Toxic workplaces may be bad for your health too – this from the US Surgeon General, who warned last week specifically about abusive or cutthroat workplaces.
The good news? The Surgeon General’s Office laid out a set of recommendations to help.
According to the surgeon general’s guidance, five qualities can predict whether people believe their workplace is toxic: The culture is disrespectful, noninclusive, unethical, cutthroat, or abusive.
The surgeon general recommends five “essentials” for workplaces to ensure employee mental health and well-being: protection from harm, connection, and community, work-life harmony, mattering at work, and opportunity for growth.
You know things are bad when the Surgeon General weighs in. We care because medical professionals are offering practical and implementable advice to employers. It should be a statement on the state of play that the Surgeon General felt it necessary to weigh in. You know, like smoking. Or addiction.