Employee Quirks and How to Work with Them

While many people have positive attitudes and can function well in a group, there will always be a handful of people with difficult personalities, and we must learn how to effectively work with them. The challenge of dealing with difficult personalities in the workplace can be solved by understanding their personality and knowing the appropriate way to interact with these types of people. Use these common workplace personalities to learn what each one is fueled by and how to respond to them.

The Steamroller expresses negativity by plowing people down. These people can be easily annoyed and hostile, and they often take their frustrations out on other people in the office. Coming across as autocratic, they force situations to go their way. The solution for dealing with this type of person is assertiveness. Explain to your supervisor how the person's attitude negatively affects your work, and explain that you need to be communicated with better.

The Perfectionist becomes negative when something is not perfect. Since this person has a standard of perfection that is virtually too high to reach, even outstanding work that is complimented by others is not good enough for him or her. The best way to deal with a perfectionist is to take their statements with a grain of salt. Their negative comments may be a reflection of their own inadequacies. Attempt to cooperate with this type of person so they can form realistic expectations for themselves and others.

The Not-my-Jobber often refuses to do a job regardless of how simple it may be because he or she does not think it is a part of their job. By refusing to do certain tasks, the person is getting back at her co-workers, supervisors or even the company due to their lack of job satisfaction. Although they may want to grow and advance in their careers, they sometimes think they are stuck in dead end jobs that do not allow them to advance. With this mindset, they lose the enthusiasm they once had for the job and do as little as possible to get by. The most logical way to deal with this type of person is to provide them with opportunities for advancement by offering training and growth courses.

The Apathetic worker is unable to take their job seriously. Through this non-committal attitude, they only make their co-workers' jobs harder. Since work is a low priority for this type of person, their focus is to do as little as possible. For this person, it is more important to take care of his or her own personal issues or interests, even while on the job. The best way to motivate this type of worker is to establish goals. By doing this, they have something to strive for instead of feeling like their work isn't important. It is also important to give the apathetic worker a clear set of standards and expectations so they understand their responsibilities and why their job is valuable. Follow up with this type of person often to monitor their performance, and always evaluate how they are interacting with co-workers.

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