“Ugh, this is such a toxic work environment.” This is a statement or something equally suggestive that is often seen on review portals.
And I tend to think, is it a pinch of salt or a scoop?
The organizations are then painted in the light of these comments, and especially in today’s talent market, that makes or breaks their growth trajectory.
These portals are a safe space for employees to vent and call out companies for their bad behavior and rightly so. And it is very likely that most of them are highly credible, but aren’t there those few which come from zero merit?
While the organization is and has to be the bigger being, in the many years in HR I’ve witnessed the other side too. I’m of the firm belief that you don’t measure performance by the time spent, instead the quality of work. That said, it requires a meaningful amount of time to be spent for achieving quality results and timely goals.
When you search about ownership on Google, there is tons of content on how and what the leaders of the organization can and should do. So, a little something to ponder as individuals and employees.
For the purpose of this…, let’s take a look at a hypothetical case that illustrates one aspect of employee ownership.
In an in-office or remote scenario, say one team spends 4 hours on breaks/social media or personal work/Netflix during their 7-hour workday, because their manager does not micromanage and believes in flexibility.
Will this misconstrued understanding and thus the misuse of flexibility and/or culture lead to exceptional work or average? It may not even make the cut for just enough.
It can and will only result in goals not being met or poor quality of work. The performance review will be reflective of the actual performance delivered, and realistically will the increment or rewards or growth opportunities rock their world? No.
In short, there are definitive consequences to all our actions and decisions. We may not like them or agree with them even, but truly facing our individual role that brought on the bad review or no growth is a much bitter pill to swallow. A look in the mirror or smell the coffee whichever is your thing, before you place the entire responsibility on the organization.
