{"id":24508,"date":"2017-08-24T07:55:37","date_gmt":"2017-08-24T12:55:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.crowdspring.com\/?p=24454"},"modified":"2025-01-09T16:59:31","modified_gmt":"2025-01-09T22:59:31","slug":"fix-toxic-work-culture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/fix-toxic-work-culture\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Revive a Toxic Work Culture in 5 Steps"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-38169\" src=\"https:\/\/images.crowdspring.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/11154524\/pexels-andrea-piacquadio-3760790.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"467\" srcset=\"https:\/\/images.crowdspring.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/11154524\/pexels-andrea-piacquadio-3760790.jpg 700w, https:\/\/images.crowdspring.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/11154524\/pexels-andrea-piacquadio-3760790-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/images.crowdspring.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/11154524\/pexels-andrea-piacquadio-3760790-400x267.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Look around your office.<\/p>\n<p>Do you see signs of a toxic work environment? Are your employees tired? Discouraged? <a href=\"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/5_best_tips_for_preventing_burnout\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Burnt out<\/a>?<\/p>\n<p>If you see these symptoms in more than one or two employees, there&#8217;s a strong chance that a toxic culture may have crept into your workplace.<\/p>\n<p>That&#8217;s a problem for your business and your employees.<\/p>\n<p>Most entrepreneurs and business owners working to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/starting-a-business\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">start a business<\/a> spend little time thinking about team chemistry and the workplace culture they want to build. As a result,\u00a0<span style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;\">a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/how-to-write-a-business-plan\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">business plan<\/a> for a new business will rarely<\/span>\u00a0focus on culture as a differentiator.<\/p>\n<p>A good work culture is essential.<\/p>\n<p>Unhappy workers are less\u00a0productive, make more mistakes, and are more likely to seek employment elsewhere.<\/p>\n<p>Once the word gets out, it can be difficult for a company to recover from a poor work culture reputation. Robert Glazer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.business.com\/articles\/do-nice-businesses-finish-first-the-perils-of-a-toxic-culture\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">points out<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>In the age of companies like Glassdoor, an anonymous company feedback website, employees are able to share what they like, and really don\u2019t like, about working for a company. This can make it very difficult, or even impossible, to recruit quality candidates if those reviews reflect a toxic company culture.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>You must act quickly to turn around the negative work environment before productivity lags and employees start leaving for sunnier shores, and you struggle to <a href=\"https:\/\/recruiterflow.com\/blog\/recruitment-strategies\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">recruit quality candidates<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>But before you can change anything about your work culture, you need to understand what culture is.<\/p>\n<p>John Kotter of Kotter International <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/johnkotter\/2012\/09\/27\/the-key-to-changing-organizational-culture\/#77487a4d5509\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">defines culture<\/a> this way:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Culture consists of group norms of behavior and the underlying shared values that help keep those norms in place.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>This definition lays out an essential aspect of culture &#8211; it exists on multiple levels. Culture isn&#8217;t just behaviors. It&#8217;s also a supporting infrastructure of beliefs and values that enable those behaviors.<\/p>\n<p>Your business must be willing to tackle its cultural issues on both levels to effect real and lasting change.<\/p>\n<p>But don&#8217;t worry &#8211; you don&#8217;t have to go it alone.<\/p>\n<h2>Here are five steps that will help you reclaim a toxic work culture.<\/h2>\n<p><div class=\"subscription-hero-snippet image-on-left\" style=\"background: #161C4A\"><div class=\"title centered\">Want a free brand review?<\/div><div class=\"main-content\"><div class=\"image-wrapper\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.crowdspring.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/09131004\/brand-identity-grader-blog-cta-hero.png\" alt=\"brand identity grader hero\"\/><\/div><div class=\"form-wrapper\"><div class=\"subtitle\">Answer 5 short questions and we will send a custom report with actionable insights and specific actions you can take to build a stronger brand.<\/div><div>\n<script>\nfunction submitForm_drip_form(oFormElement) {\n  var xhr = new XMLHttpRequest();\n  xhr.onload = function() { \n    if (xhr.status == 200 || xhr.status == 202) {\n      var formEl = document.getElementById(\"drip_form\");\n      var doneEl = document.getElementById(\"done_drip_form\");\n      formEl.style = \"display: none\";\n      doneEl.style = \"display: block\";\n    } else {\n      alert(xhr.responseText);\n    }\n  }\n  var formData = new FormData(oFormElement);\n  grecaptcha.execute(\"6LcyQTUpAAAAAC5ZPtCYQzRWKR732_LmqInv9YSK\", { action: \"external_bumblebee_lead\" }).then((token) => {\n    formData.set(\"recaptcha_token\", token);\n    xhr.open(oFormElement.method, oFormElement.action, true);\n    xhr.setRequestHeader(\"x-frontendurl\", window.location.href);\n    xhr.send(formData);\n  });\n\n  return false;\n  }\n<\/script>\n<div id=\"done_drip_form\" class=\"done\">\n      <div class=\"success-title\">\n        <i class=\"fa fa-check-circle\"><\/i><br\/> We just emailed the info to you.