Is Your Company Facing ‘Culture Rot’? 5 Signs and Solutions

Is Culture Rot spreading in your company?

It’s possible. And like so many other toxins, HR pros and other leaders likely can’t see it.

Culture Rot is a slow, silent unravelling of what once made a company strong. By definition, it’s hiding in the undercurrent.

What Culture Rot Looks Like

It’s not one big scandal (pointing at you, kiss cam lovers) or public breakdown (looking at you, Hollywood stars). It’s not a workplace rebellion. Or a leadership implosion.

Instead, culture starts to rot when:

• Ideals are forced or stale to employees
• A fraction of employees identify with it
• There’s a quiet drift from core values, and
• Teams experience tiny fractures.

“And by the time you can clearly see it, it’s already costing you — in disengagement, missed opportunities and talent walking out the door,” says Ben Wright, Global Head of Partnerships at Instant Offices.

Because culture drives behavior, HR pros want to get control of Culture Rot before it grows like an out-of-control weed.

5 Warning Signs of Culture Rot

Instant Offices took a closer look at Culture Rot and identified these five warning signs.

1. Voices Go Silent

If you notice meetings become transactional, people stop sharing ideas, or the small chit-chat that usually fills the halls stops, there are signs. Even worse, if you hear more whispers, gossip is increasing and dissent is increasing.

“Silence usually means people don’t feel safe to speak up or don’t believe their voice will make a difference,” says Wright. 

2. Cynicism Creeps In

As meetings go quiet, you might also see more eye-rolling and feel more “whatever” energy. In place of effective interaction, you might hear sarcasm, too.

“When people quietly resist change or mock new initiatives, it’s a sign they’ve stopped believing things will improve,” Wright notes. 

3. Collaboration Takes a Hit

As employees stop communicating, trust will likely fade between teammates and eventually cross-functional teams. Work will almost always slow down.

From there, innovation will slow, too. 

4. Standards Begin to Slip 

As the negative undercurrent pulls harder, it’ll likely get easier to identify these signals of the Culture Rot: missed deadlines, sloppy work, bad behaviors.

And if nothing is done, things can get worse: “A culture that rewards nothing beyond ‘just enough’ quietly tells people excellence doesn’t matter here,” says Wright. 

5. The Best People Leave 

Culture Rot bothers high performers the most. So they’ll be the first to recognize it … and quit. By the time they resign, they’ve likely been disengaged for a while.

“If you’re losing your best people, your culture may have been unwell for months,” says Wright.

How to Prevent, Stop Culture Rot

Ideally, you catch culture problems before they turn to rot. Here are tips to prevent toxic growth — or disinfect if it has already started to spread.

1. Have Culture Conversations

Don’t consider culture a side topic. It should be the foundation, Instant Offices experts say. Talk about it in company-wide meetings, team check-ins, one-on-ones, and planning meetings. Ask: 

• What’s helping us thrive? 
• What’s getting in the way? 

When culture issues arise, don’t deny or hesitate. If employees think there’s a problem, there is one. Showing commitment to change is often enough to remedy a rotting culture.

2. Check in Often

Survey employees regularly — at least quarterly, if not monthly — to find out how they feel about the culture. No need for complicated surveys. Try three to five questions. Some examples: 

• How are you feeling about work now? 
• What feels off?
• What feels right? 
• What could be improved?

3. Train Leaders to Read the Room

Front-line managers are the eyes and ears of the overall culture perception. You want them to know how to identify problems and report them to HR and other corporate leaders.

Encourage them to report when energy dips or tension builds. Ensure there’s a safe space to be honest about the state of the workforce.

Most importantly, respond and act quickly when they report issues.

“Say something. Ask questions. Test small fixes,” says Wright. “Most of all, listen and act.” 

4. Show Core Values in Action

Make conscious efforts to maintain culture. For instance, as WebFX expanded by leaps and bounds over a decade, CEO William Craig wanted to be strategic about how they’d maintain the culture they purposefully curated.

First, they let employees choose the company’s core values to ensure they reflected employees’ attitudes and work ethic. They look to those values every day as they make decisions, build programs and even plan events.

And WebFX is realistic: They know values and culture need to evolve as the company grows.

5. Promote from Within

While it can’t always happen, and it won’t always be ideal, Craig suggests you help long-time employees move into leadership roles.

Those people have a better understanding of your culture and are the best promoters of how it is executed every day. That helps new employees adapt to the culture and carry on the core values.