Once-great companies can easily become toxic environments for workers. How do you keep your culture functioning at a high level?

Last week I wrote a few posts about motivating employees. The idea is, if you motivate your people, they’ll work harder, perform better, and in the end, make your company a better place.

The performance issue is usually the first benefit people think of, but I’ve been thinking a lot more about the end game. Recent discussions with training and development expert Dan Roberts and EMC CIO Sanjay Mirchandani included some great perspectives on IT culture.

Then came this story in the New York Times about the Tribune Company. I come from the journalist ranks, and when I first started my master’s degree work at Northwestern, I saw Tribune as one of the best potential employers around.

In the ever-changing media world, Tribune seemed to have made some incredible strides. They have significant properties in radio, print and online. They seemed to have a forward-thinking management team that had a comfortable grasp on the state of publishing “2.0.”

But a number of factors led to the company’s failure, and then came another big change in the media industry: Tribune was purchased by Sam Zell, the outspoken real estate titan and Chicagoan. Zell had no media experience, but he promised to bring a new leadership mentality to the struggling company.

What happened from there has been widely documented, but the Times story sums it up nicely. Zell, by numerous accounts, is a sharp-tongued, brash leader who doesn’t seem to shy away from confrontation. And he seems to have chosen similar personalities to help lead his organization.

And due to the company’s bankruptcy, headcount and resources were slashed significantly. Add that all together and what do you get? A corporate environment described by many as “poisonous.”

Luckily for me, I never ended up working there. Unfortunately, though, I have seen my share of toxicity in the workplace.

How many of you have? What were the most significant elements that led to the culture downfall?

And for our corporate leaders, what strategies/tactics are you using to avoid a toxic workplace culture?

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