In today’s fast-paced and volatile business environment, organisational culture is one of the most crucial drivers of long-term success. Culture not only influences employee engagement, productivity, and retention, but also shapes an organisation’s identity. However, many leaders unintentionally engage in behaviours that undermine this culture. These actions may seem minor or even well-intentioned but can lead to toxicity, burnout, and eventually, high employee turnover (Dessouky, 2024).
Below are ten often overlooked, yet critical culture killers that every leader should understand and avoid.
1.0 Inadequate Compensation
Fair remuneration is a fundamental aspect of a healthy organisational culture. When employees feel underpaid, it often results in resentment and disengagement. Herzberg’s two-factor theory categorises salary as a hygiene factor—while it doesn’t necessarily motivate, inadequate pay leads to job dissatisfaction (Herzberg, 1966).
Example: A study by Deloitte (2016) shows that organisations that fail to offer competitive pay packages often experience up to 50% higher turnover rates.
Furthermore, research on toxic workplaces confirms that poor compensation correlates with cultural cynicism, which accelerates disengagement (Majka, 2024).
2.0 Poor Communication and Feedback
Transparent communication builds trust and empowers employees. Conversely, vague instructions, withheld information, or unconstructive feedback lead to confusion and inefficiency. As Robinson (2012) highlights, breaches in the psychological contract—the unwritten expectations between employee and employer—often stem from poor communication.
A Gallup survey (2020) found that employees who receive daily feedback from their manager are three times more likely to be engaged at work than those who receive annual reviews.
3.0 Lack of Clear Job Expectations
Unclear roles and undefined responsibilities are silent but lethal culture killers. The State of the American Workplace report by Gallup (2020) reveals that only 50% of employees strongly agree they know what is expected of them.
Clarity not only fosters efficiency but also contributes to psychological safety, where employees feel secure to perform without fear of retribution (Saraiva & Nogueiro, 2025).
4.0 Promoting the Wrong People
Promotion should not solely be based on tenure or technical proficiency. Leaders who promote individuals lacking emotional intelligence, empathy, or leadership skills risk sabotaging their culture.
Grint (2005) argues that promotion must consider the ability to manage both tasks and people. Toxic promotions can dishearten the broader team and establish unethical precedents (Timsina, 2024).
Example: Promoting a highly technical but domineering team member to manager often results in increased micromanagement and team friction.
5.0 Excessive Meetings
Meetings can provide alignment but when overused, they drain energy and time. A Harvard Business Review article (Perlow, 2017) notes that 71% of senior managers consider meetings inefficient and unproductive.
Culture tip: Adopt a ‘two-pizza rule’ from Amazon—if a meeting requires more than two pizzas to feed the attendees, it’s too large and likely unnecessary.
6.0 Failing to Support Team Growth
Failure to offer career development opportunities leads to stagnation. Millennials and Gen Z, in particular, prioritise growth and learning over job security (Saraiva & Nogueiro, 2025). Lack of development not only drives disengagement but also signals that employees are replaceable.
The Deloitte Human Capital Trends report (2016) highlights that learning is the top driver of employee satisfaction. Organisations investing in upskilling see greater retention and innovation.
7.0 Retaining Toxic Managers
Nothing corrodes culture faster than toxic leadership. According to Lubit (2004), toxic managers inflict psychological harm, create fear-based cultures, and often drive away top performers.
Case study: A study on Greek primary education by Anastasiou and Tzortsos (2025) revealed that toxic managers lowered organisational commitment and significantly increased turnover intention.
8.0 Allowing Micromanagement
Micromanagement is one of the clearest signs of a lack of trust. It diminishes autonomy, stifles innovation, and creates dependency. Amabile (1998) found that creativity flourishes in environments where individuals have ownership over their work.
Moreover, micromanaged employees often exhibit symptoms of burnout, emotional exhaustion, and reduced psychological resilience (Herlin, 2025).
