QUICK TIPS: BEHAVIORS

Burn the olive branch!. If someone is continually screwing with you, don’t try to kiss up to them to get them to stop their behavior. When you decide you need to put your foot down, put it down—right on their neck. No, that’s not literal. You’d end up in jail. But, you need to get into the habit of immediately tracking and reporting the negative or illegal behaviors of your coworkers or managers.

Tip #1: Try to speak to the person about the issue. Provide them with examples of their behavior and tell them how their behavior impacts you. If they don’t respond, take it to your manager. If the problem is your manager, go over his/her head. Yes, you have a right to report your manager.

You don’t have to be harassed or disrespected by anyone. You have the legal right to complain. Federal law expects that you would have informed the appropriate officials at your company about mistreatment. So, report it. Do not let others convince you to extend an olive branch to someone who won’t stop disrespecting you, bullying you or harassing you. This will only elongate the time that you will suffer from the negative behavior, it reinforces that you will do nothing to stop the behavior, it will encourage them to continue their behavior, it will negatively impact your health, and it will destroy your morale.

Tip #2: Report it! Keep your power. When you have no alternative, burn the olive branch and take official action by reporting misconduct and abuse.