Not all professional environments— their values, norms, beliefs, or rituals—are healthy or positive. Instead, some workplaces are toxic, leading to destructive gossip, high employee turnover, and excessive use of sick time. And ultimately, organizational toxicity hinders productivity and organizational success.

An organization is, at its most basic, a group of individuals working together to achieve a common goal. The means that each can play a valuable role in helping or hurting our organization’s success.

You can overcome toxicity in your workplace by actively subduing the negativity present in organizational situations, modeling the same behaviors you’d like to see, and disembarking from the gossip train. You hold the power to show everyone that your organization is one entity that functions and succeeds most when input is received from each individual. When you elevate your organization to this level of you’ll have new employees racing to work for you and your organization.

Whether you are a manager or team member, here are five strategies to help change your workplace culture.

1. Become a coach

A 2017 survey by Gallup found that nearly a third of employees felt their opinions were discounted at work. Managers who want to unlock and maximize employees’ utmost potential, thus improving productivity and organization-wide performance must assume the role of coach.

Nondirective coaching involves listening, questioning, and withholding judgment to bring out the best in each individual or team. Perhaps most important is asking the right questions to help better understand who it is we work with, and to promote self-discovery among employees as they come to realize their passions, abilities, and goals.

By promoting self-realization, a manager “coach” can spark employees’ creativity and ability for tackling challenges productively, improve decision-making, and boost morale and energy.

2. Lead with heart

The “contagion hypothesis” predicts that charismatic leaders (i.e., those who express positive emotions toward their organization, its people, and the work they do) have the ability to pass these same positive feelings on to their colleagues and peers. In short, changing the culture of your organization starts with you.

To become someone who leads with heart, it is necessary to first embrace and encourage others to adopt a growth mindset. In addition to regularly coaching employees, you should demonstrate an appreciation for their achievements. Showing meaningful gratitude, in particular, has been known to increase productivity and transform toxic workplace cultures.

In a 2019 Development Dimensions International (DDI) study of more than 1,000 managers, senior leaders and individual contributors, 57%of employees admitted to leaving a job due to their manager, while another 32% actively considered leaving for the same reason, but did not act. That’s nearly nine out of ten employees surveyed who either left or wanted to leave because of their boss.

For CEO of NextPR Heather Kelly, granting her staff personal flexibility and control has proven beneficial for both productivity and retention despite the ongoing pandemic. “Giving our teams the freedom to work during hours they feel at peak productivity, to take all their PTO, and even a half-day off every Friday makes a huge impact on results,” Kelly said in the 2021 Forbes Magazine article 2022 is Uncertain But Your Marketing Strategy Doesn’t Have to Be. “They’re happier and, therefore, more effective. And because I have measurable metrics of our firm’s success, I know it works.”

3. Promote productivity with accountability

All too often, managers operate under the assumption that the unhealthy environment they encounter will eventually mend on its own following the replacement of a few “bad apples.” However, leaders should be held accountable for participating in the spread of toxicity and for not addressing issues clearly and outwardly for the entire organization to witness.

Your goals should include retaining the “good apples”—those talented individuals who embrace the need to work positively to achieve collective results—as you promote a healthy work environment for all.

4. Set positive examples

Cultivating positive change starts from the top, requiring that managers embody the same behaviors they aim to see in their employees. This process—known as modeling—not only shows others you can “walk the talk,” but also builds momentum for transforming a toxic work environment into one where every employee is “all-in” and essentially happy.

Office gossip, a toxic threat found across many organizations worldwide, often leads to losses in productivity and wasted time, according to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). In such situations, it is vital that leaders do the right thing—whether refraining from gossiping, stifling gossip in the workplace, or defending others who have been targeted—to engender the trust and respect of others and create positivity organization-wide.

5. Foster an environment of psychological safety

A psychologically safe environment allows employees to experiment, fail, and learn without judgment or repercussions. When seeking answers to the question “What makes a team effective?” Google’s Project Aristotle found psychological safety the most important factor for driving progress, fostering innovation, and building healthy workplace cultures. Environments in which employees feel valued and supported foster increased communication and transparency among teams, contribute to employees’ overall well-being and forge trust.