Toxic Organizational Cultures and Leadership: How to Build and Sustain a Healthy Workplace

279 Pages·2023·1.493 MB·English

by  Susan Hetrick

“Dr Susan Hetrick has produced a very timely, well-researched, and highly prac-
tical book on one of the most important topics in the field of m anagement –
organizational culture and its relationship with leadership. Her focus on ‘the
dark side’ is refreshing in differing from many of the practitioner playbooks
in this field which begin from the premise that strong culture and leadership
are typically positive. Instead, she argues that you can have ‘too-much-of-a-
good-thing’ – that so-called strong cultures and leadership can often turn toxic
and we can learn more from these kind of cases than those that characterise
the ‘culture-excellence’ literature. In my work as a researcher, consultant, and
non-executive board member, this book will be high on my list of recommended
reading to students, clients, and colleagues as a source of useful theory and ideas
on how to analyse key organizational problems and build healthy workplaces.”
Graeme Martin, Professor of Management, University of
Dundee and Vice-Chair, NHS Tayside
“Dr Hetrick makes a highly valuable contribution with this work by showing
us how organizations can identify and address toxic work cultures. The prac-
tical interventions presented are tools any organization can utilize to prevent
toxicity, ensure positive leadership, and when necessary, restore a healthy work
environment.”
Kathryn Wagner Hill, Ph.D., Center for Advanced
Governmental Studies, Johns Hopkins University
“With employee engagement waning and the Great Resignation upon us, this
book is a timely exploration of how harmful workplace cultures can take hold
and be facilitated, either wittingly or unwittingly, by organisations or individ-
uals. In combining extensive research with pragmatic recommendations, this
book offers both an engaging diagnosis and workable remedies to bolster cul-
tural health in the workplace.”
Richard Fulham, HR Director

Toxic Organizational Cultures
and Leadership
Toxic organizational cultures and leadership have led to major reputational
failures, with the greatest impact felt by the people who dedicate their careers
to working for these organizations. And yet organizations do not become toxic
overnight. They do not consciously set out to break rules and regulations, nor
do they actively seek wrongdoing. This book defines toxic culture, explains
how toxic cultures emerge over time, and provides practical approaches sup-
ported by in-depth research for overcoming a toxic culture at the individual,
team, and organizational level.
Pragmatic and applicable, the book provides a call to action that can be applied
in any type of organization. While the role of leadership in toxic cultures is
acknowledged, the book sets out four distinct stages to embedding toxic cul-
tures and draws on examples from leading organizations and companies to illus-
trate each stage. The book then identifies interventions and levers that can be
implemented by executives, boards, and HR practitioners to prevent toxicity
and to change toxic cultures back to healthy, positive workplaces. Drawing
on research and interviews with senior HR leaders and executives, the book
provides:
• An understanding of the four stages of toxic cultures and the impact of
performance pressures in driving toxicity
• An appreciation of the role of senior leadership and personality traits
• Practical tools and guidance on interventions for practitioners to build and
sustain a healthy and positive workplace
Senior executives, HR, and organizational development practitioners in local
and global organizations spanning a range of industry sectors will find this book
invaluable. The book is also highly relevant to consultants working in the field
of corporate culture and change.
Susan Hetrick is the founder of Zuhra, an HR consultancy. She has held senior
HR leadership roles and worked with executive teams for a number of organ-
izations, including the World Bank Group, Arab Banking Corporation, the
NatWest Group, Aegon, HSBC, and Deloitte. Susan is a published author and
speaker on corporate culture in global organizations and holds a Doctorate from
City University Business School and a Master’s degree in Industrial Relations
from Warwick University.
Toxic Organizational Cultures
and Leadership
How to Build and Sustain a Healthy
Workplace
Susan Hetrick
Designed cover image: © Getty Images
First published 2023
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2023 Susan Hetrick
The right of Susan Hetrick to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in
accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any
form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks,
and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978-1-032-36129-1 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-36131-4 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-33038-7 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003330387
Typeset in Goudy
by codeMantra
Being in a minority, even in a minority of one, did not make you mad.
There was truth, and there was untruth, and if you clung to the truth
against the whole world, you were not mad.
George Orwell, 1984
For my sons, Alexander and James
Contents
List of Illustrations xiii
Acknowledgements xv
List of Acronyms and Abbreviations xvii
Introduction 1
PART I
The Four Stages of Toxicity 11
1 Why Culture Matters 12
1.1 Introduction 12
1.2 Culture and Leadership 14
1.3 Toxic Cultures 17
1.3.1 Toxic Origins – A Word 19
1.4 Positive Cultures: The Opposite of Toxic Cultures? 23
1.4.1 Corporate Culture and Change 26
1.4.2 Culture Levers 28
1.5 Culture and Corporateness 31
1.5.1 Toxic Organizational Norms 34
2 The First Driver of Toxic Culture – The Normalization of Deviance 40
2.1 Normalization of Deviance 41
2.2 What Is Meant by the Normalization of Deviance? 42
2.3 What Parallels Can We Draw for Business? 45
2.4 What Was the Normalization of Deviance for RBS? 47
2.5 The Reinforcement of Success Leads to the Normalization of Deviance 48
2.6 The Slippery-Slope Effect 50
3 The Second Driver of Toxic Culture – Cognitive Dissonance 54
3.1 Introduction 54
3.2 Defining Cognitive Dissonance 54
3.3 The Case of the Volkswagen Carbon Emissions Scandal 55