No one sets out to create a toxic workplace — but the real danger is that many leaders don’t realise it’s happening until key staff walk out, Glassdoor reviews pile up, or a formal complaint lands on their desk.
Toxic culture isn’t just about yelling or bullying. It often hides in subtle behaviours, inconsistent values, and unspoken rules.
Here are five warning signs that your culture may be doing more harm than good — and how to fix it before it gets worse.
1. Feedback Feels Like a Threat
In a healthy workplace, feedback is part of growth. In a toxic one, feedback:
- Happens only during performance reviews
- Is delivered with frustration or sarcasm
- Comes without context or support
- Is viewed as criticism, not opportunity
When employees fear speaking up — or worse, fear retaliation — psychological safety is gone.
Solution:
Train managers to deliver real-time, strengths-based feedback and establish structured feedback loops like 1:1s or anonymous pulse checks.
2. High Performers Keep Quiet — or Leave
A quiet workplace isn’t always a productive one. If your most engaged employees start:
- Turning down projects
- Skipping team conversations
- Avoiding leadership
- Taking mental health days with no follow-up
…it’s not “burnout” — it’s disengagement. And that’s often rooted in cultural fatigue.
Solution:
Exit interviews and stay interviews are your diagnostic tools. Pay attention to themes like favoritism, inconsistency, or lack of recognition.
3. ‘Banter’ Crosses the Line
Toxicity often hides behind humour.
If “jokes” regularly touch on race, gender, sexuality, mental health, or physical traits — even when “no one complains” — that’s not banter. It’s cultural rot.
Remember: the absence of formal complaints does not mean absence of harm.
Solution:
Implement and enforce clear behavioural expectations in your Code of Conduct, and provide inclusive behaviour training for all staff — especially senior leaders.
4. Rules Only Apply to Some People
When staff see executives getting away with toxic behaviour, lateness, or playing favourites — resentment builds. Fast.
This erodes trust in leadership and signals that the company doesn’t actually live its values.
Solution:
Audit how policies are applied across roles and departments. Ask: are we consistently fair in how we manage leave, discipline, and opportunity?
5. You’re Constantly ‘Managing Behaviour’
If you’re spending more time firefighting interpersonal issues than driving business growth, your culture is out of alignment.
Toxic environments lead to:
- Gossip, cliques, and silos
- Passive-aggressive communication
- Frequent “personality clashes”
- Formal complaints or high turnover
Solution:
You may need to step back and do a full culture diagnostic — assessing values, behaviours, leadership alignment, and employee sentiment.
Culture Isn’t Just a Vibe — It’s a Risk Factor
Under the Work Health and Safety Act, employers now have a legal obligation to manage psychosocial hazards — and toxic culture is one of them.
This means:
- You must proactively assess risk
- You must have strategies to prevent and respond
- You can’t rely on “we didn’t know” as a defence
Ignoring culture is no longer just bad business — it’s a compliance risk.
Who Can Help?
If you suspect your culture might be drifting in the wrong direction, a third-party review offers honest clarity.
Hack Your HR works with Australian businesses to:
- Conduct workplace culture assessments
- Map values against lived behaviour
- Design leadership training to shift culture
- Build psychologically safe, high-trust environments
Final Word
Culture isn’t what’s written on your website — it’s what your people whisper to each other when the manager leaves the room.
If you’re seeing red flags, don’t wait for a crisis. Diagnose it now.
Because inaction is the strongest message your culture ever sends.