‘Change how we interact with each other’ – Minister urges end to toxic workplace culture – News Room Guyana

Public Service Minister Dr Zulfikar Ally is calling for a change in how people treat each other at work, warning that intimidation, disrespect and toxic relationships have become normalised in some workplaces.

Ally made the call on Friday as he addressed the launch of the Gender Equality in the Workplace initiative and the Prevention of Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Harassment (PSEAH) training programme.

He said creating a safe and respectful workplace requires more than rules and policies, arguing that employees and supervisors must also change how they interact with one another.

“When you hear the challenges that staff encounter, that affects and bothers them in the workplace, many of them are due to cultural things. Some are deliberate but many are due to cultural things,” he said.

Ally said some supervisors may repeat behaviour they experienced earlier in their careers, including shouting at, intimidating or unnecessarily troubling employees.

“If someone previously or now above you shout and intimidate and give an employee a hard time, you feel that is what you have to do. That is not what you have to do. That is not the culture,” he said.

He stressed that workplace violence is not limited to physical acts, pointing to the impact of everyday interactions and how employees are made to feel.

“Gender-based violence is not only about physical violence. It is about how you make that person feel at the end of the day,” Ally said.

He identified the relationship between employees and their supervisors as one of the areas requiring the most attention.

“The actual interaction that staff have with each other and their superior, that to me is the biggest violence that we have to address in our workplace,” he said.

Ally said workplace toxicity can sometimes be obvious simply from the atmosphere within a department.

“There are sometimes you can walk in a department and without saying a word, you understand this is a very toxic department,” he said.

“We can’t have that in the public service.”

However, he said improving workplace relationships does not mean employees have to become friends.

“I’m not asking you to be best of friends. All I’m asking for is for us to treat each other the way we want to be treated, that we get the work done, that we show each other respect,” Ally urged.

He pointed to seemingly small interactions, including acknowledging colleagues, as part of creating a respectful workplace.

“When you pass and someone tell you good morning and you don’t answer or you don’t respond, that is not a good thing,” he said. “You make someone feel belittled by that.”

The minister also urged public servants to communicate professionally, respond to work-related messages and deal with workplace problems appropriately.

“We have to be professional people,” Ally said, while urging employees to separate personal challenges from their responsibilities at work.

He acknowledged that changing workplace culture will require employees and supervisors to recognise behaviours that may have become normalised over time.

Ally said Government is also reforming the rules governing the public service and plans to train employees on the new regulations as part of that process.

He encouraged public servants who believe they are being treated inappropriately to raise their concerns, saying his office is available to address such matters.

For Ally, the goal is a public service where respect is reflected in the everyday interactions between supervisors, employees and colleagues—not simply in workplace policies.

Source: News Room Guyana