A hostile work environment can prove to be very toxic for your work and mental health. It is a violation of the law and is also counted as a source of harassment.

At any workplace, if the boss or the manager starts conducting abusive protocols such as discrimination or harassment, it is called a hostile work environment.

This hostile attitude has a significantly negative impact not only at the workplace but also on the victim’s abilities.

Are you wondering if you are working in a hostile environment?

Read ahead to clarify your queries about working in a hostile work environment and what you should be doing about it.

What Does the Hostile Work Environment Mean?

When the co-workers or supervisors start targeting you based on your cast, color, or creed in a discriminatory manner, that’s the first queue to an unsafe or hostile work environment.

This may disrupt your quality of work or hinder your career progress.

Other than this, if this conduct has been long-lasting and pervasive and a reasonable person finds the work environment as verbally abusive, this is also called a hostile work environment.

In this case, the one bullying is conscious of their conduct but continues with their behavior making it uncomfortable for the victim to work freely.

Misconceptions

Many people have the wrong concept of what is a hostile work environment. Sure your boss might have screamed at you or used some hard words when he/she didn’t get the work done right, but that does not count as a hostile work environment.

However, if the boss screams or only humiliates the employees of color and that too constantly, this is counted as a hostile work environment.

It must target a certain protected class. If it doesn’t, then it does not violate the law, and no legal action can be taken against it.

Behavior that makes it hard for you to do a job can be claimed as an act of hostility. However, it must pertain to a certain class, for instance, only the women employees being sexually harassed can be reported.

“Whenever you’re in conflict with someone, there is one factor that can make the difference between damaging your relationship and deepening it. That factor is attitude.”

—  William James

What Behaviors Are Considered Criteria for a Hostile Work Environment?

An action, behavior, decision or communication which is discriminatory in nature is a criterion of a hostile work environment.

This could be coming for a vendor, supervisor, co-worker, or any person who works in the same workplace as you. Here are some behaviors which contribute to a toxic environment at work.

1. It is discriminatory in nature

According to the law, all employees are protected for color, gender, nationality, religion, and origin.

If there is discrimination against the physically weak or differently-abled, use worker’s compensation or take medical leaves, it counts as a criterion for hostility. This also evokes an unhealthy work environment.

2. The act is pervasive in nature

In such cases, a single event has a long-lasting impact on a group of employees, thus creating a hostile environment.

It should not be limited to a single remark which is off-color that you or a co-worker finds annoying. If interventions are needed, these incidents should be reported to HR immediately.

3. Severe

Objectively severe work environments create hostility and require legal action. The actions, behaviors, and language need to be so provocative that it disturbs the pace of work, and hurts the worker’s work performance.

Such severe behaviors might become an obstacle in an employee’s progressive work career. This includes the affected employees working under stress, calling in often for sick leave, and completely avoiding the hostile work environment.

The law does not protect isolated incidents, minor teasing, or blunt comments.

4. Unwelcoming

The hostile actions being executed by the bully, misconduct, sexual harassment, or un-approved behavior must be unwelcomed by the victim.

There should be solid proof that the victim took a stand and launched a complaint to the HR or the person in authority at the workplace.

This is a fail-safe sign that inappropriate behavior is unacceptable by you, and it was brought into notice.

What Are Some Examples of a Hostile Work Environment?

1. Sexual harassment

Your co-worker or boss who talks loudly leans over your desk to speak to you or snaps their gum is counted as an obnoxious and inappropriate behavior.

This, however, does not contribute to a hostile work environment. If that co-worker makes explicit jokes, sends pictures with nudity, or touches you inappropriately, it creates a hostile work environment.

You should report the act of sexual harassment.

2. Verbally berating

A supervisor, co-worker, or boss who criticizes you on the basis of gender, religion, age, or race is also responsible for creating a hostile environment.

The comments can be casual, played as a joke or said now and then with a smile is also counted as hostile, and there is no plea for it.

3. The problem is not addressed

The in-appropriate conduct gradually becomes pervasive and significant when it completely overtakes the victim’s mind and affects the work.

Still, it is not properly addressed by the HR, and no action is taken against it. The organization is unable to make the misconduct stopped. This is regarded as hostile work environment cases.

4. Social media shaming

Hostile attitudes also include using Facebook to set up pages against an employer which are discriminative in nature. Posting inappropriate photos without the permission of a colleague and making negative remarks about it. Sending chats or including chats, which are of explicit nature to a certain employee-only or a group of co-workers.

Humiliation and harassment did online or offline should be dealt with in the same way.

“There are some people who always seem angry and continuously look for conflict. Walk away from these people. The battle they’re are fighting isn’t with you, it’s with themselves.”

— Rashida Rowe

How Do You Prove a Hostile Work Environment?