\n      <\/div><\/div><form id=\"drip_form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/api\/v1\/bb\/external_leads\/\" method=\"post\" onsubmit=\"return submitForm_drip_form(this);\">\n      <div class=\"form-group\">\n        <input type=\"email\" name=\"email\" class=\"form-control\" id=\"mce-EMAIL\" required=\"true\"\/>\n        <label html_for=\"mce-EMAIL\" class=\"form-label\">Email Address<\/label>\n      <\/div> \n      <div style=\"position: absolute; left: -5000px\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\n\t<input type=\"text\" value=\"brand-identity-grader-landing-page\" tabindex=\"-1\" name=\"tags\" readonly=\"true\"\/>\n        <input type=\"text\" value=\"true\" tabindex=\"-1\" name=\"add_country_tier_suffix\" readonly=\"true\"\/>\n      <\/div><input type=\"submit\" value=\"I want a stronger brand!\" class=\"btn btn-primary\" \/><p class=\"notice\"> <\/form><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/p>\n<h3>Step one: identify problem behaviors<\/h3>\n<p>What&#8217;s your brand of toxicity?<\/p>\n<p>Every company is unique\u2014no two are exactly alike. When a company&#8217;s culture turns toxic, it takes its own unique path to get there, and that journey determines what form that toxicity will take.<\/p>\n<p>Every bad work culture is just as unique as the company it belongs to. As a result, there is no one-size-fits-all solution for repairing a damaged work culture. The first step is always to examine your business&#8217;s culture to identify your specific challenges.<\/p>\n<p>So, start by taking a good, hard look around you. And remember to keep an open mind &#8211; you might be unpleasantly surprised by what you find. Before you can make any changes for the better, you have to face these uncomfortable truths head-on.<\/p>\n<p>Here are some common problems to keep an eye out for:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.inc.com\/marcel-schwantes\/6-toxic-work-habits-that-will-kill-your-office-culture.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Gossiping<\/a> and\/or social cliques<\/li>\n<li>Aggressive bullying behavior<\/li>\n<li>Poor communication and unclear expectations between management and employees<\/li>\n<li>Dictatorial management techniques that don&#8217;t embrace <a href=\"https:\/\/safetyculture.com\/checklists\/work-environment-survey\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">employee feedback<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Excessive absenteeism, illness, or fatigue<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.monster.com\/career-advice\/article\/workplace-checklist-how-toxic-is-yours-hot-jobs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Favoritism<\/a> and imbalanced working conditions (double standards or \u00a0discriminatory policies)<\/li>\n<li>Workaholic behavior that sacrifices healthy work\/life balance<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/lizryan\/2016\/10\/19\/ten-unmistakable-signs-of-a-toxic-culture\/2\/#266e14857e42\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Unrealistic workloads or deadlines<\/a> (and the accompanying stress)<\/li>\n<li>Little (or strained) interaction between employees or between employees and management<\/li>\n<li>Unsafe or morally questionable working conditions<\/li>\n<li>Wage gaps between genders, ethnicities, or any criteria not related to job demands and performance<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You probably won&#8217;t find all of these items in your workplace, and you may find problems we haven&#8217;t listed here. Whatever problems you do identify, take note. Those issues will inform your custom plan to rescue your work culture.<\/p>\n<p>Once you&#8217;ve identified your company&#8217;s cultural weak points, it&#8217;s time to ask the next vital question<span style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;\">:\u00a0<em>How<\/em><\/span><em>\u00a0did this happen?<\/em><\/p>\n<h3>Step two: evaluate the underlying support network<\/h3>\n<p>A toxic culture can&#8217;t take root without a fertile environment.<\/p>\n<p>Remember John Kotter&#8217;s definition of culture &#8211; &#8220;group norms of behavior and<em> the underlying shared values that help keep those norms in place<\/em>.&#8221; None of the symptoms of a toxic workplace culture can survive without an infrastructure that supports them.<\/p>\n<p>So, now that you&#8217;ve identified the specific problems, it&#8217;s time to dig deeper and evaluate what shared values and actions are helping to feed and support those behaviors. But where to look?