9.0 Poor Workload Management
Burnout is not just an individual issue—it is organisational. Maslach and Leiter (2016) identified work overload as one of the primary causes of burnout. Leaders who consistently assign excessive workloads without adjusting resources or timelines set teams up for failure.
Example: In the tech industry, startups often glamorise “hustle culture.” Yet, research by Johnson (2023) reveals that overworked employees are more likely to suffer from long-term health issues, disengagement, and even absenteeism.
10.0 Favouritism
Fairness is central to organisational justice. When leaders show partiality—whether in promotions, project assignments, or performance evaluations—it undermines morale and sows distrust.
Kets de Vries (2013) asserts that favouritism fosters cliques and isolates other team members, damaging team unity. More recent studies like those by Rucker (2025) emphasise that equitable leadership boosts psychological safety, trust, and collaboration.
Every leader must remember: culture is what you tolerate. Even passive behaviours—like ignoring a micromanaging supervisor or continuing to overwork a high performer—send powerful signals about what is acceptable in an organisation.
These 10 silent culture killers aren’t always overt, but their impact is insidious. Leaders should continually assess their organisation through surveys, one-on-ones, and feedback mechanisms to identify and correct these risks early. Doing so will not only improve employee satisfaction and performance but also safeguard the long-term health of the organisation.
References
Amabile, T. M. (1998) ‘How to Kill Creativity’. Harvard Business Review, 76(5), pp. 76-87.
Anastasiou, S. and Tzortsos, E. (2025) ‘Toxic Leadership in Greek Primary Education’. Societies, 15(7), pp. 1–19. https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/15/7/200. [Accessed 13 Sept 2024].
Deloitte (2016) Global Human Capital Trends 2016. Deloitte University Press. https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/global/Documents/HumanCapital/gx-dup-global-human-capital-trends-2016.pdf. [Accessed 13 Sept 2024].
Dessouky, H.K. (2024) Toxic Leadership and Workplace Climate. https://www.academia.edu/download/121412024/PDF_Toxic_Leadership_and_Workplace_Climate.pdf. [Accessed 13 Sept 2024].
Gallup (2020) State of the American Workplace. https://www.gallup.com/workplace/285818/state-american-workplace-report.aspx. [Accessed 13 Sept 2024].
Grint, K. (2005) Leadership: Limits and Possibilities. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Herzberg, F. (1966) Work and the Nature of Man. Cleveland: World Publishing Company.
Herlin, N.E. (2025) Fear Culture and Toxic Leadership in Middle-Eastern Airlines. Theseus. https://www.theseus.fi/handle/10024/896801. [Accessed 13 Sept 2024].
Johnson, S.M. (2023) Work Pressure and Burnout. https://shannonmjohnson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Shannon-Johnson-FINAL-DISSERTATION.pdf. [Accessed 13 Sept 2024].
Kets de Vries, M. (2013) The Leadership Mystique: Leading Behaviour in the Human Enterprise. FT Press.
Lubit, R. (2004) Coping with Toxic Managers, Subordinates… and Other Difficult People. FT Press.
Majka, M. (2024) How Leadership Missteps Create Toxic Work Environments. ResearchGate. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/381283784. [Accessed 13 Sept 2024].
Maslach, C. and Leiter, M.P. (2016) ‘Burnout’, in Fink, G. (ed.) Stress: Concepts, Cognition, Emotion, and Behaviour. London: Academic Press, pp. 351–357.
Perlow, L.A. (2017) ‘Stop the Meeting Madness’. Harvard Business Review.
Robinson, S.L. (2012) ‘Trust and Breach of the Psychological Contract’. Journal of Organisational Behaviour, 13(3), pp. 245–259.
Saraiva, M. and Nogueiro, T. (2025) ‘Perspectives and Realities of Disengagement Among Gen Y and Z’. Administrative Sciences, 15(4), pp. 1–20. https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3387/15/4/133. [Accessed 13 Sept 2024].
Timsina, S. (2024) Employee Turnover and Engagement. Theseus. https://www.theseus.fi/handle/10024/851623. [Accessed 13 Sept 2024].
