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Bored Panda got in touch with Marissa Moyer who made the videos you see here and she was kind enough to share her thoughts. Given the popularity of the series, we wanted to know why she thought so many people resonated with it.
“Workers are demanding more emotional intelligence than ever before from their leaders and workplace cultures. They want to work for companies that treat them like “whole humans”—individuals who not only work but also have families, interests, and lives outside of work, unique personalities, and emotional needs. They want work to be a safe place mentally and emotionally.”
“They want to finish their workday and not be exhausted by “the corporate game”, manipulation, and all of the subtle and not-so-subtle forms of mental and emotional abuse that take place in work environments. So, I think “red flag” content is so popular because people want to be able to proactively protect themselves from these cultures and behaviors. They want to feel seen and know that they are not alone in these things they’re experiencing,” she shared with Bored Panda.
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On paper, much of this advice makes a lot of sense. Some might even see it as commonplace. However, as stated before the popularity of the content does indicate that many people find it useful, so we were curious to hear her take on why some folks really struggle with spotting red flags. “Honestly, most people grew up with some level of trauma or fear of people in authority positions that makes it very hard for them to question patterns or behaviors that they think are wrong. They may even believe that harmful behaviors are normal. Many companies allow, implicitly or explicitly, these things to continue happening, and people feel too small or afraid to do anything about it,” she shared. Unfortunately, this can even go beyond being a side effect of a hierarchical company and stem from “fear” being seen as a legitimate strategy in some organizations.
“Cultures are self-sustaining, and the problem is that even people in leadership who see a negative pattern often feel too small or afraid to call out harmful patterns or people. A good resource for people who are in situations where they feel like they need HR advice, but don’t trust the HR department at their company, is Caged Bird HR. They are culturally competent independent HR experts. This means they can give you unbiased HR guidance that is in Your best interest—not your company’s because they are not connected to your company in any way.”
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To perhaps not end on such a dour note, we wanted Marissa to share some “green flags,” positive indicators one might find a company. “One of the safest behaviors you can witness in work environments is when it is ok to question things. If you are not allowed to question anything in your environment, this is cult-like behavior.”
“A healthy culture is not afraid of that. Along those same lines, when people in leadership positions can admit to setbacks, mistakes, and failures—and then make a plan to address them, and actually follow through—this is a huge green flag. No workplace is perfect! A safe workplace is not one that doesn’t have problems or problematic people—it’s about how they handle it. Do they take action within a reasonable timeframe? Do they take steps to protect employees from any further harm? Do they have a growth mindset? Are they transparent when they can’t do anything about a problem at this time?”
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“Don’t expect perfection, expect a reasonable amount of honesty and transparency that treats you as an employee with a level of real respect. Leadership can’t always be 100% transparent, but they can give you enough to make you know that they actually give a shit,” she shared. If you want to find more of her work, you can check out her TikTok or LinkedIn page.