How to Fix a Toxic Culture in 10 Steps

Elizabeth Eldridge
8 hours ago
6 min read

Some workplaces lift people up. Others slowly wear them down. In toxic cultures, even the most dedicated employees struggle to stay motivated because the environment itself becomes the barrier. While a healthy culture brings out the best in people, a toxic one slowly drains motivation, creativity and trust.

You can usually feel a toxic culture more easily than you can describe it. A toxic workplace feels like walking into a storm that never fully clears. It’s the tension during meetings, the hesitation before speaking up, the exhaustion people carry from one day to the next. Morale drops, communication breaks down and people start protecting themselves instead of collaborating. When a workplace reaches that point, it’s not a “people problem”, it’s a culture problem.

When stress becomes the norm, when overwork is expected or when leaders rely on micromanagement instead of meaningful support, a culture can tip from challenging to toxic surprisingly fast. In the beginning, when culture starts to go off track, the decline is often so gradual that no one notices. Everyone is too busy putting out day-to-day fires, and by the time the toxicity becomes obvious, it already feels daunting.

The good news is that no culture is permanent. A toxic culture won’t improve on its own, but it is repairable. With intention, it can be rebuilt. It’s a shift that can happen when leaders choose to rebuild the environment from the inside out. Let’s explore some concrete, practical steps that genuinely move the needle toward a healthier workplace.

Step 1: Acknowledge the Culture Is Toxic… and Say It Out Loud

You cannot fix what you won’t name. Employees already know the culture isn’t healthy. What they’re waiting for is leadership to admit it.

Saying something like “We recognize our culture isn’t where it needs to be, and we’re making it a priority to work on it” builds credibility. Employees can feel the difference between a workplace that owns its issues and one that tries to pretend everything is fine.

What this step looks like:

Naming the problem without blaming individuals
Acknowledging the impact on staff, mental health and performance
Committing publicly to doing better

This moment sets the tone for all the change that follows.

Step 2: Listen Deeply to Understand What’s Actually Broken

Every toxic culture has its own set of root causes. Sometimes it’s workload. Sometimes it’s leadership behaviour. Sometimes it’s conflict, unclear expectations or communication breakdowns.

You can’t guess. You need to listen.

Gather insight through:

Anonymous surveys
Listening sessions
Facilitated focus groups
Exit interviews… and Stay interviews (I’m a big fan of these!)
Psychological health and safety assessments

When employees talk, your job is to listen without defending, explaining or brushing anything off. You don’t have to fix it all immediately. Right now, you’re gathering the components of what will become your map.

Step 3: Train Leaders to Lead in a Psychologically Safe Way

Most toxic behaviours aren’t intentional. They come from leaders who are overwhelmed, undertrained or unsure of how to support a struggling team.

This is where culture transformation hinges: leadership behaviour must shift.

Support leaders by offering:

Training on psychological health and safety
Coaching on communication, feedback and conflict
Tools for workload management and delegation
Guidance for having mental health conversations without trying to be a therapist (setting boundaries is an absolute must)
Clarity on expectations for behaviour and accountability

Leaders set the tone. When they change how they show up, the culture recalibrates.

Step 4: Address Workload and Set Boundaries That Protect People

Toxic cultures often glorify overwork. Employees stay late because they feel they have to. Weekends become unofficial work time. Urgent becomes the default. One of my favourite sayings, and something I remind myself of when I’m feeling overwhelmed, is “If everything is urgent, then nothing is”.

You cannot build a supportive culture on the foundation of constant overload.

Fix this by:

Setting clear boundaries around after-hours communication
Reducing meetings and protecting time for focused work
Ensuring staffing aligns with demands
Prioritizing tasks so everything isn’t “priority one”
Encouraging breaks and using vacation time
Auditing job roles so expectations match reality

Healthy culture requires healthy capacity.

