Is Your Workplace Guilty of Toxic Positivity? Here’s How to Spot It…and Stop It

Workplaces across Australia may be unknowingly harming employees through one of the most overlooked cultural pitfalls in modern business: toxic positivity.

While promoting optimism and enthusiasm seems like good leadership, many businesses are enforcing “feel-good” environments that suppress honesty, vulnerability, and emotional safety. The result? A pressure-cooker culture where burnout, disengagement, and high turnover silently thrive beneath a layer of relentless cheer.

“When positivity becomes mandatory, it becomes manipulation,” says Marnie Brokenshire, workplace culture specialist and cofounder of Uncapped Potential.

“We’re seeing organisations where emotional honesty is replaced by enforced cheerfulness—and the result is a culture of silence, avoidance, and burnout.”

What Toxic Positivity Looks Like in Your Workplace

Toxic positivity isn’t always obvious. It often shows up in well-meaning but emotionally dismissive behaviours from leaders or embedded in the company’s values and slogans. Brokenshire calls this “corporate gaslighting” — when people are told how to feel, rather than allowed to process what they’re feeling.

Here are some common examples:

• “Only positive attitudes allowed” written into values or workplace slogans.

• Responding to genuine concerns with phrases like “don’t worry about it” or “you’re being too negative.”

• Leadership that constantly forces motivational mantras in high-stress environments.

• Praising upbeat staff while sidelining those who raise problems or express frustration.

• Measuring success based on visible happiness or “fun” metrics.

• Treating discomfort, stress, or vulnerability as weakness or disloyalty.

Brokenshire shares the story of a call centre client during a service crisis: despite overwhelming pressure and upset customers, staff were repeatedly told to “shake it off” and “remember we only have fun here.” Management brought in pizza and upbeat playlists instead of support — but turnover still hit 80% in just three months.

“This is not resilience, it’s avoidance,” Brokenshire says. “Being relentlessly upbeat in the face of real hardship pushes people to question their own emotional responses — the very definition of gaslighting.”

Why It Matters: 7 Negative Impacts of Toxic Positivity at Work

Even if it’s unintentional, toxic positivity can create real harm. Here are just a few of the consequences it can bring:

1. Burnout – Suppressing emotions leads to exhaustion and emotional shutdown.

2. High turnover – Employees leave when they feel unheard, unsupported, or misaligned with the culture.

3. Lack of feedback – People stop sharing ideas or concerns, fearing they’ll be labelled “negative.”

4. Decreased trust in leadership – Tone-deaf cheerfulness in the face of real issues undermines credibility.

5. Low psychological safety – If staff can’t be real, they can’t innovate or grow.

6. Inauthentic relationships – Forced happiness replaces honest human connection.

7. Worsening mental health – Employees may feel isolated, anxious, or even gaslit for expressing distress.

Creating a Culture Beyond Slogans

To move past toxic positivity, leaders need to evolve beyond “good vibes only” slogans and embrace emotional intelligence.

“If you’ve got motivational posters on the walls and meltdowns in the meetings, it’s time to revisit your values,” Brokenshire says.

This means:

• Reviewing your company values for unintended messages.

• Training leaders in empathy and active listening.

• Encouraging real, messy, human conversations — not just cheerful performance.

• Making space for discomfort, especially during times of change or stress.

“You don’t have a high-performance culture if people can’t be real,” says Brokenshire. “You have a pressure cooker with a smiley face emoji.”

The future of work isn’t about pretending everything’s fine — it’s about creating cultures where people are free to show up fully, flaws and all.

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