Toxic: A Guide to Rebuilding Respect and Tolerance in a Hostile Workplace

That's where this book comes in. "Toxic" is a practical guide to creating a healthy, peaceful, productive workforce. It offers advice to help readers prevent toxicity from spreading through the workplace, as well as tips on how to turn things around when they go wrong.

This book has broad appeal since office culture affects everyone, from unpaid interns to middle managers to chief executives. No matter where we sit on the ladder, we all have to manage relationships at work. Sometimes with people we wouldn't get along with outside the office. But "Toxic" is especially relevant to leaders, managers, and HR professionals who are struggling to deal with disruptive individuals or escalating conflicts, and to new entrepreneurs who want to get it right from the start.

"Toxic" is written by a true authority in his field. Clive Lewis is a British business psychologist with more than two decades of experience working with individuals, teams, organizations, and governments around the world. He is one of the United Kingdom's most respected mediators and is the founder and chief executive of Globis Mediation Group. He was awarded the Order of the British Empire, or OBE, in 2011 for public service and his contribution to the field of workplace mediation. And he's the author of 17 books.

So keep listening to hear the telltale signs of a toxic workplace, to learn how a car rental company created a healthy culture, and to hear why mediation is the answer when conflict arises.

This book makes for sobering reading, especially at the start. Lewis sets out the problem using real-world case studies and eye-opening statistics, painting a grim picture of workplaces that are riddled with toxic elements, from "managers from hell" to "monsters" and from bullies to backbiters.

He also makes a compelling case for change, citing studies that show the alarming financial and human cost of toxic cultures, from trillions of dollars in lost revenue every year, to high levels of stress and sickness. One study shows that one in five Americans has left a job in the past five years due to a negative company culture, with a staff turnover cost of more than $200 billion.

Why have things got so bad? One reason is that five generations of people now share the workplace, Lewis says. Baby boomers bring different values, a different ethos, and different working practices to Millennials and Generation Z employees, for example. This often leads to tension and conflict.

Technology is another reason. It's brought progress, of course, but it's increased our stress levels and created new platforms for gossip and hostility to spread. Technology can also expose the divides between generations.

Meanwhile, corporate scandals, like the one at energy company Enron Corporation, have eroded trust in leaders and organizations. Data shows that levels of trust in the U.K. are at their worst ever. Other reasons for the current landscape include the rise of the gig economy and an increase in anxiety, stress, and sleep deprivation, Lewis says.

It's vital that we turn things around, but how? The first step is to acknowledge there's a problem. Too many leaders and managers bury their heads in the sand, while employees stay silent, scared to speak up. This is how minor conflicts can balloon into major ones.

So, let's look at the key elements of a toxic culture, the red flags that should prompt people at all levels to sit up, take notice and take action – before things get out of hand.

Lewis says the following practices are often seen in unhealthy workplaces. Do any of these sound familiar?

• Leaders reward mediocre work, ignoring better performance.
• Employees avoid conflict with managers because they're scared of reprisal.
• Bosses make unreasonable demands on their direct reports or use obscene language.
• Staff turnover is high, at all levels.
• Employees are excluded from the decision-making process, so they feel disempowered.
• And managers take credit for ideas put forward by junior members of staff, leading to low morale.

It's easy to see how these factors can contribute to a toxic environment. It's also clear that unhealthy cultures must be addressed on multiple levels.

Lewis argues there are three interconnected strands that lead to difficulties at work. These are the organization's own systems, the capability of line managers, and the attitude of employees. This is what Lewis calls the "Toxic Triad," and this model forms the backbone of the book, with each chapter closing with top tips for organizations, line managers and employees.

As an overview, a toxic organization is plagued with low levels of trust, has inadequate or misaligned systems, and incapable line managers who are primarily concerned with their own positions. A toxic line manager lacks ethics and fails to show compassion for employees' well-being. And a toxic employee looks for ways to cause disharmony and division. They can be secretive, and they're more likely to try to get their own back rather than forgive. Lewis builds on this summary with a two-page checklist of toxic and non-toxic behaviors for each of the three strands. This is a great tool for diagnosing problems.

We like how Lewis uses this model of the "Toxic Triad" to structure his advice. It makes his suggestions easy to follow, and helps all sides understand their respective responsibilities and take appropriate action.

Let's now look at what can be done to create a workplace where employees are happy, healthy, engaged, and productive.

Lewis uses the example of Enterprise Rent-A-Car, a global, family-owned business based in St Louis, Missouri, that's thrived in an industry known for high staff turnover, failure and liquidations.

Ex-naval officer Jack Taylor founded the company more than 60 years ago with a fleet of seven cars and the motto, "Treat your customers well and give your employees respect and opportunities to grow." It now has more than 100,000 employees, a presence in more than 70 countries, and about two million vehicles on the road at any one time.

