What Bothers Your Boss Most: Top Negative Behaviors at Work


negative behaviors in the workplace infographics kickresume

Have you ever worked on a side hustle while at a full-time job? Or do you have sticky fingers around office supplies? Oh, and you thought it went unnoticed?

The truth is, sometimes we may display negative behaviors in the workplace without even realizing it. And our boss can be more perceptive of our flaws than we think.

Monster asked 214 leaders to describe a troublemaker employee they’ve had to deal with (whether presently or in the past). And knowing the most common negative behaviors that bosses see in their staff can surely help you avoid accidentally becoming a bad seed in the workplace.

Bosses are most bothered by poor job performance

It just makes sense that 25 percent of surveyed bosses would call their problem employees those who don’t deliver the expected results.

Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace report states that a mere 21 percent of employees worldwide are engaged in their work. This means that the majority of workers have a negative view of their workplace or just push paper. And all this can have adverse consequences for their organization.

Subpar job performance may be influenced by different factors, including work attitude and lack of cooperation. However, it is a shared responsibility between the employee and the boss to address and improve such performance.

Employers also hate it when you don’t play well with others

Workers who fail to cooperate with others are apparently the second biggest headache bosses have to face. At least, that’s what 24 percent of respondents claim.

Workplace stress statistics show that an incredible 31 percent of employees feel stress due to interpersonal issues in the workplace. And so it’s also in our interest to try harder to function as part of a team.

In order to build genuine professional relationships with your colleagues, you need to build trust with them. Listen to their needs, but also, don’t be afraid of asking for help if you need some.

Immune to negative feedback or resistant to change? Your boss may not like it

If your boss gave you negative feedback and you simply ignored their recommendations, you may have upset them, again.

Precisely, 20 percent of business leaders consider a troublemaker someone who’s immune to their feedback, ignoring their coaching. Another 17 percent of leaders describe their “problem worker” as someone who is set in their ways, not willing to change.

  • Julia Gergelova, Professional Writer at Kickresume
  • Julia Belak
    Certified Professional Resume Writer
    Julia is a professional writer, translator and graphic designer. She holds degrees in translation and interpretation, and has international work experience from a number of different countries in Europe as well as China and Panama. Julia formerly taught academic writing and as a graphic designer contributed to outlets such as The Business of Business. She has a passion for lifelong learning and good coffee.

Share this article

Join our newsletter!

Every month, we’ll send you resume advice, job search tips, career hacks and more in pithy, bite-sized chunks. Sounds good?