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I am 28 and the youngest employee in my office of 35. All the others have more experience, yet I make the same money. Many of them have poor attitudes and don't put forth much effort. They treat me as a threat and make bad remarks about me. I do not know if I should ignore the comments of these slackers, confront them, or go to my boss. What's a rookie to do?
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I used to enjoy working here, but the company recently overhauled my department and fired some of our best employees. The new director hired a group of her friends as replacements. The new people dislike those of us from the former regime, and they have no experience in this field. The HR manager said that if I cannot follow the new lead, I should move on. Is it time to move on?
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I recently transferred into another department, and the manager and some of her pals keep telling the same old stories and referring to the same old in-jokes. You would think they'd tire of this, but they don't. Is there anything I can do to fit in?
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I am on a committee with two other employees, and we are supposed to review and report on certain company processes that deal with new customers. The problem is that my two co-workers are buddies, and they exclude me from practically all of the discussions. I know I can make a valuable contribution, and I'm very annoyed about this. What can I do?
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Our company recently hired a new office manager, but she does not know how to manage at all. She runs around here doing menial tasks and getting in the way, and we have to train her in so many areas while she is supervising us. This seems unfair, and there are several of us who should have been promoted instead of hiring her from the outside. What should we do?
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I work at a company in a position that I love, and my superiors are just wonderful. I work alone, but the problem is the co-workers. Some of them play games and say things to me that are hurtful, and others just ignore me. I talk to my co-workers but I don't get very far. I would like to get along better. What should I do?
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The company where I work had a "no husband and wife policy" until recently. Now we are having many problems with the first married couple in our area. They defend each other, do each other's work, and talk about their relationship incessantly. Many of us have complained to management, but we are told that human resources allows married couples to work in the same area. What do you think?
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We have two co-workers who have a bad attitude. They are loud, sarcastic, and sound like they are always mad at you. They look for something wrong, and they usually target people who are new on the job. I have to deal with them every morning. I have talked to my supervisor and manager about them, and they speak to these individuals, but after a few days they are back to their threatening ways. What can you suggest?
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I recently changed jobs and things were going well except for the fact that the guys in the office pick on and harass the new guy, me. I have repeatedly asked them to stop. I talked to my boss and he told them to stop, but now they are ignoring and excluding me. My boss says this is their way of backing off. I didn't do anything to deserve this treatment. What should I do?
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There is a new employee in our work group who is smart, efficient, and friendly. Most of the people I work with want nothing to do with her, but I like her. I don't want to alienate my co-workers, but I refuse to ignore her. Is there a way to reconcile this?
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For the past year, I have been working in a small office with one other person. We worked well together until two months ago when a new employee was brought on to join us. She befriended my co-worker, and now it's the two of them against me. I am upset with both of them, and I'm not sure what to do now.
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Several of the people I work with recently started going out after work for some socializing that can take up much of the evening. I have family commitments, so I don't join them. Now it seems that all they talk about is what they did the night before. I don't like it, and I'm not sure what to do.
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I'm very new with this company. Around noon, I saw a couple of guys from my department heading out for lunch and I asked if I could join them. They seemed okay with that, but during the lunch they did not say one word to me. They only talked about things they had done together in the past. I was totally excluded and felt very foolish. Should I say something to them about their rudeness?
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We have a new employee in our department, and there is something about him that I disliked from the moment I met him. He has an arrogant and condescending manner, and several of us feel this way about him. How can we deal with him?
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I have been with this company for a couple of weeks, and most of the discussions include acronyms that are specific to the company but are a mystery to me. I don’t like to interrupt a conversation ten times to understand what is being said, but if I don’t, I have no idea what to do. How do I get through this?
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For the most part, I like my job. The work is interesting and my pay seems fair. The problem is that most people here are not friendly. There are many loners and a few small cliques, and that bothers me. I have reached out to a few people, but I get nowhere. Do you have any suggestions?
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Our department manager was promoted, and the company replaced her with someone from the outside. At first, the new manager said we have an excellent department, and she would not be making any changes. That lasted for about a week. Now she has changed our assignments, moved us around, and put in new policies that don’t make sense. What can we do?
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I recently joined this company, and there are acronyms for everything. I am familiar with standard acronyms in my field, but this company has many that were invented here. I do not like to keep asking what something means, but if I say nothing, I’m lost. What can you suggest?
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I have worked at a family owned doctors office for eight years.My administrator is one of the doctors sons, and his sister in law has worked in billing and coding forever. I worked as a nurse, until I was asked two years ago if I wanted to transfer over to billing. I did and things were good. I shared an office with sister in law, and we got along fine. Another nurse, whom I considered to be my best friend, was asked if she wanted to transfer as well, about 7 months after I did. There was not enough room in our office for someone else, so she was put in one by our administrators office. I had to find out through the grapevine that she was transferring, & found it strange that she didn't tell me, so I began snooping and found out she was given $4 more an hour than I. I didn't say anything, I just asked for a raise and got it, but during all this, sister in law would talk to me about her, and I admit I talked back for a little while b/c I was angry about her not telling me she was transferring and acting all shady. I started feeling bad, so I stopped fueling the fire when she would come try to talk about her to me. I guess she realized that I wasn't going to trash my friend anymore, and she has now moved into the office with her. When she comes in (at whatever time she feels, cause she's in the family) she never comes by to tell me hello, and unless I go to ask a question or take something to their office neither one of them would ever come and speak to me. She acts fine when I initiate a conversation, but I am being completely ignored, and I don't understand why. And I can't say anything to by boss because that is his sister in law!!! What can I do??
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For the past 3/4 months I have been having issues with a new lady at the office, we used to be friends and without any falling out or fight just drifted apart. I noticed this and to avoid any negativity I addressed this with her, I thought everything was fine. About a month after this discussion I started noticing that she 'forgot' discussions we had had, to the point where I lost my temper (I apologized to everyone the next day). Her excuse was that nothing was 'formalized' in email. While we have always been a very informal workplace I have attempted to 'formalize' all my arrangements from then on. She has now bonded with another lady at the office, to the point that even the upper management is commenting on the fact that they can't pee without each other. It seems that the 2 of them are purposefully excluding me from conversations about projects that I am in charge of, and last week she submitted formal documentation about a project that I participated in without listing me on it at all. I found these documents in the printer room of the office. I know if I confront her about it she will have 'forgotten'. She leaves me to pick up projects that she 'just doesn't have time for' but barely puts in 6 hours a day at the office. I have spoke to my direct manager about this, and she is sympathetic, but seems to be unable to do anything. Our line manager is aware of the situation and offered to step in, but I am hesitant to involve him in something so petty - I am afraid that it will damage my reputation. I don't know what to do any more, the situation is so tense that my health is starting to suffer. I am 10 years her junior and more valuable to the company, if it is jealousy what can I do? Should I escalate this further? I love my job but am seriously considering packing my bags if this continues. Please help!
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