By Michael W. Hill, Mobius Vendor Partners Executive Consultant, Author of Measuring to Manage
Most executives “assume” that their employees are comfortable with the boss they are working with/for. Research however tells us a different story. A survey conducted within the U.S. by The Harris Poll in April of 2026 reports that 60% of American workers report that they work for a ‘toxic” boss. The Harris poll reports the following as the top 5 “behaviors” of a toxic boss: a boss that gives unfair preferential treatment to certain team members, does not give credit to team members when appropriate, assigns blame to others to protect themselves, gets too involved in the details of the employee’s job when it isn’t necessary, and a boss that sets unreasonable expectations.
What’s the downside? In addition to frustration, burnout, lost pay, and stalled carers. Harris reports that some employee’s report loss of a bonus or other financial reward, reduced chance of promotion, and a negative or inaccurate performance review, just to list a few.
70 percent of American workers report to having had at least one toxic boss during their career. 66 percent of workers in the poll report that they have switched jobs because of a toxic boss. Many of your own employees may just be waiting for a change in the job market to switch jobs due to their boss.
Bosses that show up with sarcasm, dismissiveness, and pout-downs are costing your organization lost profit and wasting employees time and energy. Time and energy should be devoted to moving the organization forward.
There are a few actions a company can take to protect their employees from toxic bosses. Harris Poll suggestions such things as setting firm workhour boundaries, feedback should be in writing, encourage employees to reach out to HR if the environment is at a toxic level.
How can your organization decide if they have one or many toxic bosses? We recommend asking your employees. This can be done with one of our surveys. Such questions as: are you receiving sarcasm instead of feedback, is your good work being overlooked, or is communication from the boss in an abrupt style? So, how do you know if your employees Have a toxic boss? Through both observation and by asking them. Do not assume you know what they are thinking or feeling.
You probably noticed that I point out that you need to ask your employees for their input. Maybe a survey would help? You might be making some assumptions that are just not correct! Get your employees involved! Become known as a company that lives and breathes your mission statement. Employees that do not know or are not performing according to the mission statement need to be informed and possibly trained.
You may want our help.
At Mobius’ Employee Experience – EX Consulting Employee Experience – Mobius Vendor Partners (mobiusvp.com) – we have the software to survey your employees so you can make the best decisions for your company and respond to your employees’ needs. Contact us to get started.
Mike’s book: Measuring to Manage is available on Amazon.