This is what Taylor's motto looks like in practice:

• Enterprise always promotes from within, and only hires externally when it can't find internal candidates.
• It has an innovative reward scheme that pays everyone basic annual salaries, including senior managers, which are then topped up by profit sharing. This means everyone benefits when the company does well.
• Enterprise promotes employees who provide exemplary service, as tracked by customer satisfaction surveys, giving people an incentive to treat all customers with respect.
• And it has a strong commitment to giving back, supporting managers to take part in a community mentorship program called, "Bridge Builders" that helps vulnerable young people.

The opportunity to give back in this way meets a psychological need, Lewis says. He cites neurologist Sigmund Freud and his theory on the human need or desire for pleasure to feel fulfilled. He finds more evidence in the work of psychiatrist and neurologist Victor Frankl and his book "Man's Search for Meaning." And he refers to a more recent study of students where most participants prioritized finding purpose and meaning over making money.

Enterprise has found a way to give its employees a sense of meaning through "Bridge Builders." According to Lewis, this and other practices make it a "community-centered organization" – a place where employees have a sense of company ownership, and work towards the same goal. Lewis offers a detailed list of the differences between toxic and community-centered organizations to help readers know where they sit.

The Enterprise case study offers a tangible example of a healthy workplace culture, and shows how much an engaged and empowered workforce can contribute to a company's bottom line. No organization is perfect, and Lewis accepts there will be testing times at Enterprise too. But the company's approach offers some powerful takeaways for organizations that want to change their cultures for the better.

So what should we do when conflict does occur? Lewis became an accredited mediator nearly 20 years ago, and he makes a strong case for mediation. This involves a third person facilitating a conversation with other parties to negotiate a settlement. His own caseload has led to savings of more than 10,000 hours of management time, hundreds of people choosing to come out of grievance processes, and numerous people going back to work after long periods of absence. We imagine his cases would make for juicy reading and show best practice in action. But he's bound by confidentiality not to share details.

Mediation is a voluntary, confidential and forward-looking process that focuses on solving problems so they don't reoccur, rather than deciding who's right or wrong. It saves money, improves productivity and increases staff morale. Lewis suggests every organization should set up an in-house mediation scheme. In fact, he includes a "Workplace Mediation Protocol" at the end of the book, and invites leaders to adopt it to show their commitment to finding mediated solutions when tensions arise.

The key to successful mediation is to know how to communicate. This is the subject of an earlier book by Lewis, called "Difficult Conversations," and he refers back to that book and builds on the information in it.

We especially like his detailed exploration of three types of approaches to conflict: the tackler, the reckless tackler, and the dodger. There's a nine-page table outlining the characteristics of each approach, which is enlightening and can make for uncomfortable reading for reckless tacklers and dodgers. We imagine it will motivate some readers to stop avoiding issues and start addressing them in a measured way.

There are some good tips at the end of the chapter on conflict management for each strand of the "Toxic Triad." Some of them sound obvious, but it's easy to see how they can fall through the net. Lewis suggests organizations do away with the grievance process and train managers to have difficult conversations.

His advice for line managers includes nipping problems in the bud immediately and leading by example, while employees should treat others with respect and be willing to work through conflict by talking with colleagues and managers.

Other chapters worth highlighting are the one on Diversity and Inclusion – which covers race and gender equality, the "me too" movement, and equal pay – and the chapter on Technology and Toxicity.

There are some sound practical takeaways for organizations, line managers, and employees on how to manage technology, including establishing clear protocols for use, modelling exemplary behaviors, coaching younger people to communicate face-to-face or voice-to-voice, rather than rely via electronic messaging, and thinking twice before sending a message.

Many of these tips are common sense, but they provide a clear set of action steps for organizations and individuals who want to make changes.

There's also a useful chapter on how to diagnose an organization's health or toxicity level, which includes an excellent case study detailing how a British hospital turned its toxic culture around.

Lewis covers a huge amount of ground in this well-researched book. It has a good mix of colorful, real-life case studies, although we'd have liked to have seen more anecdotes from other parts of the world, outside the U.K. and the U.S. The book's suggestions are rooted in science, and human and business psychology. And there's an entire toolkit of practical tips that are easy to follow.

In a few places, the language seems over the top – Lewis refers to "managers from hell," "monsters" and "demons" – although the studies he quotes use similar language, and "monsters" refers to psychopaths, rather than everyday bullies. Otherwise, Lewis's language and style are clear and concise, and the book is neatly structured so that readers can refer back to key points when they want to. The various checklists are valuable, as is the mediation protocol.

Leaders and managers who choose to adopt all of Lewis's suggestions will have their work cut out for them, but it'll be worth it in the long run. The key is to take the first step along the road of change. This book is an excellent, if not essential companion for that journey.

"Toxic: A Guide to Rebuilding Respect and Tolerance in a Hostile Workplace," by Clive Lewis, is published by Bloomsbury.

That's the end of this episode of Book Insights. Thanks for listening.