Dealing with an Unprofessional Co-worker, part 1

Most of us have dealt with the issue of the unprofessional co-worker at some point in our current and/or previous jobs. Unprofessional can be defined as consistently miserable, filled with attitude, never willing to help, slacks off at tasks, and other problems in between. This is not to say that people who have harsh personalities are therefore unprofessional – it becomes unprofessional when that personality gets in the way of doing the job.

Currently, I’m dealing with such a person. I’ve had to deal with many people I didn’t find pleasing to work with. But this particular person is someone who always has an attitude with many other co-workers, consistently starts fights, and the other day when this person was supposed to work with me, they did absolutely nothing. I found myself in a position where I wanted to tell this person that they needed to work and help me. But I kept myself quiet out of fear that my frustration would turn simple words into fighting words. My boyfriend is also dealing with such a co-worker.

What I have found from my experience, observing the ways other people have dealt with problematic co-workers, and reading various articles on problems in the workplace is that the best way to deal with such a person without risking your job is just to restrain yourself. Naturally, the human reaction to such people is fight or flight; either tell them off or get away from them. Truthfully, neither is a good option when planning to stay employed. Let’s take a look at both options.

Fight.

You could address this co-worker. Let them know they are unprofessional and need to change. In your head, you might reason that “addressing” this person is okay because they have caused so many problems that this is necessary. Or maybe you respond to your co-worker as a reaction to them starting an issue with you. The problem with this is in the work environment two wrongs will not make it right. Even if an issue was not your fault, you can be penalized for responding and if you stoop to the level of also becoming unprofessional with the unprofessional co-worker while at work, you will also be penalized. There is also the chance that your co-worker will complain about you (although they may be signing their own pink slip) and you could be in trouble for engaging in an argument. Another point to consider is that maybe this co-worker is a “favorite”.

Regardless of the ways your job can tout it’s fair environment, there are bound to be some supervisors/managers who favor certain employees. You might see your co-worker act a fool and assume you could “put them in their place” and not get in trouble. But you could find yourself in trouble while your co-worker remains untouched.

The last point to address with the “fight” option is when you decide to consciously risk your job and approach the co-worker. You don’t care if you get fired because the satisfaction of “setting the co-worker straight” is greater than working with such a person. But you didn’t consider the fact that losing your job because of an altercation can seriously damage your job history. When you go looking for another job, human resources will probably have you tagged under “would not hire again”, “problematic”, and “hostile”. Unfortunately, I know someone who has experienced this. That person regrets the moment they decided to address someone at their previous job.

Part 2 will be a discussion on flight as in attempting to separate yourself from the co-worker and/or attempting to have your boss get rid of the co-worker for you and the options you might have in dealing with the unprofessional co-worker.