<\/p>\n<p>Examine your company&#8217;s leadership and the values they bring to the office. You can then work your way from the top of the corporate structure to the bottom, looking for issues like:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Discriminatory beliefs leading to imbalanced work policies and or compensation<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Dehumanizing employees (treating them as assets instead of people)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><b>Information guarding causing poor communication and unclear expectations<\/b><\/li>\n<li><strong>Aggressive or hostile leadership styles that create resentment and fear and undermine respect<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The belief that employees are lazy, stupid, and\/or expendable<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Resentment of Authority that creates conflict and friction between employees and superiors<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Contrariness leading to a negative environment for all involved<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Lack of accountability creates resentment among employees<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Lack of appreciation for (or\u00a0recognition of) good work<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>These problematic attitudes, actions, and beliefs set the foundation to build a negative and stressful work culture. Keep a record of these toxic attitudes and bring it with you to your repair strategy meeting.<\/p>\n<h3>Step three: plan your repair strategy<\/h3>\n<p>With a clear understanding of the illness, you can now strategize your treatment plan to reclaim your workplace culture for the side of good.<\/p>\n<p>And remember that change is hard work, so don&#8217;t try to fix everything all at once. Prioritize.<\/p>\n<p>Erika Andersen <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/erikaandersen\/2012\/12\/05\/bad-company-culture-heres-what-to-do\/1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">writes<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>First, you have to determine those &#8216;accepted behaviors&#8217; that, if you changed them, would have the biggest positive impact on the culture.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Those are the pieces to tackle first. Once the wheels of change are in motion, the smaller issues will likely begin to right themselves. Here are some strategic antidotes to many of the most common\u00a0problems in a toxic workplace:<\/p>\n<p><strong>1.<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.americanexpress.com\/us\/small-business\/openforum\/articles\/curing-toxic-organizational-culture\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Listen to Your Employees<\/strong><\/a> &#8211; Hear their grievances, validate their experiences, and make necessary changes to address their issues. Depending on your business, this can come in informal one-on-one conversations, a town hall meeting with HR, or simple blind surveys. However, you go about it, listen, validate and work together to find solutions. Use anonymous surveys to gather honest employee feedback and encourage participation by <a href=\"https:\/\/blocksurvey.io\/anonymous-survey-guides\/how-to-reward-anonymous-surveys\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">rewarding anonymous surveys<\/a>. This approach can foster open communication and ensure employees feel valued.<\/p>\n<p><strong>2.<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tinypulse.com\/blog\/how-to-fix-a-toxic-work-culture\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Assign<\/strong>\u00a0<strong>Realistic Workloads and Deadlines<\/strong><\/a> &#8211; This may mean knowing what your employees do. What tasks are they responsible for, and how long do they take? There are only 60 minutes in each hour. You may want it done yesterday, but that&#8217;s not possible. Don&#8217;t assign workloads or deadlines that require a time machine to complete on time.<\/p>\n<p><strong>3.<\/strong> <strong>Communicate Transparently<\/strong> &#8211; Your employees can&#8217;t do their jobs well without understanding the context in which they operate. Having the information to do one&#8217;s job reduces confusion and frustration, making employees happier and more efficient. Hold weekly meetings, send frequent memos or a company newsletter &#8211; maybe all of the above. Encourage employees to communicate with each other and make sure you&#8217;re sharing the information they need to know.<\/p>\n<p><strong>4. Acknowledge Work Well Done<\/strong> &#8211; A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bcg.com\/publications\/2014\/people-organization-human-resources-decoding-global-talent.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">study<\/a> by the Boston Consulting Group reports &#8220;appreciation for your work&#8221; as the most important element to happiness on the job. Find ways to show appreciation. Tell employees what they are doing well &#8211; they&#8217;ll feel appreciated (and as a bonus, they&#8217;ll be more likely to keep on doing it). Build a supportive environment by sharing employee successes with the group. Make positive encouragement a group activity.<\/p>\n<p><strong>5. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.entrepreneur.com\/article\/236557\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Treat All Employees By the Same Rules<\/a> &#8211; <\/strong>Playing favorites can breed resentment in the workplace faster than greased lightning. Examine your company policies &#8211; do they unfairly benefit one group more than others? Be open to feedback on this point because your employees may see problems that you don&#8217;t. Do what you can to even the playing field. And, once the rules are fair, require\u00a0<em>all<\/em> employees to adhere to them.<\/p>\n<p><strong>6. Foster Emotional Intelligence<\/strong> &#8211; The BCG study we mentioned above included both &#8220;Good relationships with colleagues&#8221; and &#8220;Good relationships with superiors&#8221; among the top 5 elements leading to job satisfaction. Banish bullying, disrespect, and dismissive behavior. Prioritize <a href=\"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/emotional-intelligence-entrepreneur-leadership\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">emotional intelligence<\/a>. Provide resources to help employees expand their EQ. Improved emotional intelligence can cure several ills.