Half your co-workers hate you. And guess what? They actually have good reason

Global workplace provider Regus recently released a new research with some rather interesting findings about the Australian workplace.

The survey found that nearly half (49 per cent) of employees in large firms (over 250 employees) say they dislike their co-workers.

I bet this will make for some pretty awkward conversations at the office water cooler…

In small firms (less than 49 employees), the figure stands at a much lower 16 per cent.

Why do Australian employees hate their co-workers?

The top reasons overall for disliking co-workers included:

• They have a poor work ethic (31 per cent)
• They are unable to do their job properly (19 per cent)
• They are over-powering and controlling (18 per cent)

Okay, now that you have got that off your chests, what do you suggest as the way forward in handling the colleagues you dislike?

• 53 per cent recommend performance managing them until they are fully capable of doing their job efficiently
• 34 per cent suggest getting to know them better on a personal level
• 6 per cent said they should be fired. In this economy? That’s cold!

What can Australian employees do to get along better?

CEO of Regus Australia and New Zealand, Paul Migliorini, shared his top tip remarking, “In today’s busy workplace, we often forget the value of getting to know people and building relationships through collaboration. You might find that working with them to overcome a specific challenge will help you turn around the situation.”

“For employers, it’s important to structure your workplace to foster collaboration and positive interactions between employees,” he added.

Migliorini added that another option is flexible working – which means employees have more control over where and when they work.

He suggests working from home, a café or from a local business centre such as Regus, for a couple of days a week, to get out of the office a bit more – recent Regus research shows that flexi-work helps to reduce work related stress, according to 71 per cent of Australians.