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I've worked with all sorts of annoying people, lazy people, mean people, etc., and I never even thought about complaining about them to the boss to try to get them fired. I just focus on my work and try to tune out the other people as best as I can.
Complaining about something serious such as illegal behavior or sexual harassment, I can understand, but not the piddly interpersonal stuff that I've seen people try to get others fired for.
I just believe that trying to take someone else's livelihood away is playing very dirty, and I would avoid someone who tried to get me fired like the plague. I wouldn't help or interact with that person above the bare minimum required.
So what drives some people to try to get their coworkers fired? Is it sociopathy?
Last edited by wangchin213; 10-11-2023 at 10:19 AM..
.. People should be trying to get their management fired in most places from what I have seen today, since they can do far more damage than the peons. It never ceases to amaze the stark hatred the poor ham and eggars have for people on their own socioeconomic level yet, they let all those above them (middle management and higher) run away with all the loot and give free reign of abuse
.. People should be trying to get their management fired in most places from what I have seen today, since they can do far more damage than the peons. It never ceases to amaze the stark hatred the poor ham and eggars have for people on their own socioeconomic level yet, they let all those above them (middle management and higher) run away with all the loot and give free reign of abuse
I don't believe that people should try to get anyone fired unless the person is committing a crime or sexually harassing someone.
I wouldn't try to get anyone fired for laziness, but they are quite irritating and if they are not doing their share of the work, it means that someone else has to do their work as well as doing their own. So, while they goof off, someone else is getting their workload increased, without any increase in pay.
I've worked with all sorts of annoying people, lazy people, mean people, etc., and I never even thought about complaining about them to the boss to try to get them fired. I just focus on my work and try to tune out the other people as best as I can.
Complaining about something serious such as illegal behavior or sexual harassment, I can understand, but not the piddly interpersonal stuff that I've seen people try to get others fired for.
I just believe that trying to take someone else's livelihood away is playing very dirty, and I would avoid someone who tried to get me fired like the plague. I wouldn't help or interact with that person above the bare minimum required.
So what drives some people to try to get their coworkers fired? Is it sociopathy?
It is a pathology. Very wicked individuals. I dealt with this my whole life but always rose above it. I always kept my own records of work when I turn something over. That way I cover myself. The ole "CYA" routine. It's usually the ones that are lacking in their own abilities. Jealousy plays a part as well. You just stay alert and you'll be fine. Be smart as well. Dear ole Dad taught me to keep my own records. Another piece of advice he gave me is, "as long as you know what you are doing, you are a value to any employer."
I wouldn't try to get anyone fired for laziness, but they are quite irritating and if they are not doing their share of the work, it means that someone else has to do their work as well as doing their own. So, while they goof off, someone else is getting their workload increased, without any increase in pay.
The most frustrating part about that is when you learn the slackers make more money than everyone else. I normally don't care if co-workers make more or less than me, but when I find out that the slacker is getting $4 more an hour and I have to consistently do their work in addition to my own, I'm not going to be very happy.
Last edited by sandsthetime; 10-11-2023 at 11:30 AM..
Complaining about something serious such as illegal behavior or sexual harassment, I can understand, but not the piddly interpersonal stuff that I've seen people try to get others fired for
I don't complain, either. If someone is not performing, I'm not going to "tattle" to the boss. That's on management to make sure we're all held accountable -- no cronyism and nepotism, please.
If you've just discovered that your employee has been goofing off and not doing anything for 6 months, don't blame me. That's on the boss for not monitoring and checking what their employees are doing. This is the sad result of what happens when you have managers who don't manage.
Last edited by sandsthetime; 10-11-2023 at 12:39 PM..
All the more reason to stay the heck out of corporate america today. Truth is, this happens everywhere now. The only answer is to avoid corporate america at all costs. Toxic workplaces do NOT improve. And sociopaths don't get any better. I've seen great companies destroyed, but I've never seen crappy companies improve. If the most worthless people are making the most money, you are working for a complete toilet bowl of a company with worthless management who should have been kicked to the curb long ago
It seems more and more people have little respect, tolerance or patience with others in the past few years. I have two people fired when I worked, one because he was cheating on his hours and travel and the other for attempting to have me change a financial report i.e. lie.
There are as many reasons as there are people doing it.
Some people just have a mean streak and love to get others under their thumb. Some are in stressful workplaces and get into a crude form of "survival mode". They scheme to protect themselves and their tiny bit of seniority/power. Here are a few examples I have seen or been victim of.
1 guy in a construction company was being groomed for management. His father was a well respected foreman who ran excellent jobs. Junior was smart & skilled but power hungry. Took full advantage of his father's position. Some conflict arose between him and another guy. Junior went to the general contractor and got him to file a complaint on the other guy for coming to work intoxicated. Didn't quite get him fired but suspended for a week or 2. Guy 2 didn't have a leg to stand on, as he did have a DWI record and still didn't have drivers license at the time. Somehow the scheme was discovered but Junior got no punishment that I know of.
Went to work years back at a company where I spent 11 years. Should have left after 2 years at most. the company was in the midst of storms when I got there. The original storms never really calmed and new ones kept coming up. Stress factor 15 on a scale of 1-10.
My first supervisor was an older woman who was very pleasant on the surface but jealous and spiteful in many ways. I did a lot of work no one else wanted to do and she always thanked me for "going the extra mile". Evaluation time came. Type of form where you are rated "below expectation", "at expectation" or "above expectation" on various criteria. She gave me "at" on every one, including "goes above and beyond what is assigned". Her attitude then was "no one does more than is expected of them". She didn't fully understand how "expectation" was used in that sense and didn't care to think it out. She wasn't about to help anyone get ahead. She had spent 30 years getting the small bit of authority she had. Many of us should have gone to HR and challenged our evaluations. I came to despise that woman, as I saw her holding up more work than she ever facilitated. Several good people left because of her.
I worked under another supervisor where I processed payments of certain cases. Some cases were quick and easy, others more complicated. We had an escheat process we used if a payee couldn't be located. She would hold up every case I needed to escheat, making me write 1 more letter, make 1 more call, etc. When I transferred to another department, she pulled all my cases and escheated them in 1 day, then had the nerve to tell around that I had "let them sit".
A third was roughly similar to the second, though she didn't do it as much from jealousy. She was a flaky perfectionist. She would give one set of instructions today, then be in a different frame of mind tomorrow. Even her friends couldn't stand working for her.
These were just a few examples of many.
Your best bet is to manage your work by yourself as much as possible, document all you do the best way you can. Depend on others as little as possible. Be helpful when you can but beware of those who would push their dirty work onto you. Be cordial with coworkers but confide nothing to anyone. If you see it getting better, that's good. If you see it getting worse, look elsewhere.
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