Cultural Excellence or Employee Wellbeing? What Organizations and Managers Need Right Now

Amid current disruptions in global economies, some individuals who experienced life-threatening traumas from the COVID-19 pandemic are helplessly struggling with anxiety, depression, stress, and workplace bullying. Other high-impact triggers of mental health issues are exclusion from the decision-making process, poor communication, task-oriented management practices, lack of team cohesion, and inflexible work schedules. Sadly, senior managers consider employees’ financial, relationship, and family problems as private matters that shouldn’t interfere with organizational activities and performance. This is absurd, inhumane, and morally wrong in a world where business ethics and social sustainability have become an effective, innovative global management strategy.

Employees are an asset to organizations.

Social engagement and employee wellbeing should matter more than revenues. Organizational survivability would be a farce where employees are exploited, dehumanized, and discarded like pieces of trash. Although many factors influence the overall wellbeing of employees, psychological harassment (bullying) makes today’s fast-paced work environments more toxic than ever, and this ugly trend demands a life-saving intervention.

Workplace culture versus employee wellbeing

Workplace bullying is a common occurrence in modern-day organizations where senior managers have implicit support from top management executives who condone abusive and aggressive behaviour. Over time, more employees embrace poor ethics, moral injury, and violence as a norm because they often see colleagues get away with it. The mental, emotional, and psychological impact of a weak corporate culture is immeasurable; it doesn’t only reflect on the level of employee motivation, engagement, and productivity. Some affected individuals are resorting to self-harm, drug abuse, violence, and suicide as solutions to work-related stress. Fatal workplace shootings in the U.S. between 1982 to January 2023 is partially attributed to workplace bullying but violence is never the answer to toxic, unethical, and damaging organizational cultures.

Which way forward?

Homeland Security suggests peaceful protests and demonstrations as an acceptable means of social and political engagement that might reduce the rate of violent attacks in schools and workplaces. Yet, there is urgent need for organizations to implement employee-cantered prevention, protection, and mitigation plans. Unfortunately, mental health challenges cannot be seen although it’s everywhere around us—and studies indicate that one out of five U.S. workers has some form of mental health disorder, so community members, families, colleagues, managers and friends of anyone facing mental health challenges should intervene whenever they notice signs of distress that can escalate workplace disputes and disagreements to violent behaviours.

Workplace violence doesn’t only affect subordinates; senior managers also experience workplace bullying, and the ripple effect creates widespread aggression and conflicts that eventually triggers hate, mistrust, and low engagement. As companies undergo a massive transformative phase driven by innovative management practices, specifically in the areas of technology integration, process improvement, and value creation, there’s urgent need for leaders to establish a healthy corporate culture. Employee wellbeing is a key determinant of organizational competitiveness, and profitability in local and international markets, thus, it is incomprehensible why top performers who should be prioritized as assets are rather mistreated as mechanized tools for achieving goals. This triggers frustration, dissatisfaction, and negative attitudes—including aggression and resistance to change—which are indicators of a weak culture. Company culture refers to norms, values, and policies that determine how employees feel about themselves and others, including how individuals perceive things and act towards colleagues. It could be defined as a psychological predisposition that controls people’s behaviour in corporate settings.

The culture dilemma

Studies in academic and business domains indicate that organizational culture has a direct impact on brand equity, customer trust, and business performance because it reflects on daily activities. So, the strength of the linkage between corporate culture and employee wellbeing determines the level of employee motivation and engagement. In a world where mental health issues have become a key challenge to employee productivity, organizations need cultures that make employees feel respected, supported, and satisfied with their jobs. It is unacceptable for anyone to be harsh, hostile, or aggressive to others no matter the circumstance. But when bosses turn to workplace bullies, they create a toxic culture where anxiety, stress and low self-esteem become an identity which eventually results in high employee turnover.

Workplace diversity is a complex issue in multicultural organizations. Due to cultural multiplicity and the often-contradictory beliefs that create conflicts, leaders must embrace fairness and equity. Former U.S. president Barack Hussein Obama recently expressed concern about ‘cancel culture,’ a common phrase among young people that promotes the disposition to call out someone or group of persons whose action or inaction is considered anti-social, unethical, or irresponsible. In professional circles, cancel culture involves the act of ignoring, excluding, or disassociating with the person or group in person online or on social media—without necessarily using violence. Cancel culture has negative connotations and is often the centre of public discussions on censorship and free speech. Perhaps, because people think that passing judgment on others is the only way to change the world. Cancel culture of social media is driven by tweets or hashtags about whatever actions, mistakes, or campaigns about events that people support or disprove based on their perceptions, beliefs, and values. Although cancel culture also targets injustice, discrimination, inequality, and racism, it distils political discourse thereby causing social inactivity, intolerance, and cyberbullying. This explains why Obama’s comments stirred controversies among human rights activists. The problem is that people wrongfully use cancel culture to alienate rather than persuade others act right in a world where human rights—particularly freedom and justice—are increasingly gaining global attention. But the question is: what are organizations doing to reduce or eliminate the mental, emotional, and psychological impact of toxic culture?

Key takeaways

Mental health is not just a prevalent aspect of workplace discussions. It is a global healthcare challenge, a scourge afflicting people everywhere who, sadly, consider the health crisis a taboo that could jeopardize their reputation, professional career, and relationships. Strategic management solutions capable of helping leaders to enforce engagement as their organizations transit to new realities in remote and hybrid work include:

• Improvement in work/life balance.
• Responsive leader-member communication channels that strengthen trust, collaboration, and organizational resilience.
• Employee-centred policies that allow anonymous reporting through robust internal or external procedures.