Reasons People are Critical in the Workplace
It’s a jungle out there, and anyone who has a job navigates the harsh realities of that terrain every day when they go to work.
One of the downsides of work is criticism, and there is no workplace on earth where it doesn’t rear its ugly head. Although sometimes, the criticism is uncalled for, it must be said that some reasons people are critical to one another in the workplace are quite valid.
For instance, for people who work in a job where it is important to maintain neat and organized surroundings, it is understandable why some workers would go a little ballistic when things are misplaced or left out by co-workers. Other workers just don't seem to care if they are "team players" when it comes to keeping the workplace in optimum working condition.
Another reason that people may be critical of another worker is the amount of pressure put on them by management. This is particularly true in situations where there is a lot of competition among workers. Sales is one area where this seems to occur quite a bit, and this is logical when money and commissions are involved. One thing that can help is to get everyone together and hash out a solution with a supervisor to help alleviate some of the pressure and criticism. If you have a wishy-washy supervisor who cannot help solve the problem, you may have to take it over his or her head.
Then there are workers who tend to gang up on the one person who is not in the "in" group. They purposely criticize and make that person's life miserable, in an effort to either get them to quit or to have them fired. That's a very ugly scene, but it happens all the time.
Personal problems also play a role in people’s behavior in the workplace. Things such as problems at home, health concerns, money problems, and more can cause people to become critical and difficult to be around on the job. Then, too, some people just seem to have a critical nature.
Of course, there is also jealousy on the job, which can result in people being critical of one another in the workplace. This often happens when a supervisor shows favoritism for one worker to the dismay of all the others on the job.
As a co-worker, you have a few choices. If things get to the point where it’s getting impossible to work with an overly critical person, you will have to bring it up to someone in higher authority; but if the criticism is something that you can live with, it may be better to just go that route and ignore it. Another choice, but maybe not an easy one, is to look around for a new job. It might be tough in the present economy, but you could get lucky.
Work is difficult enough with the possibility of all kinds of problems arising each day. If continuing criticism is something that’s wearing you down, you can and should do something about it before it affects your health and well-being.
