Applying for jobs can often make you desperate to land the role, but just know that there are three certain words that are uttered by bosses which are ‘toxic’ and you should steer clear of.
If you’ve been in your fair share of interviews, you’ll know exactly what these words are and how they translate in the workplace.
Recently, a career strategist called out this ‘toxic’ phrase that employers should never use when at work.
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Jennifer Brick, a New York native, took to TikTok to explain: “There is one phrase at work that is so toxic... that if you hear it in a job interview, in a meeting or at a team event, you need to run as quick as possible."
And the phrase?
“We’re a family."
She said it was all down to how loyalty in a ‘family’ work setting can enforce pressure upon employees to go above and beyond to get the results needed.
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She explained: “It creates an environment of exploitation - including working too many hours, taking on too many extraneous tasks and burning out but as extreme as not questioning or reporting illegal conduct.
“It misplaces loyalty because you’d do anything for family, right? Families are there for each other.
“It obliterates boundaries - so there’s oversharing and lack of personal boundaries - emotional, physical or time - are frequently ignored and gaslighting is common.
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“Finally, it creates unhealthy power dynamics. Don’t question your parent, hold the line and if you don’t... you won’t be family anymore.”
‘We’re a family’ may seem like an innocent remark, but it doesn’t bode well for the treatment of employees.
Jennifer went on to say that there is one thing that ‘sums up’ why your company can’t be your family.
You simply can’t fire your family.
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She said: “Because you don’t fire your family. You don’t leave your family. You don’t promote someone in your family. You don’t underpay your family... Unless you’re not a member of the real family.
“I’ll stand by this and on a soap box about it to save people from manipulation at work and toxic jobs.”
But Jennifer isn’t the only person aware of this ‘toxic’ phrase, and commenters were quick to put their bosses on blast.
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One person wrote: “They will call you ‘family’, and then bully you to having to quit.”
Another said: “Yes, I heard that once in a job interview and I thought, ‘Cool this will be awesome.’ I was wrong. Very, very wrong.”
So, if your boss uses the family line to make the job sound appealing to you, just know that it’s probably going to do you more harm than good.
Britt Jones