<\/p>\n<p>While these are all great suggestions for every company, don&#8217;t try to do everything simultaneously. Be mindful of <em>your<\/em> business&#8217;s challenges and choose your action items accordingly. You can (and should!) implement the rest later.<\/p>\n<h3>Step four: implement your plan<\/h3>\n<p>John Kotter <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/johnkotter\/2012\/09\/27\/the-key-to-changing-organizational-culture\/#2bedd2445509\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">offers two basic approaches<\/a> to get started:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>How does culture change? A powerful person at the top, or a large enough group from anywhere in the organization, decides the old ways are not working, figures out a change vision, starts acting differently, and enlists others to act differently.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>You have a powerful platform to motivate change if you are the man or woman in charge. Just realize that you will need to live and model the changes you want to see if anyone takes those changes seriously. Actions speak louder than words &#8211; it&#8217;s not enough to tell people that the culture needs to change.<\/p>\n<p>Kotter <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/johnkotter\/2012\/09\/27\/the-key-to-changing-organizational-culture\/#2bedd2445509\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">addresses<\/a> that potential misstep as well:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>What does NOT work in changing a culture? Some group decides what the new culture should be. It turns a list of values over to the communications or HR departments with the order that they tell people what the new culture is. They cascade the message down the hierarchy, and little to nothing changes.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>But you do want things to change. So remember <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/erikaandersen\/2012\/12\/05\/bad-company-culture-heres-what-to-do\/#46fea306a55a\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">this gem<\/a> of information from Erika Andersen, author of <em>Growing Great Employees<\/em>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>People will change their behavior only if they see the new behavior as easy, rewarding and normal.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>As social creatures, humans have a strong drive to join the group. Normalize the new behaviors you seek by modeling them yourself. Find the influencers in your business and encourage them to promote the new behaviors.<\/p>\n<p>Make it easy for your employees to implement the changes you want by removing barriers to success. This, again, will require that you listen to your employees to know what those barriers are.<\/p>\n<p>The &#8220;rewarding&#8221; factor is already built-in &#8211; most employees prefer to work in a positive, supportive environment. Your job is to help your employees see how your proposed changes will deliver on that promise.<\/p>\n<p>Also, be prepared to part ways with any employees who will not support your new and improved corporate culture. One bad apple, as the saying goes, spoils the whole bunch. All employees should be given ample opportunity to adjust. But, people who work proactively to undermine your cultural improvement efforts threaten your success and will be happier elsewhere.<\/p>\n<p>All employees should be given ample opportunity to adjust. But, people who work proactively to undermine your cultural improvement efforts threaten your success and will find a better culture fit elsewhere.<\/p>\n<p>You can see a real-life example of this just recently. Google has made it their cultural mission to increase and embrace employee diversity. A young engineer took issue with Google&#8217;s diversity efforts and wrote (and shared) a 10-page diatribe criticizing Google&#8217;s diversity policies and questioning women&#8217;s fitness to work in the tech industry.<\/p>\n<p>Google&#8217;s CEO, Sundar Pichai, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/08\/07\/business\/google-women-engineer-fired-memo.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">explained<\/a> that while the company welcomed the open exchange of ideas, the memo had created a hostile work environment for many employees &#8211; a direct threat to its mission of creating a safe culture welcoming diversity. As a result, the memo&#8217;s author was fired.<\/p>\n<p>Be willing to protect your new culture. Even if there are a few casualties, the price is worth paying.<\/p>\n<h3>Step five: reflect and adapt<\/h3>\n<p>Give your new policies and practices time to take root. Change takes time.<\/p>\n<p>But don&#8217;t expect to get everything perfect right away. After a few months, take stock of where you are. What has changed? What hasn&#8217;t?<\/p>\n<p>Meet with those influencers that you enlisted to help with your implementation. Reflect with them on how things have gone. Different perspectives can offer useful insight.<\/p>\n<p>Assess your progress and adapt your efforts as needed. Keep the lines of communication open. Be willing to keep asking the questions that matter and change tactics where appropriate.<\/p>\n<p>Cultural change is a big undertaking but well worth the effort. Perseverance will lead you to success.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/how-it-works\/?utm_source=csblog&utm_medium=smb&utm_campaign=cta\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-35262\" src=\"https:\/\/images.crowdspring.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/06164945\/small-business-blog-master-cta.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"466\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here is a step-by-step practical strategy guide to help your business tackle tough cultural issues on your team.