Hostile Work Environment - Meaning and Why Hostile Work Environment Matters

Hostile Work Environment - Meaning and Why Hostile Work Environment Matters

6-8 minutes

Hostile Work Environment Meaning

Physical fear, nervousness, and apprehension among employees that is caused by certain conduct on the part of certain individuals, such as bullying, discrimination, exploitation, or violence. It is evidenced by the presence of fear, apprehension, and official complaints about bullying or discrimination.

Further reading:

• Meaning of Hostile Work Environment
• Signs of a Hostile Work Environment
• What Behaviors are Considered Norms for a Hostile Work Environment?
• How to Address a Hostile Work Environment
• Final Thoughts

Meaning of Hostile Work Environment

A hostile work environment has specific characteristics: people experience symptoms of burnout, frequently arguing among employees, and workers complaining that they are underpaid and undervalued.

On the other hand, in a workplace, you are most likely too often noticed if the person is fearful and official complaints to HR regarding bullying or discrimination.

What Behaviors are Considered Norms for a Hostile Work Environment?

There are some potential examples of a hostile work environment:

• Racial Harassment: Both of these are usually two things that create a hostile atmosphere: ignorance and disrespect. You can''t have people making comments about gender or sexual orientation, or uttering slurs or belittling someone based on their gender or race and claiming to have a healthy environment. If you have encountered any complaints or have been a victim of annoying incidents, it is almost guaranteed that you will see a steep increase in bitterness in the working environment.
• Prejudice in Any Form: A hiring manager finds a way to eliminate candidates who''re older, say, than 35 years old. Or individuals identifying as female or even worse, who were born overseas. These are forms of prejudice at the workplace. It implies that they might have a view against these groups, and this may mean that they would act in another way towards people from those groups working in your organization. Not only does bias contribute to the work environment, but it is also illegal to discriminate against protected characteristics in many countries.
• Constant Aggression: For example, imagine you often overhear the Vice President of Sales screaming at their peer, or worse, you actually see them physically pushing their business development leaders around. It''s a red flag for a hostile work environment in most cases when their teams are getting belittled or intimidated. Even though this kind of behavior isn''t illegal, it''s very alarming.
• Mocking or Exploitation: Somewhere along the line it involves teasing or joking with one another. That''s common amongst work buddies. But when you start to see a prank where the person is just completely embarrassed and is utterly frustrated or somebody makes a Facebook group to humiliate a co-worker, that is a hostile work environment. Humiliating others is beginning to be completely intolerable with the growing concern for cyber-bullying. There are problems and hazards with acts; If employees are always complaining and supervisors mention putting them in check or disciplining them, it''s a clear indication that something is seriously wrong.
• The Feeling You Get: Your gut can often tell you whether you''re in a good or a bad work environment. If you or your coworkers are consistently made to feel hopeless, anxious, or threatened, it''s evidence of a hostile work environment. Both watch out for ways that coworkers damage or slander colleagues, are aggressive or rude, and belittle others'' opinions or personalities. These are telling signs whether you''re merely watching from the sidelines or actually laboring with the guilty parties. As a manager, it''s even more convenient to spot behavior in your team since you —ought to— converse with them regularly.

How to Handle a Hostile Work Environment

""There''s no cookie cutter-type answer; every organization responds to a workplace depending on the situation.""

Dealing with a hostile work environment created by one person has a solution. Terminate that individual or at least reprimand them to prevent recurrence.

However, there are still concerns; what if that person holds the position of President or is a manager, beyond your authority? Just imagine a situation in which they are really the star performer and the company very much depends on them. Imagine a situation in which there will be problems that will definitely occur if their work is so high-stress that it is grounds for dismissal.

It would be better in this case to confront the person for causing an unfriendly environment. If they still refuse to make any change, then it would ask for rising up to their supervisor, confronting the matter with them. If you are the one with authorities here, then you can persuade them into proper listening and amending.

However, if it is the person instilling hostility is the CEO, that can be a situation to manage. Nonetheless, you can still come at them. Argue the need for a better work atmosphere by asking for how they might be feeling as a company head.

Conclusion

Try to give them details of performance and productivity in the complaint discussions. It certainly would not hurt to bring in the topic of the turnover rate and expense. At times, managers and HR need to be brave to lose an employee whose behavior forms an ethical risk even if they have super skills in their domain. There might also be cases, in which fault-at-receiving Presidents may have to quit in pressure.

FAQs

• When is a hostile work environment not discrimination? Answer: A hostile work environment can also be seen as a mode of harassment. For a workplace to become hostile, it must be grounded in discriminatory victimization, of a person based on a protected group.
• What are the indicators of a hostile work environment? Harassing Comments, or Jokes Directed at Someone''s Protected Characteristic, about Their: Race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, nationality. Sending images or pictures. Threatening or Intimidating – Physical. Unwanted physical contact.
• How to Respond to Hostile Work Environment Response: Address the issue directly. Someone needs to tell them their actions are not appropriate, and ask them to stop. Someone can stand up for themselves and speak with the person about harassing. Bullying oneself. Alternatively, you can get help from someone else, a supervisor, a manager, or a trusted coworker to deal with the situation for you.

Popular Terms