Step 5: Replace Micromanagement With Trust and Autonomy

Micromanagement flourishes in toxic environments because leaders feel pressure, and pressure breeds control. But control kills confidence.

Supportive cultures are built on trust.

Shift to empowerment by:

Setting clear goals and letting employees choose how to reach them
Involving staff in decisions that impact their work
Encouraging problem-solving and creativity
Sharing information openly
Recognizing initiative and effort

Autonomy doesn’t mean chaos. It means employees feel capable and trusted — critical ingredients in any culture turnaround.

Step 6: Establish Zero Tolerance for Disrespect, Bullying and Exclusion

Toxic culture and disrespect go hand in hand. Even one person who undermines others, gossips, belittles or intimidates can create ripple effects across an entire team.

Supportive cultures require psychological safety and belonging.

To rebuild respect:

Address harmful behaviour immediately, not months later
Ensure policies protect employees from harassment and bullying
Train staff in respectful communication and conflict resolution
Include multiple voices in decision-making
Model inclusive behaviour consistently

Employees must know the workplace is safe, not just physically but psychologically.

Step 7: Normalize Mental Health Conversations

In a toxic culture, people hide stress because they fear consequences. They stay silent and hope no one notices. That silence becomes part of the toxicity.

Supportive workplaces normalize talking about mental health.

Do this by:

Training leaders to check in with empathy
Training all members of your team to be able to navigate basic conversations about mental health, and to point someone who’s struggling in the direction of appropriate resources (I can help! Check out my training options HERE)
Sharing mental health resources regularly
Promoting and educating your team on EFAP
Encouraging early help-seeking
Making it clear that asking for support is not a weakness

When people can safely say, “I’m struggling,” everything changes.

Step 8: Reinforce the Behaviours You Want More Of

Culture is shaped by what gets rewarded, not what gets written in a policy.

If you want collaboration, recognition, inclusivity or psychological safety to improve, you need to highlight it when it happens. (Once again, Stay interviews are super helpful!)

Reinforcement strategies:

Celebrate wins related to teamwork or respectful behaviour
Highlight employee contributions publicly
Build supportive behaviours into performance reviews
Share stories that show culture change is working
Recognize leaders who model healthier practices

People rise to the expectations that are consistently reinforced.

Step 9: Make Sure Your Systems, Policies and Processes Support the New Culture

A toxic culture re-emerges when the systems underneath it stay the same. You can’t preach balance and then reward the people who work the longest hours.

Review your organizational systems to ensure they align with the culture you want.

Look at:

Performance evaluation criteria
Promotion processes
Job design and staffing
Workload distribution
Conflict resolution procedures
Onboarding practices
Leadership expectations

Healthy systems create a healthy workplace.

Step 10: Track Progress, Communicate Often and Celebrate Every Step Forward

Culture change takes time… real time. People need to see progress, even if it’s small at first.

Sustain momentum by:

Communicating what’s improving
Checking in with employees regularly
Adjusting strategies when needed
Holding leaders accountable
Sharing success stories
Reviewing metrics linked to psychological safety

You don’t have to be perfect. You just have to keep moving forward.

The Path Forward

Fixing a toxic culture isn’t about a single initiative or a one-day workshop. It’s a long-term commitment to rebuilding trust, respect and psychological health. When organizations take the steps to shift from harmful to healthy, they create workplaces where people feel valued, supported and motivated to give their best.

Psychological health and safety isn’t an add-on. It’s the foundation of every thriving, future-ready organization. And the work you do today sets the tone for the culture your team will carry forward.

Elizabeth Eldridge is a Psychological Health & Safety Consultant based in southern New Brunswick, Canada. In addition to keynote speaking and corporate training on mental health in the workplace, she supports organizations across the country on the adoption of Canada's best practice guidelines on psychological health and safety management. She is the Founder & President of Arpeggio Health Services which provides standardized education programs like Mental Health First Aid, The Working Mind, QPR Suicide Prevention and more.