Burnout. It’s become the ubiquitous buzzword for workplace woes, employee fatigue, frustration, and disengagement. But what if it’s not burnout at all, but instead a more insidious culprit lurking beneath the surface?
I believe we are. In my work with leaders across diverse industries, I’ve witnessed a spectrum of employee struggles that I’ve come to understand as not burnout, but moral toxicity. Moral Toxicity describes the cumulative experience of being disregarded, unprotected, undervalued, or dehumanized by an employer. It’s a potent cocktail of disrespect, injustice, and emotional erosion that, over time, can poison the entire workplace culture.
Think of it as a spectrum, with varying degrees of intensity. At one end, there’s the “moral injury,” experienced by the soldier forced to make morally agonizing choices in a war zone. At the other end, it could be the office worker routinely pressured to miss family milestones for deadlines. In between are Covid healthcare and warehouse workers, deemed “essential” yet inadequately protected and subject to grueling conditions and high turnover. Each instance, big or small, chips away at a person’s sense of worth and well-being, contributing to growing resentment and disconnection. Labeling their struggles as mere “burnout” ignores the deeper ethical breach.
Why does this matter? Because mistaking moral toxicity for burnout puts the onus on individuals to “fix” themselves. They’re told to meditate, exercise, or find better work-life balance—essentially, to “toughen up” and withstand the toxic environment. This not only invalidates their feelings but also lets employers off the hook.
Shifting the focus from burnout to moral toxicity is crucial. It forces us to look beyond individual coping mechanisms and examine the systemic issues creating this toxic landscape. It compels organizations to confront their own role in perpetuating these dynamics.
Instead of finger-pointing, we need a conversation about what truly frays the fabric of our workplaces and how to begin the healing process. By acknowledging moral toxicity and its impact, we can embark on a journey of genuine organizational healing and actively cultivate environments of dignity, respect, and shared humanity. This is the path toward a future where employees and organizations sustainably thrive.
So let’s leave the “burnout” label behind and start talking about moral toxicity. It’s a conversation we can’t afford to postpone.
Here are some questions to consider as we move forward:
• What examples of moral toxicity have you encountered in your workplace?
• How might moral toxicity in your workplace be perpetuated, however inadvertently?
• How can organizations mitigate moral toxicity and foster a more ethical work environment?
• How can we ensure that this conversation remains productive and respectful?
