Surviving One of the Most Toxic Types of Workplaces: Colleges and Universities
When I started speaking about the 5 languages of appreciation in the workplace, an interesting pattern developed. During breaks, people would frequently relay stories about how nasty their workplace was or what a jerk their boss was. This happened so frequently that I became curious and concerned enough to start researching toxic workplaces (which resulted in our book, Rising Above a Toxic Workplace, and our associated video series).
I started keeping track of the types of workplaces that were most frequently referred to as toxic, and five categories rose to the top: colleges and universities, hospitals, government social service agencies, public schools, and long-term care facilities.
After sharing this with one physician, he stated he was in an impossible position because he worked for an institution that was a combination of a hospital, university, and social service agency that provided long-term government-funded care for patients – quite the challenging combination!
Common Factors of Toxic Workplaces
If you reflect on commonalities among these toxic workplaces, some themes begin to emerge.
- First, they have multiple, confusing reporting relationships which can often lead to a lack of accountability. In universities, there is the university administration, the college leadership (for example, the College of Education), and then departmental leaders.
- Second, serious conflicts for power and influence typically exist in these settings which results in a lack of camaraderie and high levels of territorialism. Serious competition also exists — for funding, for leadership roles, for publicity – between colleges and departments.
- Third, each institution has several major stakeholders to whom they must report (and who often have different goals, values and objectives). The Board of Regents, the state department of education, the state legislature (for funding), the accreditation board for their area of expertise, and . . . the students. This leads to conflict, inconsistency in making major decisions, sometimes creating a no-win scenario for the leaders and staff.
Being Honest and Straightforward: The Challenges Facing Colleges & Universities
Another critical factor is the decreasing number of potential college students. This trend comes from multiple areas, but first and foremost is the fact that the raw number of college-aged students is declining as the children (now adults) of Boomers are past the typical age for attending college. Additionally, our culture has moved away from the “you have to have a college degree” mentality in order to have a good career path. The final major component is the shift toward online courses and degrees – which has huge implications for the expenses associated with traditional college campuses and facilities.
These elements lead to the new reality that colleges and universities are in competition for a smaller group of potential students – which creates stress throughout the whole university: eliminating some majors, closing some departments, faculty and staff layoffs, reduced pay for contract instructors, and eventually the closing of the whole institution (one per week according to one report).
Even before these issues arose, colleges were largely unhealthy workplaces. Now the stress and external demands have made them a pressure cooker.
Multiple Issues, But One Starting Point
The problems colleges and universities are facing are serious, and no easy solutions exist. The reality is that ongoing shrinkage will continue for a time. But a key question remains: how will the administrators, staff, faculty (and students) get (and grow) through this process? Will it be every person for themselves and a slash and burn reaction? Or can there be some proactive measures for making changes in departments and facilities, and a healthy exiting of employees?
Yes, ongoing adjustments in the functioning of the institution would be helpful: clarifying reporting relationships; prioritizing the goals and stakeholders served; making adjustments when difficulties are encountered.
Ultimately, one starting point can help the difficult days ahead go better: Start by valuing the team members you have.If you don’t, you will have a combination of: a) a revolving door of staff who leave after a short time; b) a mass exodus of employees who see no hope and no reason to stay; and c) a stable of long-term employees who are burned out, negative, and cynical.
Feeling appreciated for what you do and being valued for who you are (beyond your performance) are core desires for us all. Learn how to communicate authentic appreciation to your team members, and teach them how to show appreciation to one another in the ways that are uniquely meaningful to each person. That’s why we created the College/University Faculty and Staff version of the MBA Inventory — to give you the tools to make this a reality.
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Categories 5 Languages of Appreciation, Burnout, Managing By Appreciation, MBA Inventory, Toxic leaders, Toxic workplace, Toxic workplaces, Workplace Culture