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25522,"featured_media":38169,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1666],"tags":[3173,429,460,678],"class_list":["post-24508","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-small-business","tag-company-culture","tag-leadership","tag-management","tag-startups"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>How to Revive a Toxic Work Culture in 5 Steps - crowdspring Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Here is a step-by-step practical strategy guide to help your business tackle tough cultural issues on your team.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Revive a Toxic Work Culture in 5 Steps - crowdspring Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Here is a step-by-step practical strategy guide to help your business tackle tough cultural issues on your team.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/fix-toxic-work-culture\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"crowdspring Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-08-24T12:55:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-01-09T22:59:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/images.crowdspring.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/11154524\/pexels-andrea-piacquadio-3760790.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"700\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"467\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Katie Lundin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Katie Lundin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"9 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/fix-toxic-work-culture\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/fix-toxic-work-culture\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Katie Lundin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f45cbab13cc5724dbd7c03e78737b08a\"},\"headline\":\"How to Revive a Toxic Work Culture in 5 Steps\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-08-24T12:55:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-01-09T22:59:31+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/fix-toxic-work-culture\/\"},\"wordCount\":2111,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/fix-toxic-work-culture\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/images.crowdspring.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/11154524\/pexels-andrea-piacquadio-3760790.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Company Culture\",\"Leadership\",\"Management\",\"Startups\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Small Business\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/fix-toxic-work-culture\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/fix-toxic-work-culture\/\",\"name\":\"How to Revive a Toxic Work Culture in 5 Steps - crowdspring Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/fix-toxic-work-culture\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/fix-toxic-work-culture\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/images.crowdspring.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/11154524\/pexels-andrea-piacquadio-3760790.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-08-24T12:55:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-01-09T22:59:31+00:00\",\"description\":\"Here is a step-by-step practical strategy guide to help your business tackle tough cultural issues on your team.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/fix-toxic-work-culture\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/fix-toxic-work-culture\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/fix-toxic-work-culture\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/images.crowdspring.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/11154524\/pexels-andrea-piacquadio-3760790.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/images.crowdspring.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/11154524\/pexels-andrea-piacquadio-3760790.jpg\",\"width\":700,\"height\":467},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/fix-toxic-work-culture\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Blog\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How to Revive a Toxic Work Culture in 5 Steps\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"crowdspring Blog\",\"description\":\"Actionable insights on small business, marketing, entrepreneurship, design, and more, from crowdspring.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"crowdspring\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/images.crowdspring.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/27131716\/cs_logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/images.crowdspring.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/27131716\/cs_logo.png\",\"width\":1404,\"height\":276,\"caption\":\"crowdspring\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f45cbab13cc5724dbd7c03e78737b08a\",\"name\":\"Katie Lundin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/99b4b7bfb744b7fdd6ccd4e9a22c7eb34cc968b2190cc25070fdb1080c1196b0?s=96&d=identicon&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/99b4b7bfb744b7fdd6ccd4e9a22c7eb34cc968b2190cc25070fdb1080c1196b0?s=96&d=identicon&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"Katie Lundin\"},\"description\":\"Katie hails from Baltimore, MD where she had many adventures before relocating to Austin, Texas (by way of Madison and Milwaukee, Wisconsin). Katie completed her masters degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She never attended a single Badgers game. Katie is a problem-solver, writer, former professor and reluctant video game enthusiast. After deciding to leave academia behind, Katie now focuses her efforts on small business marketing and branding, design and copywriting.