There are many reasons why you may find their job miserable; probably as many reasons as there are jobs!!
That said, there are four key issues that seem to come up more than any other; four issues that are consistent culprits of workplace misery regardless of the type of workplace or nature of the job.
Work Stress – The Big 4!!
1. Negativity from work colleagues.
2. A bad boss.
3. Burn out from being overworked.
4. Lacking reward, feeling underpaid.
Since the solution to each of these specific issues can be applied to solve an even broader range of reasons for job dissatisfaction, let’s take a look at each issue one by one. This blog will cover negativity from work colleagues.
Negativity from work colleagues 
We’ve already mentioned that there is no such thing as the perfect job. Every single vocation comes with things that you will like about it and things that you won’t. The same principle applies to your work colleagues. There are people you will naturally get along with, there will be people who you have to “try” to get along with, and there will be people who, no matter what you do, simply won’t get along with you at all through no fault of your own whatsoever.
There are some elements of work colleague negativity that fall within your locus of control and there are some that do not. You can’t control how other people think, but you can control the information that they receive upon which they base their thoughts and perceptions about you.
Your best weapon, regardless of the nature of negativity, is to take a positive and constructive approach to how you interact with your work colleagues.
The biggest problem many people have with workplace colleagues is allowing themselves to be drawn into conversations of negativity and, by default, fueling workplace negativity. One employee complains about a particular thing and another employee, who agrees with the complaint or who simply wishes to “fit in”, reinforces the complaint by agreeing with it.
Now you have two people talking about and focused on the negative of the thing, and if a third (maybe you?) then offers a different opinion, suddenly you have the seed of workplace rivalry. This can happen with individuals or groups. It can start regarding a minor issue and can lead to a major workplace conflict. It can also go on in the background, perhaps in the lunchroom or on breaks, without the boss or manager having any idea at all. And negativity festers. [click to continue…]