The Negative Effects of a Hostile Work Environment

Thursday, October 8, 2009
As a business owner, you must keep in mind that continually motivating your employees is an important aspect for business success. Take note that money is not your only motivating tool. You also have to think of measures to ensure that your workplace is a happy, satisfying and safe environment for all employees.

Employees should be able to look forward to going to the office because they enjoy working there.

Here are some ways that a Hostile Work environment ruins employee morale:

An employee's performance in the workplace is affected by two factors - mental and emotional. A happy employee who enjoys what he does will, as a consequence, perform well. This can even be measured in the bottom-line metrics of the company.

A hostile work environment negatively affects the employee's performance. It results in dissatisfaction with the workplace and its underlying culture. These disgruntlement may cause employee performance to dip or worse, result in a good employee resigning from the company.

In what ways does a Hostile Work environment affect the organization?

The company has the responsibility of providing its employees with a workplace where they can feel safe and secure. Failing to do so increases the potential for poor performance and productivity. An example would be a sexual harassment case between a manager and a female employee. It is only natural that her performance will be negatively affected by her emotional and mental state as a result of the incident.

If such issues remain unchecked, the effects may be far-reaching. If an employee who was subjected to harassment returns to work, he or she may receive more aggravation. If this particular employee is a first-rate worker, the company will not just lose out from a temporary dip in performance. That employee may never return to his or her former productivity. Also, negative factors affect not just one employee but the rest of the staff as well.

How can a company prevent the presence of a Hostile Work Environment?

As we have seen, a Hostile Work Environment is harmful not just to the employee but to the organization as well. As such, the company must ensure that no such environment is in operation at the workplace. The company has to provide its employees with an atmosphere that is conducive to their performance. One important step is to educate the employees about the company's internal policies and government laws regarding inappropriate behavior towards colleagues and the consequences of such behavior.

In the wider legal sense, the punishments for an employee who behaves inappropriately toward another colleague can be very serious, ranging from termination of employment to incarceration. All employees must therefore ensure that a safe, harassment-free workplace is provided to their colleagues at all costs. Priscilla Demby

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