{"id":56581,"date":"2022-06-03T19:23:15","date_gmt":"2022-06-03T19:23:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.talogy.com\/?p=56581"},"modified":"2025-09-11T10:33:14","modified_gmt":"2025-09-11T10:33:14","slug":"5-toxic-leadership-behaviours-which-harm-the-employee-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/talogy.com\/en-gb\/blog\/5-toxic-leadership-behaviours-which-harm-the-employee-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"5 toxic leadership behaviours which harm the employee experience"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Covid-19 pandemic as well as the shift to hybrid and remote working models has increased attention on the employee experience \u2013 whether people feel engaged, satisfied with their job, and fundamentally happy at work. However, in Talogy’s recent international research study on leadership<\/a>, we found that 4 out of 10 employees were not reporting a good employee experience in their workplace. So, how can organisations improve this?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leaders set the tone for the employee experience<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The climate that leaders create at work plays a key role in a positive employee experience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scientific evidence shows that quality of a person’s relationship with their leader<\/a> influences their motivation, job satisfaction, commitment to the organization, and feelings of trust and empowerment. In turn this leads to better job performance, as well as people going beyond what is required or expected of them (organisational citizenship). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Toxic leaders have the opposite effect. Research studies show that destructive leadership<\/a> is associated with employees feeling negative and unhappy at work. Beyond this, it also harms performance and commitment, as well as making people more likely to want to leave the organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Five key toxic leadership behaviours to look out for<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Which toxic leadership behaviours have the biggest impact on the employee experience? As part of our international research study, we asked 1077 employees across 21 countries for their views. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Specifically, we asked employees to select their top five leadership behaviours which had the most negative impact on their employee experience. Here are the five most frequently chosen leadership behaviours across all 1077 employees we surveyed: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Employee view<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  1. Being aggressive, demeaning, or intimidating – 64%<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Micromanaging or being over-controlling – 52%<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Lying or being unethical – 43%<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Playing internal politics and focusing on self-interest – 37%<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. Setting unrealistic goals or expectations – 36%<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Leaders who act aggressively<\/strong> create a climate of fear, where employees are afraid to speak up and raise issues or concerns. This is bad for the organiaation because psychological safety at work is important for driving collaboration, creativity, and shared learning. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Micro-managing<\/strong> leaders are unwilling to delegate and empower their teams. They control all decisions and restrict employees’ freedom to choose the best approach to achieving goals. This reduces employees’ feelings of autonomy and in turn their intrinsic motivation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Leaders who habitually lie and act unethically<\/strong> as well as focus on their own self-interest<\/strong> over the needs of their team destroy trust with employees. This leaves people on high alert and feeling constantly concerned, because they know their leader will not act in the team’s best interests. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Finally, leaders who set unrealistic goals or expectations<\/strong> leave employees feeling they will never succeed. For goals to be motivating, they must be stretching but achievable. Unreachable goals reduce motivation and can lead to employees disengaging from what the organisation is trying to achieve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    How to address toxic leadership<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    \nHere are five strategies that organisations can take to reduce toxic leadership and help build a more positive employee experience:\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n