By Jack Kelly
Corporate-sponsored, toxic positivity is the belief that employees must focus on positive emotions and disavow negative feelings in the workplace. A toxic positivity agenda calls for being enthusiastic and upbeat despite the dire situation. No matter what goes wrong, you are not allowed to show or say anything resembling negativity. No matter how bad the problem is, you must grin and bear it. When management promotes a culture of toxic positivity, it can adversely affect workers. The unrelenting pressure and stress to discount their own experiences and be someone they aren’t can lead to feelings of burnout and letting the team and company down.
When workers believe being positive is forced upon them, it can backfire. For example, employees who are dealing with family members at home with serious medical issues, worried about the costs of childcare and the time and expenses associated with a long commute, now that the remote option was taken away, may not be in the mood to smile and act as if everything is fine and dandy. If the company is initiating layoffs, cutting costs, implementing hiring freezes, losing top talent to competitors and not doing well financially, it’s hard to come into the office every day feeling joyful.
The Pressure To Conform To Happiness
When dealing with problems at work or home, it may be mentally and physically draining to put on a happy face in front of your boss and pretend everything is fine. No one wants to be pressured to be someone they’re not. It’s disingenuous, and many people can’t keep up with the charade. Suppressing your true, inner feelings for long periods is unhealthy. When you bottle up your emotions, it could one day lead to an explosion, if management doesn’t relent.
If you are pressured to be someone you aren’t and are not allowed to bring your true, authentic and genuine self to work, you risk becoming susceptible to health-related issues. These problems can include mental health issues, getting sick more frequently, a lack of sleep and headaches, if not worse.
How It Affects Workers
It gets tiresome when your supervisor constantly says, “Hard work pays off in the end. You’re capable of more than you know. Success comes to those who hustle.” Instead of motivating people with a false sense of enthusiasm, workers could become disengaged and frustrated by pretending they are happy. This can have a negative impact, as the real problems are overlooked because no one wants to point out the mistakes and missteps happening all around.
Toxic positivity can end up making workers feel like it’s their fault. Since everyone else is playing along, you feel like an outcast. When you are tasked with a difficult assignment, it’s understandable that there will be some additional stress and pressure. If your boss pushes you to be happy, it will make you feel alienated and disconnected from the company.
Ultimately, not being on the same page with the executives and management may make you withdraw. Consequently, feeling ostracized because you’re not playing the game, your work product will suffer. As many other workers are in the same situation, overall engagement and productivity will plummet.
Constantly having to act the part could lead to burnout. A company can’t have everyone always being happy—or pretending to be—forever. Sooner or later, they will revolt.
What To Do About It
Don’t be afraid to advocate for yourself. Set strict boundaries if you are being bullied into being peppy and happy. Be honest about how you feel you’ve been treated. Let your boss and others know that you appreciate their mindset, but it should be reciprocal, and everyone must also support how you want to think, say and act, even if it doesn’t agree with the firm’s narrative.
Corporate leadership must take action; otherwise, they’ll be left with only followers who are too afraid to speak up. Many will start looking for new jobs. It will be hard to retain workers and even more challenging to recruit and onboard newcomers, as word gets out about how much pressure has been exerted on the workforce to pretend they are always happy.
Managers must reach out to their teams and hold open and honest conversations. Empathetic leaders should support their workers’ mindset, even if it doesn’t align with the prevailing culture. They have to allow their people to feel how they want. If this isn’t permitted, there will be an exodus of talent. These people will go to another firm that appreciates them for who they are, where they no longer have to pretend to be someone they’re not.
*This article first appeared on the Forbes website.
*Jack Kelly is CEO, founder, and executive recruiter at one of the oldest and largest global search firms.