Sometimes despite our best efforts to resolve, influence, or cope with toxic workplaces, the dysfunction doesn’t change. The constant negativity can lead to unhealthy amounts of stress. If you don’t deal with this stress, you may develop more serious conditions like high blood pressure. You might choose to deal with stress at the workplace in a number of different ways. A very popular way to deal with it is to use marijuana to calm yourself after a particularly hard day. However, if your workplace is so strict that it requires drug tests then you may want to look for the best flushers for weed so you aren’t put into an even more stressful situation if the test comes back positive. However, sometimes the best solution is to just remove yourself from the situation and find a more healthy working environment.
While most of the time you can suggest to your management that certain changes should be made or you can anonymously show your discontent in a pulse survey (look at the definition of employee pulse survey here if you’re not sure what it is), but this isn’t always the case. Sometimes the problems are too entrenched or widespread for there to be any hope of change in a timeframe that works for you. This strategy is last for a reason. The previous three strategies walk you through a process for discerning what the problems are and what you might be able to do about them. Based on that, you may have a realistic hope of change. But you may also conclude that there is not a realistic hope of change. It is incredibly important at that point to honor the expertise that you have about the situation. You know your workplace better than anyone. You also know yourself better than anyone. If there is no hope of the situation changing, and your best efforts to cope aren’t effective, then leaving is the last option. Leaving is not something to be taken lightly or impulsively. Especially if you have a family, walking off a job unless your safety is at imminent risk is not a wise decision. In today’s economy, you want to make sure that you have a new job before you quit the toxic one. Otherwise, you are just trading work stress for financial stress. If you’re wanting some help with writing a new resume with hopes of getting you out of the toxic job as quick as possible, you may want to try using resume writing advice from the likes of Cultivated Culture’s guide or others. By creating a solid resume, you stand a much better chance of receiving an interview to get the job. Of course, interviews can be equally as difficult as creating an appealing resume. However, with the help of websites like https://www.interviewskillsclinic.co.uk/, you should stand a good chance of impressing the employers in the interview stage, hopefully helping you to get a fresh start.
Once you have a new job, make a graceful exit. Remember that you are getting your life back. When you walk out that door for the last time, you leave the toxicity and dysfunction behind. That’s where you get your best revenge. Especially when aggressors pretend to be victims and have blamed you for the problems. That is a classic ploy of abusive people. Once you’re out that door, you will realize that the problem was never you. The craziness and the chaos stays at the old job site, and your peace and happiness come back. Just as importantly, when you go to work for someone healthy, you will realize the depth of how bad the toxic work environment really was. When you are treated professionally and with respect, you’ll finally have an excellent comparison point of the role work is supposed to play in our lives: getting paid to work together to achieve some kind of common goal, whether it is earning a profit or providing a service (or both). Work was never intended to destroy us. It was intended to lift all of us up into a higher standard of living, both as individuals and in our communities. It’s how we provide for our families. It’s how we make a contribution to the greater good. It’s how we provide each other with the products and services each of us need on a daily basis. It’s a place where all of us deserve to be safe. You can’t save anyone else by sacrificing yourself. Your safety matters. You matter. If you know it’s time to go, then talk with your family and formulate a good exit plan. Deal with any stress you still face by knowing that you are looking for another job or working on whatever your exit plan is. Focus on the fact that someday, when you no longer have to walk into a place that reeks of oppression and wasted potential, you truly will be free.
Next week we will wrap up the toxic workplaces topic and then move on to something new. In the meantime, know that I am rooting for you and praying for you to have wisdom and strength as you make these incredible important decisions about what comes next in your life. Peace!