Your studio might have a toxic working environment, but how do you know? If it does, you may need to leave.
Signs of a toxic workplace
Ok… That’s quite a strong title. We know it’s never as simple as handing your notice in and moving on. It can be more complicated than that. Toxic working environments in our industry are certainly not uncommon however and have become ‘normality’ in some companies. It’s sad we are still at a point where people accept the toxicity as normal, that’s just ‘what the industry is like everywhere’. This can drastically affect Junior experiences entering the industry, further adding to the acceptance of toxic working practices. Juniors do not know what to expect, so if they start their career in a toxic environment, how do they know what normal is?
How can you tell where you work has a toxic environment? It doesn’t have to be as obvious as a manager occassionally looses their temper and shouts at you. It could be as simple as not agreeing to overtime and suddenly your contract comes to a magical end, right when the studio is at their busiest. It could be as simple as poor communication.
Indeed defines a toxic working environment as:
Broadly, a toxic workplace is an environment, either physical or virtual, where the overall atmosphere impacts your ability to perform tasks to your usual standard and causes disruption to your career development.
The signs of a toxic environment are:
Poor Communication
Communication is a cornerstone skill of any company. Poor communication only ends up with wasted work, late hours and freyed tempers. Is there a lack of clarity in your tasks and what you need to do? Meaning you have to guess what the client/supervisor wants, only to find out you’ve done the wrong thing and had to start over?
High Turnover
A high turnover can indicate employees are unhappy and decide to move on (and we recommend it if you are unhappy). They’ve decided to find a job that makes them happier. Look around. Are most people stressed, anxious and in general quite unhappy? This is a sign of toxic workplace.
Cliques and Exclusionary Behavior
We understand different social circles form at work. Everyone has different personalities and interests. Things start to get toxic when you’re exlcuded professionally because you aren’t part of a specific clique of social hierachy. You miss out on new opporunities like a promotion or the chance to pick the type of work you’d like to do, all because you aren’t in with a specific crowd. This is not okay and is considered a toxic environment.
Unmotivated Workers
If most of your colleagues are unhappy and lack motivation or excitement towards their role, this could be a sign of a toxic workplace, as they aren’t being valued enough. This kind of behaviour rubs off on to other people and can begin to affect your professional career. It might be an idea to approach staff who are also unhappy and discuss the situation with them. If everyone wants change, consider approaching HR as a group.
Burnout
Burnout happens when an employer does not give you enough resources to do your job. This can be working excessive overtime (they’ve not given you enough reasonable scheduled time to finish your tasks). You may have to do repetitive tasks for long durations which isn’t very stimulating and makes you question if you want to do that job anymore. In the end, burnout leads to a lack of trust with the company and disillustionment.
Twisted policies
Some companies often say they never require anyone to do any overtime. According to them, it is up to the worker if they want to do overtime (most likely unpaid). This is a toxic work practice as it places responsibility upon the worker. Of course the worker is well within their right to refuse overtime (unless your contract states otherwise). With short contracts in VFX & Animation being a common thing, it’s very easy for companies to not renew a contract… so it is hard to police this. If you notice a company doing this then please report them to us.
Ways of dealing with a toxic workplace
Build a network of trusted colleagues
Find people in the company who you trust and feel comfortable approaching about any issues you’re having. Build trust in people who are not judgemental or manipulative. If you have solid network of support, you can all cope with it together and find some empathy in the situation. It’s also eaiser to change things as a group and not an indiviual, especially if you all get in touch with the AVU.
Stay positive
Easier said than done, but try not to be sucked into the toxicity that is described above. Remind yourself of the areas you enjoy in your job and the parts that make you grateful. Focus on those and remember that there are other companies out there who will treat you better if nothing changes.
Leave
We’d all prefer it if a studio acknowledged the toxicity and made a change for good… but this doesn’t always happen. If this is the case, put yourself first as well as your family and get out. Descretely updated your resume and your show reel then start applying for new jobs.
Avoid workplace gossip
Interacting with your colleagues and work friends is a normal and healthy thing to do. Indulging in gossip though can be toxic and start creating an unprofessional environment that can also blow up in your face in the months/years to come. Practice building positive and professional relationships with your colleagues and remember somethings you say can come back to bite you later.
Report companies to us
Get in touch with us (we keep everything anonymous and confidential) and report studios who have a toxic working environment. We can’t act on anything we don’t know. We can call studios who harbour toxic working environments.
Why would joining the AVU change anything?
See that first point of how to deal with a toxic workplace up there? We’re basically that, but on a potentially industry-wide humongous scale. The AVU provides a network of trusted members who can use the platform to protect themselves. We understand it’s another cost to deal with and as much as we’d like to provide our services for free, we can’t afford to operate like charity. The AVU is backed up by Bectu who can cover the cost of legal fees as well as provide talented professionals to advise the best approaches on how to take on any companies who are being unreasonable. A great example recently was DNEG staff sticking together with the assistance of the AVU after the threat of pay cuts:
https://www.animvfxunion.com/blog/dneg-staff-success
We hope that helps. Please get in touch with us if you have questions of concerns about your own employer. Consider joining the AVU today
Useful resources
Animation Happy Hour - Work Life Balance
https://open.spotify.com/episode/1zVEMw9KZO7gjvTvElMTWe?si=228d74f529234483