Firstly, recognize the examples of what makes a work environment hostile. It may be intimidating, abusive and harassing in a certain way.

Gather evidence and preserve any communication you had with HR regarding this abusive behavior.

Show how your issue has been pervasive and threatening to your work progress. Keep your applications filed so that you have evidence that it was approved by top management, but no action was taken.

Dealing with a hostile environment 

1. Report to HR

The first and foremost step is to report to the HR or the authoritative body at your workplace. Any sort of persistent and offensive retaliation at the workplace is illegal. Your employee must have a chance to investigate and resolve the issue.

Bringing the issue in light of the employer is also important because it can be counted as a solid claim that you were being harassed and that you did get it recorded. This record also shows the frequency and persistence of the problem.

Document your complaints, explicit conversations, and other harassment incidents. Identify the witnesses and save performance reviews, which show the impact a harassment incident had on your work progress.

2. Take legal action if HR won’t listen to you

If your HR is not taking action, it is time to report to administrative agencies! Report the hostile work environment to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

If your employer is covered, you can use the EE0C assessment tool to understand which agency you can launch a complaint with.

You can also hire an employment lawyer and file a lawsuit against the co-workers or the boss who has been misconducting.

Fight for the relief you deserve! An employment lawyer can file a lawsuit for you, assist you in gathering the evidence, filing your claim, and getting your legally protected rights.

How Can Leaders Know If Their Company Has a Hostile Work Environment?

The leader of an organization must have clear cut policies on what is acceptable and not acceptable at the workplace.

Furthermore, it is the responsibility of the employer to keep a watch out on every employee as to how they are behaving and feeling at their workplace.

Company leaders must conduct anonymous surveys so that honest answers without any pressure can be received.

Social media monitoring can also be put into action. Many larger companies keep track of their employer’s social media platforms, including Facebook and Twitter feeds.

Tools like Sprout Social and Brandwatch have proven effective in keeping the evil away track of what the employees are saying about the co-workers or company they work at. 

This is a rather smarter way to make sure employees feel safe and progressive at their workplace.

Final Word

No one deserves to be treated unjustly. It is not your fault if you don’t match up to specific criteria set by a group of people.

You don’t need to be a constant victim of verbal or sexual harassment. Offensive harassment in the workplace is illegal and strict action must be taken against it.

Happiness, job satisfaction, and having a productive mindset is every employee’s right. If you find out that you have been working in a hostile environment, nip it in the bud!

Report and file a lawsuit! Your mental health is important.

Being smart and self-driven individuals, we all want to do well for ourselves. Everyone wants to excel in his career, but what is a career?

Perhaps your ideal career is no more satisfying, and you are unable to achieve your ultimate goals. Don’t worry; we all face these moments in our careers. A change of direction, strategy and mindset can help us in the journey forward.

The desire of becoming top-performer and accomplished in our field is quite natural. Yet we often find ourselves in a fix when choosing the best way to move ahead.

Making the right choice in professional and personal life is undeniable, so we need to understand the difference between job and career.

What Is a Career?

A career implies you remain in the same sort of work for a long time. It is the way we select to fulfill our professional ambitions and goals.

Occupation is the finest blend of education, training, and work experience to help us progress in our jobs or make leaps in a career for a better future.

It is a life long journey.

What Is the Difference Between a Job and a Career?

People often mix job with career. But both have distinct differences.

A job is a work for which you get paid. It includes a specific task over a fixed rate. A job is a regular duty or responsibility. It marks the permanent position of employment.

We have multiple job options available for us today. Some require a particular educational background and skillset, whereas some others do not demand any formal education.

For example, trade like carpenters, butchers, hairstylists, and plumbers, etc. are more focused on skills but professions like medicine, librarians, teachers, and geologists, etc. demand degrees.

Technical and administrative jobs are flexible. Some require university degrees, whereas others do not ask for educational background.

On the other hand, career means the work you do for years. It can comprise one or multiple jobs. It aims at improving skills. It consists of work-related experiences to ensure a linear progression. It serves as stability within a field and its connected dimensions to make a person move up the ladder.

In a nutshell, a job is an onetime event, and a career is a lifetime sequence of jobs. Switching from one job to another is easy, but changing a career is difficult.

“The future depends on what you do today.”

—Mahatma Gandhi

5 Steps to Make the Best Career Development Planning

Career choices significantly impact life. That is crucial to plan a career wisely. It gives us a needed direction to reach the desired place. It unveils our strengths and weaknesses and unfolds the required abilities and knowledge to attain our future goals.

Only a few born with a clear mind are well aware of where they want to see them in the future, but many of us spend much of our time strategizing about life ahead. So it is vital to plan things well.

Career planning is a proactive process and gives meaning and purpose to life. 

These are the ultimate 5 steps to make career planning easy for you to enhance your chances of success and reap the gains.

