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Meta’s Layoffs Won't Cover Up Zuckerberg's ‘Mistake’
Meta’s Layoffs Won't Cover Up Zuckerberg's ‘Mistake’

10 Ways to Tell if a Colleague's Going to Be a Problem

To deal with a problematic co-worker, you have to be able to identify them first. Sometimes that involves a sniff test.
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Do you think some of your co-workers are real jerks? You may have good reason to feel that way, but they may also think the same about you.

While 93% of U.S. employees say they like their colleagues in general, 80% say they have at least one terrible co-worker, according to a survey by ResumeLab, an online resume advice site.

Some of us seem to work with quite a few nimrods. Among those of us suffering from this plight, 50% have three to four terrible co-workers, 34% have five to six, 15% have one or two, and 2% have six or more.

Some other interesting nuggets from the study:

· Workers with at least 11 years of experience were the least likely to say they have terrible co-workers, with 68% saying they do.

· Workers with six to 10 years of experience were most likely to view colleagues as terrible, with 87% feeling that way.

· Perhaps surprisingly, more men than women report having terrible co-workers: 83% to 77%. But men are seen as slightly more annoying than women: 41% to 39%.

· Workers at companies with 51–200 employees have the highest proportion of annoying coworkers: 83%. Meanwhile, “only” 73% of employees for companies with more than 500 workers say they have terrible co-workers.

Ignoring Knuckleheads

So what’s the best way of dealing with the knuckleheads? You may be tempted to punch them in the face. But that’s probably not the best solution. You could get fired, arrested and break your hand. And do you really want to inflict physical pain on a fellow human?

Avoiding the doofuses is the best solution, the report said. It quotes a Harvard Business Review paper written by Michael Houseman and Dylan Minor.

“One approach to managing toxic workers is simply avoiding them. However, in order to do so, we must be able to identify them ahead of time,” they wrote.

The survey showed that employees already are adopting that strategy: 89% of workers intentionally avoid the ding-dongs.

Avoidance is good “as long as it doesn't turn into a creepy hide-and-seek game, like in [the movie] Halloween, when Laurie Strode is hiding in the closet from Michael Meyers,” the report said.

Identifying the Bad Guys

So how do you identify the bad apples? The survey lists 10 traits that are warning signs. They are ranked by the percentage of workers who cited the behavior as unacceptable.

1. Negative attitude, 27%;

2. Gossiping, 26%;

3. Loudness, 24%;

4. Lying, 24%;

5. Arrogance, 24%;

6. Bullying, 24%;

7. Oversharing private information, 22%;

8. Complaining,22%;

9. Lack of personal hygiene, 21%;

10. Being a know-it-all, 18%.