Toxic managers: a guide for organisations

In this article, we want to help HR and L&D teams tackle toxic leadership. We will unmask toxic manager traits and the impact they have on your people and the culture. We investigate the causes of toxic management, and give you key strategies to deal with it.

What is a toxic manager?

Healthy managers empower their team to reach their full potential. A toxic manager, on the other hand, creates an environment that hinders team performance. Business Psychologist, Sandra Ordel, defines toxic management as:

A manager’s toxic behaviour often hides in the daily interactions with their team. Sandra Ordel lists the top 10 toxic behaviours of leaders and managers:

The Top 10 Signs of a Toxic Boss

1. Resistance to constructive feedback

2. Poor emotional regulation

3. Micromanagement

4. Unhealthy boundaries

5. Unreasonable expectations

6. Intimidation or threatening behaviour

7. Failure to develop team members

8. Unpredictable/inconsistent behaviour

9. Taking credit without recognising the team

10. Lack of empathy

How do toxic management behaviours impact a team?

Toxic managers have a big impact on their teams. They undermine team performance and the emotional and psychological wellbeing of team members.

1. Lack of psychological safety

Toxic managers erode psychological safety. When team members don’t feel safe, they stop sharing their opinions, ideas and concerns. This creates a stifling team environment that hinders creativity and innovation.

2. Emotional turmoil

Toxic management behaviours take a toll on mental wellbeing. Teams that work with a toxic boss experience greater anxiety, depression and stress at work. Over time, their self-esteem can suffer.

3. Impaired communication

Toxic management behaviours take a toll on mental wellbeing. Teams that work with a toxic boss experience greater anxiety, depression and stress at work. Over time, their self-esteem can suffer.

4. Disengagement

A toxic work environment can harm employee engagement and job satisfaction. Team members may disengage from their work and lose confidence. Without this enthusiasm, productivity and performance both suffer.

5. Strained relationships

Toxic managers breed a culture of mistrust and animosity among team members. Interpersonal relationships suffer, and the team dynamic becomes fraught with tension. Workplace bullying is a risk. Team members may compete rather than collaborate, hindering the achievement of collective goals.

What are the signs of a toxic work environment?

1. Staff attrition

Toxic managers breed a culture of mistrust and animosity among team members. Interpersonal relationships suffer, and the team dynamic becomes fraught with tension. Workplace bullying is a risk. Team members may compete rather than collaborate, hindering the achievement of collective goals.

2. Loss of engagement

A toxic work culture contributes to lower employee engagement levels. Team members may disconnect from their work and the broader organisational mission. Absence rates may rise as employees seek respite from a toxic environment.

3. Team performance

Toxic management impacts team performance. In a toxic work environment, collaboration becomes difficult. Silos can develop at a cost to the synergy needed for successful project completion.

4. Mental health related absence

Toxic management contributes to poor mental health and burnout. As mental health absence increases, costs for the organisation escalate.

What causes toxic leadership?

To begin to tackle the issue, it is important to recognise that very few managers set out to be toxic. Instead, managers become unintentionally toxic due to external pressures. Let’s look at the contributing factors:

1. Lack of core people management competencies

Many managers lack essential people management skills . These skills include communication, coaching, emotional regulation and empathy. Without them, managers are ill-equipped to lead their team. Toxic management behaviours can develop as a result.

2. Promotion not based on people management skills

Many organisations promote people into management roles because of their tenure or technical abilities. They overlook the critical leadership capability required. If new managers are not given suitable training, they are set up to fail.

3. Lack of self-awareness

Some managers may be unaware of how their actions impact the team. Without this self-awareness, toxic management behaviours continue.

4. Management stress

Many managers are under a lot of pressure. As stress levels increase, managers may withdraw, or become aggressive and rigid. These signs of toxic management may mean that your managers are burning out.

How do you deal with toxic managers?

The impact of toxic management on a team is comprehensive. Once HR and L&D professionals recognise the problem, they can then start to address it. Here are some strategies to consider.

1. Monitor toxic management behaviours

Utilise employee engagement surveys to gather first-hand feedback from team members. The team’s perception of their manager’s leadership style can highlight areas of concern.

Analyse key metrics such as absence rates, attrition trends, and sickness patterns. You may see spikes or anomalies in these metrics that point to toxic leadership styles.

2. Develop a high potential training pathway

Develop a plan to identify high-potential individuals within your organisation. Then provide targeted training so they are ready to take on a management role. This training should include essential people management skills such as:

• Effective communication
• Psychological safety
• Coaching
• Pressure management
• Wellbeing conversations
• Emotional intelligence
• Manager resilience

3. Provide ongoing manager training

Establish a culture of continuous learning for your existing managers. Focus on skills that build psychological safety within teams. As new challenges emerge, adapt your manager training programmes. Ensure your managers are able to navigate their team through evolving business dynamics.

4. Develop manager resilience

Equip your managers to deal with pressure in a healthy and sustainable way. Give managers insight into their current levels of resilience using tools such as the Wraw psychometric. Provide targeted training to build the physical, psychological and social resilience of managers.

5. Introduce 360-degree feedback for managers

Use 360-degree feedback to collect professional feedback from colleagues, direct reports and supervisors. This insight can help managers understand how they impact their team.

6. Invest in 1-1 manager coaching

1:1 coaching can help managers understand the impact they have on their team. Supported by their coach, they can build their commitment to positive leadership.

7. Establish a mentoring programme

Consider pairing up more inexperienced managers with members from senior management. Creating this mentor relationship helps managers feel supported because they have a safe space to explore their concerns and development areas.

Author Bio: Sandra Ordel is a Senior Business Psychologist specialising in workforce resilience and neuropsychology. She supports organisations worldwide to build resilient teams and cultures of healthy performance.