How to Deal With a Difficult Coworker
Is there a womanizing jerk in your office that you do not know how to deal with? Or maybe a sarcastic coworker that takes their jokes a little too far? Follow a few of these tips to get through this irritating time in the workplace.
- Get to root: Figure out exactly what is bugging you with this specific coworker. Try and ask yourself if they’re just making friendly jokes and you’re just being sensitive or if they’re personally trying to attack you. Once you have figured out the root of the problem it will make it easier for you to move to your next step of action, confrontation.
- Confront the problem: There is no need to be nasty and rude to confront the problem. The approach should be to just walk right up to the person and let them know, the way they talk to you is not appreciated and you would like nothing more than for them to stop. In some cases people feel that if they confront the situation it will only make things worse. This is when you should start thinking about the saying, “If you can’t beat em join em.”
- Stick up for yourself: Perhaps their sarcasm is friendly, but it is becoming an annoyance to you. Use your sarcasm right back at them. Sometimes if you’re feeling super clever and witty, you can make them feel like an idiot for messing with you in the first place. As long as nothing is truly hurtful, a little sarcastic humor back may be the key to getting you coworker to stop. Being nasty to one another only leads to getting the boss involved, and if you think it is that bad, that would be the next step to take if the problem continues.
- Get your boss involved: This should be one of the last resort options if you are dealing with a difficult coworker because taking the steps above may solve the problem on its own. This step should be taken if you feel that whatever is going on with coworker is affecting your work. Your boss may potentially come up with a few solutions to the problem, or even ultimatums for the coworker that will get them to stop.
Overall it is important to figure out if the situation is out of your hands or not. You are always in control of how you react to the situation and taking the high road is always the best case scenario. Be mature about what is going on and things are most likely to work out in your favor.
Robert Boroff Executive Profile Managing Director Reaction Search International
• Uses over 17 years of industry experience to provide clients with proven recruiting strategies that garner results
• Leads a team of Executive Recruiters in fulfilling clients important hiring needs in a time and cost-effective manner
• Keeps abreast of business and market trends in order to effectively consult clients on their hiring requirements
• Skilled at using traditional and contemporary recruiting practices
• Experienced in recruiting for a dynamic mix of industries, including Banking,Biotechnology, Construction, Consumer Products, Finance, Food & Beverage,Healthcare, Human Resources, Information Technology,Insurance,Marketing, andMedical Device, Pharmaceutical, Retail,Sales,Telecommunications executive search & recruitment
• Seasoned in running full-size searches on a national scale that require multiple hirings under time-sensitive schedules
management skills, effective management, employee relations, employee wellness, workplace environment, managing, employee retention
The Executive Search Consultants at Reaction Search International Executive Recruiters Sales successfully placing top performing candidates since 1995