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Toxic workplace environments are harmful to mental health and productivity

FeaturesToxic workplace environments are harmful to mental health and productivity

In far too many workplaces in Belize, there exists a quiet underlying, unhealthy and often toxic tension among the staff as well as between staff and their supervisors and bosses. Such toxic stress at the workplace is at times so high that people become used to bottling this up, which causes increased tension that could harm their bodies and mental well-being. One of the results is also that persons can take these toxic workplace stresses home and negatively affect their families, and having stressed out their families bring back the same stress to work to have the cycle repeated. Over time, the buildup of toxic stress can get persons very ill with such conditions as migraine headaches, high blood pressure, anxiety, depression, and poor dietary habits and related conditions.

Quite often we may look at various professionals go to work nicely attired, with attractive job titles, driving their fancy vehicles while giving an impression of happiness, prosperity and success. Beyond the outward glamor, there are those who regularly and quietly must endure various forms of disrespect, discrimination, and abuse in the workplace just to survive and to make ends meet in their support of self and family. How many times have we heard about the bitter workplace gossiping, backbiting, envy and slander of fellow employees and bosses? How many times have we heard of people callously undermining the integrity of others with no regard for their well-being? How many times have we heard of people inflicting their years of personal pain upon others without conscience and with lack of awareness of the consequences on others?

In various public and private sector institutions and workplaces across Belize, where people are often closely confined for eight hours a day, five days a week, the existence of various forms of unhealthy tension and conflict is far from unusual, and sometimes bound to happen. Part of this is due to the fact that persons congregate from many different backgrounds, have different value systems, conflicting personalities and egos, varying mental dispositions, and unseen mental battles, including deep, unresolved personal pain that they have stored within their minds.

There is also the toxic stress of jealousy and rivalry amongst colleagues over who has the better job title, who went to the better university, or who has the higher salary and better spouse, thus building on envy and resentment. Alarmingly, there are employees who do not know how to relate to others, and their condescending and disrespectful nature tends to add to a stressful workplace. Instead of nurturing teamwork and a productive environment, their very presence and lack of emotional intelligence often build tension. All this, combined with the stresses of the job, can create a toxic work environment which is bound to decrease productivity while impairing the quality of mental health of co-workers.

Persons in authority, cannot continue to ignore the impact of a toxic work environment on the mental and emotional health of their staff. Large companies such as Google, Apple, Facebook and others have recognized very well that when employees feel valued, respected, and have a sense of well-being within the work environment, they work more effectively.

As such, it is imperative for organizations to encourage, provide or promote self-care for employees in order to create a more positive work environment. Periodic on-site counselors can play a huge role in mediating conflicts or unresolved issues among staff and coworkers. Furthermore, opportunities for some employees to work remotely on certain days of the week instead of sometimes confined office spaces could also be useful.

Unless persons actively seek to develop a routine of self-care and heal, they will continue to project some of their negativity on others, which spirals into an unhealthy environment and pollutes the environment for others. I believe that bosses and supervisors should recognize that they are not slave drivers and try to improve their emotional intelligence in working with others. This being said, staff retreats where a frank assessment can be done on staff perceptions of how to improve their organization and work environment can be conducted. This can also help to nurture staff commitment to the values, vision and mission of the organization whilst nurturing a sense of well-being and respect among staff. These retreats or workshops could help to create a positive work environment without compromising the expected standards and quality of work. The importance of healthy workplace environments in Belize cannot be ignored. Healthier work environments can lead to increased happiness and productivity, which will subsequently lead to a better society.

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