\u00a9 2023 wikiHow, Inc. All rights reserved. WebThe first step in addressing an employee who is sabotaging you is to calmly confront them about it and explain how their actions are affecting your work and morale. As I stated above, it can be very stressful to have to deal with sabotage at work. Speak about your situation with the backstabbing individual matter of factly, without inserting your feelings, opinion, or juicy bits of gossip into the mix. Why You Narcissist Coworker Is Ignoring You & What To Do About It, The Gaslighting Narcissistic Boss Employees Survival Guide, Forget that you had a role in the accomplishment, Put their name first, delete or hide your name, Be sure to report first so they can take credit, Make sure they are highly visible in photos and records, even if they took a minor part, Diminish your impact, and talk up their role, Wholesale steal your work and pass it off as theirs, Assigning tasks to you that are too difficult, or impossible to do right, Not giving you proper warning, hoping to catch you unaware of changes, Failing to pass on key information or advice that would help you succeed, Throwing a wrench in the works, so that things purposely go wrong, Turning other employees against you in an attempt to sabotage your ability to work effectively as a team, You have sordid romantic encounters or an embarrassing love life, You arent as smart as me because you have a bachelors degree and I have a masters., You may be smart, but you arent a good salesman like me., Ill take over, because the boss wants someone who knows what they are doing., This is much better than your normal work!. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. I recommend that you actually make peace with the worst-case scenario, such as possibly losing your job because of the saboteurs actions. Since that time this other employee has been determined to undermine me with our boss by finding fault with everything I do, even to point of saying I am not qualified for my job, lied about my number of overtime hours and quoted me as saying I thought he was an idiot. Tips for dealing with coworkers who watch your every move, Are work friends real friends? Sabotaging coworkers always run straight to the boss with complaints instead of clueing you in about what youre doing wrong. Sabotage in the professional context is a complicated concept to study in full. This is not the way to go. % of people told us that this article helped them. Anemployee bad-mouthing another employeeis more serious than regular office gossip. 2011 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. For instance, if youre not good with deadlines, be diligent about creating a daily schedule and sticking to it. When you confront them, make sure that youre calm and simply explain how their actions are affecting you and take it from there. They will take credit for work that isnt their, while foisting their failures on any scapegoat they can find. News provided by The Associated Press. WebEnvy has sometimes been described as a social microscope. Provide a detailed and relevant real-life example using the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) method. Give yourself time to cool off. "Make sure your boss notices your excellent performance, and make doubly sure that your boss knows that you want to be promoted.". This might mean setting boundaries or limits on your interactions with them, or it might mean speaking to your boss or HR about the situation. Those whove previously been exposed to the individual who has now sabotaged you will be believable, objective third party witnesses to the derogatory behavior exhibited by the backstabber in question. Act, don't react. Ensure your reaction to a backstabber making themselves known is one which communicates your expectation of such an event, not surprise. You know you have a narcissist coworker with the mind of an elephant (they never forget) when they bring up things from the past you dont even remember happening. Ensure that you keep coworkers and management on your side by remaining steadfast and trusting in your own ability. Confront Them (Sometimes This Is the Right Thing). wikiHow, Inc. is the copyright holder of this image under U.S. and international copyright laws. Be the Adult in the Room. Related Are work friends real friends? Talk to your colleague about his behavior in a non-confrontational way. Speak to your boss directly. Maintaining a work-life balance is hard enough as it is, but even more so when you're co-workers are sabotaging you at every turn. By signing up you are agreeing to receive emails according to our privacy policy. Toxic coworkers may create an atmosphere of competition, which can lead to negative behavior such as sabotage and backstabbing. WebA lot of times though, her advice has been utterly useless and even counter-productive. Whatever you do, make sure that youre putting yourself first. In some cases, the best way to deal with a sneaky coworker is to confront them about their behavior. Managers are only human and often very busy. MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The West is "burying" the humanitarian initiative of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres by sabotaging the implementation of the Russian part of the "package," the Russian Foreign Ministry said, commenting on the Istanbul agreements on food and fertilizers.