Toxic workers, who they are and how to recognize “dangerous” colleagues

49% of Italian employees would suffer from anxiety and insomnia caused by their work and even one in three people would have been absent from work due to an excessive load of stress: these are the data that emerged from the new research carried out by BVA Doxa and presented by Mindwork, before Italian online psychological consultancy company specializing in business.

However, very often the so-called “toxic workerIe colleagues who have a negative impact on the working environment, the performance of colleagues – therefore of the whole team – e on health of those who spend time together every day.

“Hearing complaints related to your boss, your job or maybe some colleague is certainly not unusual and does not surprise us at all, but there are cases in which the environment becomes so toxic as to compromise people’s well-being and, in the long run, their performances too. In this second case, it is essential to intervene promptly and promote stress management plans in order not to compromise people’s health and avoid losing the best talents due to a non-stimulating or, worse still, toxic working environment “he explains. Francesca Contardi, managing director by EasyHunters – a research and selection company – and continues «I toxic workers have an extremely negative impact on the work environment because they spend their days letting off steam from too much work, a complain about a colleague or think your own manager has targeted them. Collaborating with these people, without being engulfed by this vortex of negativity, in the long run can become very difficult because with their actions they do nothing but increase people’s stress levels, with devastating impacts also on their performance. Limiting their negative influence is not easy, but trying to put up barriers is of vital importance: perhaps trying to explain to your colleague that there are positive aspects that he does not consider, sharing the more challenging sides of the job or helping it to change his point of view».

But how can we recognize a desk neighbor to avoid? In the gallery of this article you will find 7 useful elements to recognize a “toxic” colleague and why not, maybe stay away from it!

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