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/author\/katielundin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How to Revive a Toxic Work Culture in 5 Steps - crowdspring Blog","description":"Here is a step-by-step practical strategy guide to help your business tackle tough cultural issues on your team.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How to Revive a Toxic Work Culture in 5 Steps - crowdspring Blog","og_description":"Here is a step-by-step practical strategy guide to help your business tackle tough cultural issues on your team.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/fix-toxic-work-culture\/","og_site_name":"crowdspring Blog","article_published_time":"2017-08-24T12:55:37+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-01-09T22:59:31+00:00","og_image":[{"width":700,"height":467,"url":"https:\/\/images.crowdspring.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/11154524\/pexels-andrea-piacquadio-3760790.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Katie Lundin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Katie Lundin","Est. reading time":"9 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/fix-toxic-work-culture\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/fix-toxic-work-culture\/"},"author":{"name":"Katie Lundin","@id":"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f45cbab13cc5724dbd7c03e78737b08a"},"headline":"How to Revive a Toxic Work Culture in 5 Steps","datePublished":"2017-08-24T12:55:37+00:00","dateModified":"2025-01-09T22:59:31+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/fix-toxic-work-culture\/"},"wordCount":2111,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/fix-toxic-work-culture\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/images.crowdspring.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/11154524\/pexels-andrea-piacquadio-3760790.jpg","keywords":["Company Culture","Leadership","Management","Startups"],"articleSection":["Small Business"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/fix-toxic-work-culture\/","url":"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/fix-toxic-work-culture\/","name":"How to Revive a Toxic Work Culture in 5 Steps - crowdspring Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/fix-toxic-work-culture\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/fix-toxic-work-culture\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/images.crowdspring.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/11154524\/pexels-andrea-piacquadio-3760790.jpg","datePublished":"2017-08-24T12:55:37+00:00","dateModified":"2025-01-09T22:59:31+00:00","description":"Here is a step-by-step practical strategy guide to help your business tackle tough cultural issues on your team.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/fix-toxic-work-culture\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/fix-toxic-work-culture\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/fix-toxic-work-culture\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/images.crowdspring.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/11154524\/pexels-andrea-piacquadio-3760790.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/images.crowdspring.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/11154524\/pexels-andrea-piacquadio-3760790.jpg","width":700,"height":467},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/fix-toxic-work-culture\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Blog","item":"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How to Revive a Toxic Work Culture in 5 Steps"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/","name":"crowdspring Blog","description":"Actionable insights on small business, marketing, entrepreneurship, design, and more, from crowdspring.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"crowdspring","url":"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/images.crowdspring.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/27131716\/cs_logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/images.crowdspring.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/27131716\/cs_logo.png","width":1404,"height":276,"caption":"crowdspring"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f45cbab13cc5724dbd7c03e78737b08a","name":"Katie Lundin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/99b4b7bfb744b7fdd6ccd4e9a22c7eb34cc968b2190cc25070fdb1080c1196b0?s=96&d=identicon&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/99b4b7bfb744b7fdd6ccd4e9a22c7eb34cc968b2190cc25070fdb1080c1196b0?s=96&d=identicon&r=pg","caption":"Katie Lundin"},"description":"Katie hails from Baltimore, MD where she had many adventures before relocating to Austin, Texas (by way of Madison and Milwaukee, Wisconsin). Katie completed her masters degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She never attended a single Badgers game. Katie is a problem-solver, writer, former professor and reluctant video game enthusiast. After deciding to leave academia behind, Katie now focuses her efforts on small business marketing and branding, design and copywriting.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/author\/katielundin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24508","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25522"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24508"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24508\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46423,"href":"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24508\/revisions\/46423"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38169"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}