Dealing with toxic leadership: Empirically defining and evaluating destructive labour relations

Abstract

One of the elements of the social pollution phenomenon in the labour sphere, studied by the author in the framework of a long-term monitoring research project since 2013, is toxic leadership, which implies destructive relations between managers and their subordinates. Toxic managers undoubtedly have an adverse effect on an organization's economic, social and organizational efficiency, and the quality of employees' working life. Consequently, a thorough systemic understanding of this phenomenon needs to be gained, which will allow finding adequate management solutions. This study focuses on the conditions that contribute to the emergence of destructive labour relations between managers and employees, on the nature, forms and types of such relationships, and their negative effects on employees' physical and psychosocial well-being. The combination of quantitative (sociological survey) and qualitative methods (content analysis and narrative analysis) used by the author allows identifying the scale and depth of the issue under consideration. However, it should be noted that this study presents only an approximate picture of the adverse effects of toxic relationships in the workplace on employees' physical and psychosocial well-being, since it is based on the personal perception by the respondents of this kind of situations. The aggregate sample of respondents includes various employee categories in Russian organizations of different ownership forms and economy sectors. Despite noticeable differences in the respondents' evaluations, long-term monitoring will help to more accurately identify the characteristics and conditions that contribute to the emergence of toxic leadership as a factor of social pollution of labour relations, as well as to develop management tools to prevent the undesirable effects of destructive relationships in the workplace.