Three Work Behaviours You Should Not Tolerate In Your Office
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Picture an office where we all said what we meant, kept an open mind and worked together to develop the organisation. These work environments do exist.
But, even in the best work environments, some negative behaviours can still seep into the organisation. These are the three of the worst work behaviours and some tools to deal with them.
1. Passive-aggressive
When everyone gets along, and business is going well, it may be harder to find employees who avoid confrontation. Some employees like or try to be better at direct communication, but everyone should have the ability to criticise or convey dissatisfaction constructively in the workplace.
But that's not the reality, and most employees end up with passive-aggressive communication techniques. It also includes more subtle behaviours such as:
- Taking an MC when nearing deadline.
- Sending a critique through email to a nearby colleague.
How to fix it: Have a private, open-minded conversation with the employee using particular examples and explaining a clear line between malicious behaviour and its negative impact.
You would think blame-shifting is such childish behaviour, but adults do this all the time.
2. Blame-shifting
One would think that narcissism is not a big issue in the office. Yet, blame-shifting is a general characteristic of narcissists that is a common problem for many managers. It includes more obvious actions such consistently pointing the finger at someone else.
But there are also more subtle actions such as:
- Reflecting the issue on you (What do you want me to do about it?)
- Blaming you as the person behind the problem
How to fix it: Realise what the employee is doing and stop getting pulled into it. For instance, if the worker starts blaming someone else, keep the conversation focused on their role and what they can do, right now, to address the situation.
Keep the conversation focused around what can be controlled, not what cannot be controlled.
3. Apathy
It is normal to have employees who do not do what we ask. Unlike their passive-aggressive or blame-shifting co-workers, these employees simply do not do the work.
How to fix it: Though this issue can be very frustrating, the right thing to do with this kind of employee is to clearly and positively start holding them accountable using conversations and follow up documentation. You might even need to dismiss them. But first, you need to document their negative behaviours, follow up, and make sure you exhaust all the other options before terminating them.
It does not matter where you work; most employees prefer to avoid direct communication or any confrontation if they can. As employers, we have to encourage positive and direct contact as it will minimise the effects of passive, aggressive, blame-shifting and apathetic employees.
Source: Multi-Briefs
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