What Is a Hostile Work Environment?

In a recent article published on BuiltIn.com, Rich Birke from JAMS Pathways discussed the serious impact of hostile work environments on both employees and organizations. His insights highlight how such environments can lead to a loss of psychological safety, lower morale, and damage to a company's overall culture.

Hostile Work Environment Definition

A hostile work environment is a workplace where discrimination, harassment, or bullying make it difficult for an employee to do their job. What constitutes a hostile work environment can vary, but it generally involves repeated, unwelcome behavior that creates an intimidating or offensive environment. When this conduct is based on race, gender, religion, age, or another protected characteristic, it can violate workplace laws and create a toxic atmosphere.

This type of environment is shockingly common. Nearly 20 percent of workers say they work in a hostile or threatening environment, according to a 2017 study of more than 3,000 U.S. workers. Hostile work environments can lead to lawsuits, tarnish a company’s image, and hurt employee morale.

Birke highlights the profound impact of a hostile work environment, stating,

“Even if a company doesn’t get sued, a hostile work environment will still 'eviscerate any sense of psychological safety.”

Hostile Work Environment Characteristics

Common characteristics of a hostile work environment include persistent verbal abuse, discriminatory comments, or behavior that targets specific individuals or groups. Examples of a hostile work environment might include inappropriate jokes, belittling remarks, or actions that make certain employees feel marginalized. What’s crucial is how these actions affect the employee’s ability to perform their job—creating stress, fear, or discomfort.

Additional signs of a toxic workplace may involve leadership ignoring complaints or failing to address harmful behaviors, which allows negative dynamics to persist and even worsen.

How to Fix a Hostile Workplace Environment

Addressing a hostile work environment requires strong leadership and a commitment to preventing hostile environments at work. Managers should encourage open communication channels where employees feel safe raising concerns. Regular training on anti-harassment, discrimination, and conflict resolution techniques is also an important step towards maintaining a healthy workplace.

An additional effective step in preventing hostile environments at work is to promote inclusivity and respect at all levels. Managers should actively work on identifying hostile work conditions early and addressing them before they escalate.

For a more expansive exploration of this topic, read the full article here.