If you’re a victim of bullying or otherwise unprofessional behaviour, it’s a good idea to save those emails or chats, or write down what was said on calls. “Gathering evidence of hostility can be a useful tool to substantiate any claims that might be raised through HR or senior management,” says Priesemuth. “Also, it’s beneficial to try to find allies – perhaps colleagues who have similar experiences or witnessed any transgressions – who can serve as a support system or help address the problem.”
Banding together with your peers can only go so far if there’s no meaningful HR department or system for raising a grievance, however, as was the case in Nikolina’s small company. “There was no such thing as HR or leadership that could be reached with any issues or complaints,” she says. “Our boss was our only point of contact and his attitude was that we should be grateful for our jobs and salary. In the end, I quit, along with many others, once the pandemic started spawning remote jobs. Now I have the creative freedom and peace of mind to develop my own business, a dating and relationship website.”
If changing jobs isn’t feasible at the moment, however, you can take measures to make yourself less vulnerable to toxic behaviours.
“Setting stronger boundaries between work and your outside life has been useful for employees,” says Priesemuth. “Research has shown that it can reduce job-related stress and increase employee wellbeing.” While this can be very challenging with a toxic boss, you can try taking small steps like turning your phone off after a certain hour of the evening, signing out of email and simply making yourself unavailable.
Still, Priesemuth emphasises that these coping techniques may only temporarily mitigate the effects of a toxic remote work environment – not solve them permanently. If your company leadership ultimately fails to take feedback and implement change from the top down, toxicity will probably persist, and your feelings of anxiety and fear will likely linger.
Every employee’s situation is different, of course – and not every worker has the same amount of wiggle room to make changes, if any at all. No matter what your circumstances, it’s important to remember just how damaging toxic work environments can be, whether remote or in person; just shrugging off your negative environment can only make things worse. While strong boundaries, social support and stress management may help, you may want to eventually consider moving on if things don’t improve. If nothing else, these strategies can buy you time until you land the next, healthier gig.
