A growing number of workers in Belgium are experiencing toxic behaviour from their supervisors, with almost one in ten indicating in a recent survey that they have an extremely controlling or micro-managing boss.
Toxic behaviour seems to be more prevalent in Belgian workplaces according to research by HR service provider Securex and KU Leuven university. This showed that 9.3% of workers experience toxic behaviour by their supervisor – up from 5.5% in 2021 (a 69% increase).
"Toxic behaviour by a supervisor, characterised by hyper-control and micromanagement, goes beyond poor leadership," said Professor Anja Van den Broeck of KU Leuven. "It involves extreme control over staff and putting them under pressure."
The increase can be explained by two factors: on the one hand, employees have become more assertive in stating their boundaries. On the other hand, the successive crises of recent years saddled managers with more pressure and stress, making them more likely to be uncompromising with colleagues.
Blue-collar workers are more likely (12.5%) to experience this type of behaviour than white-collar workers (8%), which can partly be explained by the ease of teleworking for white-collar workers, which can provide a buffer.
Wide-spread harassment
Van den Broeck stressed that this behaviour fuels a toxic corporate culture that "opens the door" to harassing behaviour.
Workers who experience toxic behaviour from a supervisor are also more likely to experience harassment: 43.5% said they have been victims of verbal or physical aggression, discrimination and/or harassment in the workplace. A quarter of people indicated it was the manager harassing workers. A toxic leadership style also increases employees' risk of burnout.
On the other side of the spectrum are managers with a passive leadership style, experienced by 13.4% of employees. This also is problematic, sometimes allowing space for more workplace harassment, said Veroniek De Neve, an expert in psychosocial well-being at Securex.
Over half of employees with passive supervisors encountered harassment in the last year. "Managers should actively support their employees' autonomy and provide structure, as this brings the lowest incidence of transgressive behaviour," De Neve said.
"It is very important for employers to pay attention to the quality of leadership in their organisation. This has a direct impact on performance, burn-out and staff absenteeism," De Neve said. But employees also have a role to play. "It is crucial to report wrong behaviour. Witnesses remaining silent is as harmful as the toxic behaviour itself."
