Healthy or toxic systems?

The following questions can help to spot a healthy workplace culture in a job interview. Frame the questions around examples of situations where the success or failure of the team will be apparent rather than asking explicit questions such as ‘Do you have a toxic workplace culture?’. Remember that you want to learn about your prospective employer, not investigate them, so keep the tone inquiring, not demanding. 1 Could you give an example of a recent project the team had to work together on – what went well and what was difficult?

2 How often do you see and hear from the senior leaders of the business?

3 Tell me about the way people give each other feedback on this team? 4 How would your staff describe the relationships in the team?

5 How do you measure success on this team?

Source: Dr Wouter Vleugels, Deakin University