Problematic behaviour from co-worker. Manager ignoring problem

DesertIsland

I am working in the same office with a support technician and a manager. Unfortunately the support technician has a lot of issues, some of them health-related which mean that he often turns up in the office in a foul mood.

People do not ask him for tech support before 10-11 am. If they do, they get gruff and sometimes aggressive responses. Every couple of months there is an incident with his behaviour and this can range from lecturing people, talking to them like they are children, sometimes displaying passive-aggressive behaviour, other times ignoring them altogether. When my manager is out of the office and it's just the two of us his behaviour is such that I have felt it necessary to leave the room.

I have brought these issues repeatedly to the attention of my manager, who usually agrees with me on every point I know that others have complained, too. My colleague has had repeated verbal reprimands and has been told that his pay rise is directly related to his attitude. This hasn't helped at all, in fact things are becoming worse over the last month. I asked my manager if she has considered taking formal action, however I received no clear response. To the credit of my colleague he is a good professional, fairly intelligent and his mood brightens half the time, however it is no secret that he dislikes his job, his pay (which is below market) and some of our fellow colleagues.

Today there was a meeting when he turned up in an especially bad mood. My manager considered stopping the meeting but on the insistence of my colleague we carried on. Unfortunately during the meeting he snapped at me and we had a verbal argument.

The result is that I could not focus on my work for the rest of the day. My manager tends to mother people instead of dealing with things properly so she brought in chocolate (which she knows I'm fond of).

I am tired of this situation and in my next monthly review I am considering telling her that next time, I'll have to go to either HR or her boss. I'd like to avoid this but this has been going for as long as this guy has been working here.

I was wondering if anyone can suggest something. If I should go over my manager's head or deal with it in some other way.

Sticking this guy in the basement seems to be out of the question as my manager wants tech support to be more "available" to users. This is not working. At the same time, there is no other place for me to move to due to the requirements of my job and further I do not think it's reasonable for me to change my spot due to this guy's behaviour.

Bantex_2

So what has he actually done to you?

Takeaway_Addict

If you want things to change raise a formal grievance as at the moment everything you have done is informal.if you can get others to do it well it holds a stronger argument

theemptypurse

The result is that I could not focus on my work for the rest of the day. My manager tends to mother people instead of dealing with things properly so she brought in chocolate (which she knows I'm fond of).

laughed out loud at this - sorry

If this is making your working life a misery could you move to basement ? I know it isn't principle but might get you a more enjoyable environment?
xxxx

Armorica

To be fair, if there were formal actions in place with the employeee - I'm not sure your manager could discuss them with you?

FBaby

Difficult situation. If it were me, I would try to make friends with him gradually but gently. Moody people are usually so because either they are very unhappy, or because they don't realise that their ways is affecting others, even when they are told over and over.

Maybe if you can try to get him to open up a bit, it might help. The problem is that it would probably take time, but in the meantime, if his moods can improve just a bit, it would help. Otherwise, just avoid him when he is like this and don't rise to the challenge.

Your boss is not dealing with it maybe because she knows of some externual circumstances you are not aware of, or because as you've hinted, she values his expertise above his behaviour, or because she is weak and can't deal with the prospect of getting rid of him. In all three cases, there is nothing much you can do to influence her way of dealing with it.

Tahlullah

Unfortunately, many managers do not have the skill to be managers, perhaps getting the job based on time served or speciality in their subject. The can come ill equipt to deal with personnel issues and so try to tissue over the huge fissure in a team, by supplying chocolates for example.

In reality, you are working in a hostile environment, which is close to bullying and harassment. This should be dealt with before you go off sick with work related stress caused by management failing to take action. Start keeping a diary of what happened when and most importantly, when you told your manager and what she did.

At some point, your colleagues behaviour will become too much for you and at that point, you will go above your manager. You will need evidence of what has happenned. It will not be enough to just say 'it's been happening for ages'. They will want to know dates, times, what happened and what you did. They will not be able to take action without evidence.

Good luck.

jc808

the problem in situations like this is there is no impetus to 'manage' staff either:

- by the manager in question (the manager is afraid/ too busy to manage)
- as a company policy (most likely informally)

its immensely frustrating, nothing you can do
im working in a similar place

Mini_Bear

Agree with Talullah, start keeping a diary of events in excel, just with dates, what happened and how it made you feel. HR will have to act on it AND your manager will not be able to ignore it.
I have had to deal with people like this throughout my career, I have been able to subtley befriend them and often give them a nudge out the door into a 'market paying' role.

Bantex_2

Still cannot see what has been done to OP that would fall under and legislation. Seems like he/she just does not like the co worker.

Snakey

Don't hold your breath waiting for him to be called up in Assembly and given the slipper in front of the whole workforce. People who consistently behave badly tend to simply not be there one day, which of course is only unexpected to the wider world - the miscreant and HR will have been embroiled in discussions behind the scenes for several weeks or months.

You shouldn't expect to be kept informed about disciplinary and performance issues that don't involve you. If you were told about the written warnings and pay freeze by your manager then that's disgraceful and you'd better hope you don't ever have an issue at work that you'd prefer to be kept confidential.

As for trying to escalate this up the chain, if all you've got that's new is that he was mean to you in the course of a disagreement and the main thrust of your complaint is a re-hash of things he's done to others in the past that he's already been disciplined for, I think you need to consider how this might reflect on you.

If what you want is to be moved to a different desk, there must be ways to do this that don't involve causing trouble for somebody else, which seems like overkill to me (unless what you really want is to see him get into trouble, in which case knock yourself out).