Tips to Improve Cynicism at Work

So cynicism at work appears to be on the rise. Last year, about 60% of Americans said their default is to not trust others or their employer.

That's a pretty big percentage. So what are the signs of this negativity and how can you make things more positive at the office? Beth Ridley is a leadership expert and workplace culture consultant. She's going to fix all our problems. Good morning.

And I'm so delighted that this topic is funny today.

Did you like it? Well, as we were talking earlier about bare minimum Mondays and all that kind of stuff, I mean, this hits home with what you're talking about today. So what exactly do you. How do you. How do you clarify or quantify what cynicism at work really is?

Yeah, so I really say it's persistent negativity and distrust of colleagues. And it can manifest itself in terms of like, sarcastic comments or being really critical of other people or their ideas, being skeptical of information, and just kind of overall low energy at work. Kind of like checking out.

Yeah, yeah. And it's the kind of attitude or environment that just brings everybody down. I think that's why it's so important to talk about it. There are different signs of it in the workplace too. Right. It's like, how do you recognize it? By maybe seeing some of these things. But why do you feel like it's on the rise? I mean, some of those numbers we talked about are shocking.

Well, it's a natural outcome of burnout at work. And so as employees feel overworked or undervalued and underappreciated, you would expect that cynicism would also increase. So no surprise there.

Yeah.

Okay, so you mentioned sarcasm and criticism and distrust, disengagement, which ultimately is going to affect the bottom line.

Correct.

So, and you talked about it increasing. Why exactly is it harmful? Like, go a little deeper into that because some people are going to think, oh, this is just momentary, or this is just someone's personality, or you know what, they have the right to be a little critical right now or whatever.

And that's fair. I mean, we all have bad days, Right. So it's really more of the persist of it, and it's actually harmful to the individual. So persistent negativity leads to higher rates of depression. You're right. In terms of turnover and retention goes down, and ultimately it can have really bad impact on your health. Yeah, but then it's also bad for the overall team and organization because cynicism spreads like wildfire. I mean, we've all seen it. You just need that One cynical person on the team who's always critiquing super sarcastic. And it sort of just brings the energy down of everyone on the team. Low morale, low quality.

It's contagious.

Yeah.

I wanted to know, are they the same thing, cynicism and sarcasm? Cause some people have sarcastic sense of humor. Is it really just a cover for cynicism or are they different?

I would say I actually appreciate a really sarcastic and witty sense of humor. Yes.

Sometimes six year old and they can be great. Yeah.

So I think there probably is a little bit of a difference if that's someone's sense of humor. But you can also tell if it's being done at someone else's expense or it's other people down. Exactly. Yeah, exactly.

Let's talk about strategies to help reduce it at work. Because it's something we can all take part in. Right. You say starting with leading by example.

Oh, leaders. The number one thing is leaders set the tone. Right. So as a leader or a manager, you have to check yourself if you're coming in cynical at work, you can rest assure everyone else is as well. So if you're a leader and you're burned out, go take care of your own mental health.

Go fix yourself.

Go fix yourself. Right. Or maybe don't be in that role. Yeah, exactly. So you have to set the tone.

We're lucky because our boss is like Mr. Positive.

Yes.

He's always like, yes.

Well, I mean, so. And then therefore.

Right.

And I'm sure it's a virtuous cycle too.

Right.

You all are so positive. So it's sort of positivity is equally as contagious.

So you say next you can invest in individual time with employees.

I think that's actually really important. So the source of burnout, the source of cynicism may be different for each individual. And truthfully, people aren't gonna. They don't feel safe at work to like speak, speak up and say their source of what's not going well for them. But they will. If you have a trusting relationship. You only have a trusting relationship if you invest time. One on one time, two way dialogue. And that requires, like I said, one on ones. I'm a big fan of those. Check in with your employees regularly. Don't always talk about work, but build that trust so people can come forward and share what's on their mind.

I like that. You also say reinforce the higher meaning and purpose of the job. It sounds so.

And you have to say it just like that.

Yes.

I'm just thinking about saying to a co worker who's cynical, well, let's reinforce the higher meaning of our work.

Turn that frown upside down.

I'm not sure I'm going to come back with this topic. You guys are okay, but. Yes. Well, the truth of the matter is, you know, when you're feeling burned out, you're just bogged down in work. You're sort of losing the purpose and meaning of why you're working so hard. But if you can connect to, you know, we all want to feel like we're contributing something.

Yes.

So talk about the vision. Talk about the impact that you're having. Share those stories about how people are benefiting from the work that you do. And that helps. You're not buying this, are you? No.

We ran out of time, so I'm.

Like, I hate it.

I hate it to end there, but it was so perfect and well said. So it was wonderful. If you know someone who could benefit from this discussion, hint, hint, maybe it's us. I don't know. You can find a link on the segment to the segment on our website, themorning blend.com. just kidding.

We love you. Thank you, Beth. That's so positive.