The Six Types Of Negative Employees

How to identify and handle negative employees

Negativity can affect any office, anywhere, at any time.

Workplace negativity doesn’t just impact one individual. Like a cough, it spreads easily to the people that employee interacts with (coworkers, management and even customers) – and no workplace is immune. The good news is that negative employees are easy to identify if you know what to look for.

The six types of negative employees who are sabotaging your workplace

1. Complainers: These employees always have something negative to say – even the issue has absolutely nothing to do with them.
2. Backstabbers: These employees are all about themselves. They have no qualms about taking credit for another worker’s accomplishments or even sabotaging other employees to make themselves look better.
3. Instigators: These employees LOVE drama. They are constantly pitting other employees against each other just to watch the saga play out.
4. Gossips: These employees may appear to be innocent social butterflies, but don’t let that fool you. Their propensity to spread gossip and rumours can seriously damage an organization’s productivity and company culture.
5. Firefighters: These employees crave the attention of being a hero – even if they have to manufacture problems in order to save the day.
6. Exploders: These employees are ticking time bombs – one little thing is all it takes to set them off.

The infographic below explores each of these six types of negative personalities you might encounter in the workplace, and offers tips on how to stop them from infecting your workforce.

Learn more about how to overcome workplace negativity within your organization

It’s a well-known fact that happy employees are engaged employees, and that engaged employees are key to an organization’s success. But what about the effect unhappy employees have on a company’s workforce?

Find out in our webinar: “How To Reduce Negativity In The Workplace.” This presentation not only explores what workplace negativity is, but also how it can manifest in your office. Plus, learn about strategies you can use to minimize the factors that cause workplace negativity.

3 responses to “The Six Types Of Negative Employees”

1. David London says:

   April 4, 2017 at 22:44

   Excellent article, very well written and too the point!

   • Jessica Layfield says:

     April 5, 2017 at 16:57

     Thanks for the comment, David! We hope you don’t have too many backstabbers, gossips or firefighters within your organization!

2. RichardDx says:

   January 17, 2018 at 05:54

   I like the descriptions and the analysis given. Makes the individuals”visible”.