Dealing with co-workers comments

I used to have nasty comments from former colleagues. 

Threatening to kick me, 

accusing me putting stuff in the wrong place, 

rumours spreading around me, 

asking me how much is in my bank account, 

who do I fancy in the store

what I would name my child( I told them some people can't have children and laughed);

I'd nearly got blinded with Febreze spray one Christmas eve. I told them that they didn't own the stock room.

Kept on getting evil looks.

After one Christmas I was told that my productivity wasn't good enough and I got to do something uncomfortable. The system was showing the wrong information. 

Breached my reasonble adjustments

Phoned me up to say I wasn't needed due to tiny delivery and I was in a really bad state (nobody helped me); told I was lying to people about going bellow contract. Regretted not taking the drs appointment on the day. Family wasn't helpful by saying I ought to look for a better job you can't carry on like this.

The sad part was that management knew about it and did nothing.

 I'd ended up leaving and that was handled badly. 10 days later...got into the stockroom not challenged and asked me to clock in to help on delivery. Unbelievable.

Pity you cant turn back time.

During covid I did write a letter to the head office and case closed. Automatically reply was they wanted names who did this. *the response I wanted was to pass my letter onto the former store and invite me in to discuss it * too late. 

2015 I had a nervous breakdown. 

I did try something new, which went wrong.

pins said:

I have been mainly hired to push the company to a more technically advanced position.

I have a similar background where I was hired in to fix underperforming IT departments and get them efficient again.

One thing that is worth understanding about the vast majority of these positions is your role in this, which is often not made explicit.

You are there to be the "bad guy", highlighting the failings of the team and what they need to do to improve. Many staff take this personally but the company will use you to focus the negativity towards, sparing the regular management the hassle.

When you finish then expect little thanks from the team - you have causes them a lot of disruption and change in the process and they will remember this and associate it with you.

It really helps to thing of this as a time constrained task that is going to be unpleasant. You get in, mess up their comfortable (if unproductive) way of working and make them have to change - maybe to have more accountability or take on more tasks. Why would they like you for this.

I always used to use a compartmentalisation technique of preparing myself in the morning to go into work and switching into work mode on the train then when I left I would have a little routine to switch back out of it and refuse to think about it when at home.

It takes a lot of practice but works well. Switching off your work phone at home is a great way to make sure it is not going interfere until the next day.

If work thoughts start, look around at the things that mean the most to you and think "am I going to let work spoil these for me" and change your train of thought to something pleasant.

pins said:

how do you deal with comments from co-workers, or their frustrations, like claiming one is lazy etc when there are no grounds for it?

I'm in charge of them so their opinions of me are pretty irrelevant. If I get accused of being lazy then I ask to see their productivity stats and ask if they have room for improvement of a higher workload. This normally shuts them up.

So long as I'm pulling my weight and doing my job well then who cares what they say. If they make snide remarks then call them out - make a complaint if you need to but shut down that behaviour of disrespect.

Have you been on any management training courses? If not I would ask for some to give you the tools to do this and some role play in getting the approach right.

Hello pins

It sounds like you're dealing with unfair and inaccurate comments as well as insufficient clarity and structure in your instructions. It might be helpful for you to read our employment information to find out what duties your employer has and what rights you have as an employee. These sections are most relevant:

• What are reasonable adjustments and when can they be requested
• What support can I get at work
• What can I do if Im having trouble at work

There are links in thee guides to organisations that can provide direct advice and guidance. 

I hope this is helpful to you.

Kind regards

Sharon Mod

Yeah they seem very happy with me, but they also seem weary of the balance between keeping the others happy too. Thank you, will keep what you wrote in mind.

Who do you report to? Are they happy?

The other people are just jealous.

Ignore it for now. Let you efforts speak for themselves. They'll stop if you show it doesn't affect you. Or you can give them more work to teach them to shut up if you have the power.