupational specialist and job functions. This creates confusion and a sense of inequality, adding to the toxic culture.