30 People Reveal The Worst Person They’ve Ever Worked With

It’s no surprise that with people spending so much time at work, their colleagues play a rather significant role in their well-being. Talking about such a role, the MSU Foundation Professor of Management in the Eli Broad College of Business at Michigan State University, Dr. Russell Johnson, pointed out that “Quality interactions and relationships are incredibly important at work, especially given the increase in team-based and interdependent work (for instance, completion of core work tasks requiring coordination and inputs from multiple employees).

“Oftentimes, an employee’s supervisor and coworkers are the ‘face’ of the organization for them, and the quality of their interactions and relationships with coworkers ‘spills over’ to color their attitudes toward the job and organization more generally.

“For example, higher quality relationships with one’s coworkers are associated with higher job satisfaction, stronger commitment to the organization, better job performance, more citizenship and cooperative behaviors, less deviant behaviors (for example, taking longer-than-necessary breaks, stealing office supplies, verbal abuse), and lower turnover.”

The expert continued to note that people’s need for relatedness, as well as the need for a sense of belongingness and connection to others, are key psychological needs, which—when met—can make individuals more intrinsically motivated, productive, and innovative.

“When people have a close and genuine connection to one or more coworkers, it satisfies their need for relatedness. This can be a replenishing experience for people, which ‘fills up’ their mental and emotional energies at work, which gives them more resources to allocate to their work tasks,” he explained in a recent interview with Bored Panda.

“Also, as mentioned above, our immediate social environment at work is essentially a proxy for how people view the broader organization. So, when you like your coworkers and have positive experiences, it ‘spills over’ to more positive attitudes and behaviors directed at the organization. For example, people don’t typically quit to escape organizations; rather, they quit to escape uncivil and prickly coworkers and bosses.”

The same way good relationships with co-workers can have a positive influence on an employee, bad ones can have one, too; but a far less positive one. Many people know that few things are more aggravating than having to deal with a co-worker you despise on a daily basis, be it because of their annoying habits, their jokes you find borderline sexist, or something else, for that matter.

Discussing the way working with someone you are not that fond of can affect a person, Dr. Johnson suggested that dealing with an aggravating coworker places a heavy tax on people’s ability to control and regulate their behavior.

“Each of us has a pool of cognitive/attentional resources, which are needed to process information cognitively and execute actions behaviorally. When we are able to rest or experience respites, this pool of resources replenishes (much like filling up a gas tank). However, when we engage in challenging cognitive and behavioral activities (for example, suppressing thoughts, regulating emotions, fine motor control requiring high vigilance), it drains these resources and, if it continues unabated, we can soon find ourselves depleted and unable to take further action (until the pool replenishes).”

“An aggravating coworker, unfortunately, elicits several demanding activities that deplete people’s resources, including emotional control/suppression (for instance, suppressing feelings of anger, frustration, and anxiety from being treated in a rude or threatening manner), cognitive rumination (victims worrying about whether they are somehow responsible for the aggravating treatment), and problem-solving (thinking of strategies to somehow stop or avoid the mistreatment),” Prof. Johnson continued.

“Note that these activities are in addition to the ‘typical’ cognitive and behavioral activities that an employee is required to engage in to complete his/her core work tasks. Thus, having an aggravating coworker can quickly leave employees feeling emotionally, mentally, and physically depleted.”

According to Dr. Johnson, some research suggests that experiences in the social domain at work (for instance, the quality of interpersonal interactions and relationships) are more important than experiences in the task domain at work (for instance, task autonomy and skill variety) for employee well-being and productivity.

“Relationships matter, especially at work, and employees are better able to overcome—or at least tolerate—challenges and hindrances at work when they feel socially valued and supported by others. When this social support is removed, or nullified by an interpersonally challenging coworker, the subsequent stress and mental depletion can quickly overcome them,” the expert said.