There are few things worse than having an extremely competent and skilled employee who refuses to utilize herself to her best ability. Whether we have skills or not is a simple matter of training, whether or not we have a good work ethic and play well with others goes a little bit deeper. Today we are going to look at some of the symptoms of bad-attituditis, giving you a chance to self-diagnose early, as well as take a look at some specific forms it takes.
First let’s look at the Freedom Fighter. The freedom fighter is the low-to-mid-level employee who has a bone to pick with management. The freedom fighter is the guy who is trash-talking the manager in the break room, the guy convincing others to take longer breaks with him, but he is also every employee who needs management to prove themselves before they can be trusted. Every employee who assumes management is going to be a problem is exhibiting serious symptoms of bad-attituditis, and should check themselves. If you find yourself tending to freedom-fighteritis, do everything you can to remember that your manager is a person too, a person who probably does not like telling you what to do any more than you like doing it.
Next let’s look at the Artful Dodger. The artful dodger is a master of dodging any work that she does not feel is her job 100%. The artful dodger is a big fan of phrases “I’m sorry, but that’s not my job” or “I’m too swamped right now” or “Ooof, I think that’s above my paygrade.” This is an extremely difficult employee to have. Businesses require all sorts of parts and players to keep afloat, and employees need to be flexible and motivated in order to keep them running. If you find yourself suffering from dodgeritis try making a list of things you are grateful to have in your job. If you are grateful for your job, you should be willing to work a little harder to ensure you keep it and help it.
Which brings us to the dodger’s cousin- the Apologist. Apologizing is not inherently a problem, but for the apologist it usually is for doing things without permission. The apologist gets confused and thinks it is better to do things then find out if they were the right call, instead of asking for permission first. This leads to the apologist’s endless stream of apologies. Luckily, this one is easily cured. If you find yourself making a lot of amends at work, chances are you should be asking for permission more.
Finally let’s look at the Chatty Cathy. The chatty Cathy is the ceaseless gossip, the soundtrack to the water-cooler. The bringer of personal lives into the office, the eternal time-waster. An endless stream of gossip into the office does nothing but damper productivity, and though it is nice to take an interest in your fellow co-workers, it is not nice to share their interests with everyone else. If you think you are suffering from Chatty Cathy syndrome, run a test. Write down the topics of all your conversations each day. If a substantial percentage is not work related, chances are you are gossiping too much.
Bad-attituditis is a serious problem, but luckily it is not too hard to treat. The first step is catching it, so as you think about your job, really consider if you are exhibiting symptoms. Are there patterns that repeat themselves throughout your employment history? If there are, and sound similar to any of these, chances are you are suffering from bad-attituditis, and need to make some behavioral changes!