Beautiful Virgin Islands

Wednesday, Sep 03, 2025

Toxic work cultures are driving The Great Resignation. Here's how to tell if a company culture is toxic before accepting a job.

Toxic work cultures are driving The Great Resignation. Here's how to tell if a company culture is toxic before accepting a job.

It's easy enough to tell when a workplace is toxic when you're in it but it can be difficult to tell during the interview process.

In April 2022, 4.4 million Americans quit their jobs, according to the latest data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

April marked the 11th consecutive month that 4 million US employees left their jobs, indicating that the Great Resignation may be turning into a Forever Resignation, Insider's Aki Ito reported.

Research published by MIT Sloan School of Management earlier this year found that toxic work cultures were the driving force behind the Great Resignation. The research said that toxic work culture was the biggest cause of attrition, even more so than bad pay or job insecurity.

It's easy enough to tell if a workplace is toxic when you're in it but it can be difficult to access during the interview process.

Interrogating a company on its culture can feel confrontational, asking senior management may not result in an honest answer, and it's unlikely a candidate will get to speak to a junior employee before their first day on the job.

But getting a sense of company culture is a vital part of the recruitment process and will have the biggest impact on how much workers enjoy a new job, organizational psychologist and author, Adam Grant, said in a June podcast.

How can candidates identify a bad work culture without insulting their potential employers?

Grant recommends familiarising yourself with the key signs of bad workplace culture and carefully analyzing the company stories and values.


Look for signs of a bad work culture


All workplace cultures vary but the worst among them often have a few things in common.

Grant said that identifying some of the main signs of bad work cultures can help potential employees get a sense of the company's priorities.

A toxic organization will tolerate "disrespect, abuse, exclusion, unethical decisions, and selfish cutthroat actions," according to Grant.

"But at the opposite end of the spectrum is ... mediocracy," he said. A mediocre culture will often value relationships above results, resulting in underqualified employees getting promoted just because they are well-liked.

Another warning sign is bureaucracy, according to Grant. "Bureaucracy happens when a culture is all rules, no risks," he said.

Candidates can be on the lookout for excessive red tape during the recruitment process to spot an over-bureaucratic company.

The last warning sign of a bad workplace culture is anarchy, Grant said. "You have risks but no rules. Anyone can do whatever they want, strategy and structure be damned," he said.

To find out if a company exhibits any of these warning signs, candidates should try to interview their potential employers after they receive an offer, Grant said.


Analyze a company's 'culture stories'


Asking people outright what they think of a company's culture may not always lead to honest answers.

Instead, asking for stories about how an organization functions and what it prioritizes can help potential employees understand what they're signing up for.

Grant calls these "culture stories." They can be gained from asking current or former workers, questioning interviewers, or even looking on job-networking sites like LinkedIn.

"Collecting stories can help you understand a culture from the outside, and identify toxicity, mediocracy, bureaucracy, and anarchy before you join," he said.

If an executive tells a story about how he was promoted faster than anyone else in the company because he worked 12-hour days and was always available, that company more than likely encourages a culture of overwork.

Grant said that one revealing question to ask during an interview is: "Tell me about something that happens here that wouldn't elsewhere?"

Analyzing the stories a company willingly offers up can tell you more about its culture than any values published on an organization's website.

"It's not about the slogans on the wall or the values on the website. Culture is revealed in the stories people tell," Grant said.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Germany in Turmoil: Ukrainian Teenage Girl Pushed to Death by Illegal Iraqi Migrant
United Krack down on human rights: Graham Linehan Arrested at Heathrow Over Three X Posts, Hospitalised, Released on Bail with Posting Ban
Asian and Middle Eastern Investors Avoid US Markets
Ray Dalio Warns of US Shift to Autocracy
Eurozone Inflation Rises to 2.1% in August
Russia and China Sign New Gas Pipeline Deal
China's Robotics Industry Fuels Export Surge
Suntory Chairman Resigns After Police Probe
Gold Price Hits New All-Time Record
Von der Leyen's Plane Hit by Suspected Russian GPS Interference in an Incident Believed to Be Caused by Russia or by Pro-Peace or by Anti-Corruption European Activists
UK Fintechs Explore Buying US Banks
Greece Suspends 5% of Schools as Birth Rate Drops
Apollo to Launch $5 Billion Sports Investment Vehicle
Bolsonaro Trial Nears Close Amid US-Brazil Tension
European Banks Push for Lower Cross-Border Barriers
Poland's Offshore Wind Sector Attracts Investors
Nvidia Reveals: Two Mystery Customers Account for About 40% of Revenue
Woody Allen: "I Would Be Happy to Direct Trump Again in a Film"
Pickles are the latest craze among Generation Z in the United States.
Deadline Day Delivers Record £125m Isak Move and Donnarumma to City
Nestlé Removes CEO Laurent Freixe Following Undisclosed Relationship with Subordinate
Giuliani Seriously Injured in Accident – Trump to Award Him the Presidential Medal of Freedom
EU is getting aggressive: Four AfD Candidates Die Unexpectedly Ahead of North Rhine-Westphalia Local Elections
Lula and Putin Hold Strategic BRICS Discussions Ahead of Trump–Putin Summit
WhatsApp is rolling out a feature that looks a lot like Telegram.
Investigations Reveal Rise in ‘Sex-for-Rent’ Listings Across Canada Exploiting Vulnerable Tenants
Chinese and Indian Leaders Pursue Amity Amid Global Shifts
European Union Plans for Ukraine Deployment
ECB Warns Against Inflation Complacency
Concerns Over North Cyprus Casino Development
Shipping Companies Look Beyond Chinese Finance
Rural Exodus Fueling European Wildfires
China Hosts Major Security Meeting
Chinese Police Successfully Recover Family's Savings from Livestream Purchases
Germany Marks a Decade Since Migrant Wave with Divisions, Success Stories, and Political Shifts
Liverpool Defeat Arsenal 1–0 with Szoboszlai Free-Kick to Stay Top of Premier League
Prince Harry and King Charles to Meet in First Reunion After 20 Months
Chinese Stock Market Rally Fueled by Domestic Investors
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
Ukrainian Nationalist Politician Andriy Parubiy Assassinated in Lviv
Corporate America Cuts Middle Management as Bosses Take On Triple the Workload
Parents Sue OpenAI After Teen’s Death, Alleging ChatGPT Encouraged Suicide
Amazon Faces Lawsuit Over 'Buy' Label on Digital Streaming Content
Federal Reserve Independence Questioned Amid Trump’s Push to Reshape Central Bank
British Politics Faces Tumultuous Autumn After Summer of Rebellions and Rising Farage Momentum
US Appeals Court Rules Against Most Trump-Era Tariffs
UK Sought Broad Access to Apple Users’ Data, Court Filing Reveals
UK Bank Shares Dive Over Potential Tax on Sector
Germany’s Auto Industry Sheds 51,500 Jobs in First Half of 2025 Amid Deepening Crisis
Bruce Willis Relocated Due to Advanced Dementia
×