WTF is blame shifting?
In today’s workplace, a sinister trend is undermining team cohesion and organizational trust: blame shifting.
A new study exposes a striking paradox HR professionals may want to take note of: While nearly two-thirds of employees tell of being thrown under the bus by their colleagues, most people deny ever engaging in such behavior themselves.
Resume Now’s report “Dirty Moves in the Workplace” pulls back the curtain on this phenomenon, painting a troubling picture of workplace dynamics as business leaders aim to foster a healthy culture.
What is blame shifting?
At one time or another, most of us have fallen victim to blame shifting, or being singled out for the mistakes of others or otherwise sabotaged professionally.
In fact, more than 3 in 5 of us report having been subject to it, with one-third having experienced such treatment multiple times. Yet, 7 in 10 people claim they’ve never been guilty of such behavior themselves.
That disconnect can be attributable to what’s called blame blindness or blame avoidance — the tendency to recognize harmful behavior when we’re the victims but oblivious to our own role in perpetuating it.
The result is your classic, toxic workplace. “Blame shifting and sabotage can have significant consequences on team dynamics, productivity and employee morale,” said Keith Spencer, career expert at Resume Now.
How widespread is it?
Perhaps most concerning for HR managers is the frequency of such incidents.
Nearly one-third of the more than 1,000 workers surveyed said they witnessed blame shifting at least once a week — suggesting this isn’t merely an occasional breakdown in workplace etiquette but, rather, a pervasive cultural issue.
And the main culprits aren’t distant colleagues or leaders — they are the people we work alongside every day, with peers (64%) and teammates (37%) topping the list, followed by direct managers (26%).
How do you recognize it?
The survey identifies several common features of workplace sabotage, among them: blaming others for one’s mistakes (26%); sharing negative information about colleagues with company leadership (21%); withholding critical information that could help a colleague succeed (10%); and deliberately setting up coworkers to fail (6%).
Such behaviors are not just random acts of malice — they are calculated moves driven by self-preservation and career ambition, suggests the survey, which cited as primary motivations protecting one’s reputation (47%), avoiding personal consequences (45%), advancing one’s career (40%) and gaining favor with leadership (40%).
Who’s guilty of it?
Blame shifting is a problem that apparently knows no boundaries.
While Gen Z (17%) and millennials (18%) are somewhat more likely to be perceived as engaging in it compared to Gen X (8%) or boomers (9%), about half of respondents saw such behavior as consistent across every generation.
“When nearly two-thirds of workers report being thrown under the bus, yet almost three-quarters deny ever doing it themselves, we’re not just looking at a disconnect — we’re facing a fundamental blind spot in workplace self-awareness,” Spencer said.
Who can fix it?
When it comes to the blame game, Keith Ferrazzi, an executive coach and author of “Never Lead Alone: 10 Shifts from Leadership to Teamship,” proposes that “world-class teams know sunlight is the best disinfectant,” and leaders who cultivate a culture of candor can avoid such a backbiting environment.
“That old belief of praising in public but challenging in private is for a team of sensitive, perhaps defensive individuals who have not agreed to leverage the team to sharpen and stress-test each other’s ideas,” he said.
Spencer likewise suggests that much of the responsibility rests squarely with leadership.
As he puts it, “Until organizations create environments where accountability is celebrated rather than avoided, this toxic cycle will continue to erode the foundation of trust that every successful workplace depends on.”