London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Oct 07, 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

0:00
0:00
Close
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
×