A Twitter Space, Work Culture and So Much More !

 ‘But would you rather be the person talking, or the person doing the things that people talk about?’ Dave Santan

Today, I choose to be the person talking...well, in my case writing things that people do. Earlier this week, there was an uproar on Twitter, specifically on the Nigerians Timeline.  #toxicworkplaces & #toxicbosses trended for ten hours plus. There was a Twitter space that attracted an audience of over 15,000 people.  This space was hosted by two bold Nigerian ladies, I must say the majority of the audience hailed from and worked in Nigeria. So, the space had testimonials of employees who have been or still are in toxic work environments. The experiences shared were extremely heinous. The complaints and the toxicities ranged from verbal abuse, sexual harassment, rudeness, and lack of empathy to employees by bosses and employers, infringement of employee’s rights like not granting them leave, delayed salary payment and so on.  It was really A Lot.

From the testimonies, the acts of toxicity really changed the victims. It led to some of them relocating cities, countries and even continents. Others moved to self-employment and vowed never to go back to employment as they are still healing from the PTSD caused by their former bosses and employers. Others are still working in the toxic environment and trying to cope, even though they are broken inside, they are surviving and pressing on because…adulting. They said that at the end of the day, bills had to be paid.

From the space, for some employers and bosses, they had or still have the pressure to perform, to meet targets in a very fast-paced environment that really turned them into ruthless beings. They wanted results so bad, and to them, the end justified the means. So, they applied pressure, extreme pressure to the employees. But like any other thing, too much of something is poisonous. The pressure, at one point, would become toxic and it has so hard to go back to the healthy pressure. In fact, the unnecessary and unhealthy pressure became the norm, it became the culture.  And it is truly sad to see what the corporate environment had come to be, from their experience. A space where profits, meeting targets and products come first at the expense of employees as human beings.

‘Employees are a company's greatest asset - they're your competitive advantage. You want to attract and retain the best; provide them with encouragement, stimulus, and make them feel that they are an integral part of the company's mission.’ Anne M. Mulcahy

It might seem so obvious, but the employees, most of them are the talent that helps you as the business owner or founder to meet the company’s objective. So why not treat them, at the very least as human beings. From the Twitter space and my firsthand working experience in various companies, I do understand that at times, the managers running the day-to-day operations are not the owners and founders of the company. So begs the question, how in tune are you with your managers as a business owner or a founder of a start-up? Are you clear with them of what you hope to achieve wholistically? Not just profit-wise. Do they have the qualities of leadership and not just management, because dealing and having subordinates is a whole other issue? What culture do you want to have in your company? So many questions to think about as a present or inactive founder of any organization.

I did stumble upon an interview article on the internet by Toun Tunde- Anjous, the founder of The People Practice, an HR consultancy that provides people-centred solutions to startups and small businesses, she defined culture in a wholesome way. Here is what she stated:

“Yes. Many people think culture means everyone who works there is happy. If any company can achieve that for all their employees, they're champions of people management - that would be the ideal work culture. However, building a positive work culture means building a place where growth happens and is not a toxic environment. A place where people can be their real selves and make choices that will help them grow professionally. A place where people know that they can offer suggestions that are received decently and vice versa. Top it up with great feedback and a fun environment, depending on what fun means to you.”

Here is the entire article if you’d wish to read more on what Toun said. African startups focus on growth and product at the expense of people (benjamindada.com) 

Culture is one of the crucial factors people look at when joining a company. It is therefore essential that the management of any company that wants to thrive and succeed analyze, critique, change and encourage a healthy culture. It needs the management to be intentional as a good and healthy culture needs to be worked on, it does not pop up and sprout like a weed plant. Here’s an interesting article by the Harvard Business Review on what Work culture. Proof That Positive Work Cultures Are More Productive (hbr.org).

This article was inspired by the rather shocking Twitter space that happened earlier this week as I mentioned. To business owners, founders, managers, bosses, and anyone in the position of power; your subordinates, at the very least deserve to be treated as humans. Is that a lot to ask?  The people in authority need to hold each other accountable for how they treat their subordinates. We need to do better as a community and a society.