1. What kind of person are you?

Self-awareness is the key to reach your potential. It helps you to hold yourself and be determined to execute your plans and achieve goals.

If you know who you are. You can decide your path and test your limits. Self-realization makes you learn about yourself and figure out possibilities. You aim to target bull’s eye instead of beating about the bush.

If you know your personality type, then definitely you know your worth not only for yourself but also for the society.

Self-actualization is the way to seize opportunities that help you succeed. Be the representative of self-improvement and inspiration for others.

Career is not about money-making only. Knowing yourself well is the key to career planning. It is important to align your career with your personality to ensure mental satisfaction and enjoy your work.

Knowing oneself is a must ingredient of innovative and healthy learning experience to contribute maximum at your workplace or in your career. It helps us to use our talent in the best possible manner to initiate rather than criticize or complain.

If you want to love what you are doing, understand yourself.

“Opportunities don’t happen, you create them.”

—Chris Grosser

2. What do you want?

What do we want in our careers?

A fundamental question, but the reality is that many of us do not know the answer. We do not have time to sit and think that what would bring true happiness.

Does only growth or promotion matter?

On the off chance, if you are a man of many talents and interests, selection can be difficult in that case.

If you are afraid of making the wrong choices, here is your answer to what do you want.

· Focus on your skills

We are all treasure house of abilities and can learn and develop more skills.  But we need to identify the skills that are required for our career expansion.

Delineate the skills you are currently employing.

Are you satisfied with them?

Are you ready to hone those skills that bring joy to you?

· Reveal your values

Your work experiences are not only about your skills or the tasks you perform. Your values also matter a lot. How good you are at collaborating with others for the achievement of a greater purpose is critical when it comes to knowing whether you are enjoying your job or not.

· Include your brand

Do you have a personal brand?

What are you best at?

Be the brand everyone wants. Make a difference by reflecting that you love your work.

After assessing your skills, values, and brand, focus on the roles that satisfy you.

3. What can support you?

Career planning can help to make imperative work choices to obtain maximum benefits. It is a continuous process to adjust plans and handle the realities of the professional world.

It is all about your priorities and realities. Rapid changes in society, the world economy, and technological advancements may put an end to a few career types or introduce some new.

Be ready to discover more and embrace changes to take control of your career.

Expedite your employability skills because they go hand in hand with you everywhere and lead to a rewarding career.

Covert your interests and passions into small businesses. Unleash your entrepreneurial spirit to figure out how and when to make alterations, delve into your learning, life and work options.

4. What fits you the most?

Another essential step in career development planning is to know what suits you the most. Set your goals and investigate occupational opportunities to anticipate your long-term prospects in any organization.

It is mandatory to look for opportunities well fitted to your interests, capacities, and abilities. But for that, you need to be specific and set measured and reachable goals to pursue success in your field.

Setting personalized goals and aims are of paramount importance for moving up the ladder of success.

Be flexible and generic yet realistic to decide your aspirations while restructuring your career plan with an open door policy to make improvements and manage progress.

Be mindful of organizational rules and regulations and local HR laws and set a time frame to motivate yourself to achieve what you have desired.

There are many options available for us, but the wiser among us narrow down those and choose the best and most suitable for them as per their comfort level and situation.

“Find out what you like doing best, and get someone to pay you for doing it.”

—Katharine Whitehorn

5. What can you choose in the end?

Communication with seniors and peers is a salient feature of the career development plan to know about the dynamics of various working spheres.

Keep track of your progress and evaluate the weaknesses and strengths of your plan. Hold yourself accountable for setting attainable objectives and assuring the successful implementation of the plan to meet your goals.

A good performance review, getting a new job or promotion, growing your career contacts, or receiving an award can serve as metrics for success.

Update your goals regularly and periodically review them in compliance with your circumstances.  There is no harm in altering your direction if you can stay flexible.

Do you want to estimate your personal interests and style? Attempt these career tests from 123test and princetonreview to discover your job interest.

What Are Future Careers?

Few jobs seem to have a brighter future than others. There is a whole new range of non-traditional careers available for young minds.

Tech jobs and the medical profession is on top of the list when it comes to handsome pay and facilities.

In this global era of rapid technological advancements, information security analysts, computer users support specialists, data analysts and all other computer occupations are the most rewarding careers.

Licensed practical and vocational nurses, paramedical staff and qualified medical practitioners are always in demand.

Engineers, blockchain developers, technicians, agricultural specialists, brand advisors and educationists are and will be among favorite occupations for many individuals because of monetary benefits and mental peace and satisfaction.

Bottom Line

Whether you are a fresh graduate or have been employed for years, a career development plan is a tool to guide you to reach your targets, stay motivated, and boost your performance to take your next career level.

It creates the space to lead with curiosity and pave your paths on the road to success.