Where Are the Difficult People?

Well if the results of the PTP survey on difficult people are anything to go by - they are everywhere! We found that a massive 98% of people encounter difficult people on a regular basis at work. There are more difficult men than women in the workplace - although it has to be said not by a large margin and the middle-aged worker is likely to be more difficult than his or her younger or older counterparts. However it is good to see that more than half the sample say they are prepared to help their difficult colleagues - although few of us are confrontational - only 15% say this would be their approach in dealing with difficult colleagues. And why are people difficult? - the sample was very divided on this issue with the three most popular schools of thought being that they were "not team players", "were under too much pressure" or "felt insecure and lacked confidence in what they did".

Thank you very much to the 250+ people who responded to our survey. Please look out for our latest survey on time-wasting and time-saving technology in the office which will be with you in early September. Here are the full results from our survey on difficult people:

98% of you deal with difficult people at work
Only 2% of you say you don't

50% of you encounter difficult people on a daily basis
28% on a weekly basis
14% on a monthly basis
8% on an hourly basis (don't we feel for you!!)

Male/Female split is not significant with men coming out just in front of women with 55% of the "difficult" vote compared to 45% for women

The most likely age for being difficult is:

35-45 voted by 36% of the sample
45-55 voted by 29%
25-35 voted by 26%
Only 7% believed the under 25s were difficult and a miniscule 2% thought the over 55s were difficult

And managers accounted for almost two thirds of difficult people with mid management gaining a quarter of the vote

Mid management - 25% of the vote
Junior management - 21%
Mid rank admin - 19%
Senior management - 16%
Senior admin - 12%
Non office/blue collar - 5%
Junior admin - 2%

51% of you say you would help difficult people with a further 5% saying that you would encourage discussion of the problems and coaching or counselling.
22% of you simply put up with difficult people
15% confront the difficult person
7% ignore them

The reasons behind why people are difficult at work are diverse and fall into the following categories:

17% - Not team players/go in their own direction
16% - Insecure about position and lacks confidence in ability
15% - Stressed and under pressure at work
12% - Dissatisfaction with work and status
10% - Bad attitude towards others and lack of respect for fellow workers
9% - Self important/too much empire building and power
8% - Lack of people skills
6% - Not being listened too/communication problems
5% - Belief that they are undervalued/not treated well
2% - Health and/or personal problems brought to work
1% - Not pulling their weight/lack of commitment