It’ll never be us
What do Boeing, the Metropolitan Police, the UK Fire Brigade, Ofsted, Harrods and Strictly Come Dancing all have in common?
They never - for one second - thought they would appear in the media charged with presiding over a ‘toxic culture’.
Toxic culture is every organisation’s - without exception - biggest risk. It doesn’t matter whether they are a retail, technology, aviation, financial services, government organisation or any kind of sports team. It can happen to any organisation at any time.
And yet, many organisations refuse to see it as such.
The leaders of these organisations either:
Just assumed the culture would take care of itself
Took their eye off the ball when things were good;
Or didn’t think culture was worth investing in. It’s all just fluffy stuff, right?
The negative publicity faced by each of the organisations that I mentioned has had a detrimental effect in almost every area of the business. In 2023 a toxic culture in one company saw it come close to complete collapse. Whilst another has seen millions wiped off its share price.
Toxic cultures harm humans, results and reputations. Yet toxic culture is preventable. By understanding what culture is and the actions required to address the risks of toxic culture occurring, you can not only create a great place to work but also - as a by-product of this - achieve your results, improve the well-being of your workforce, keep your best people, attract others who can help you strengthen it and safeguard the reputation of the organisation and its leaders.
I don't want to see another person or business suffer at the hands of a preventable toxic culture which is why I wrote the book. It's available here and provides a blueprint for you to take action and ensure that it will never be you.