Passive aggressive behavior is an unassertive way to communicate with your colleagues and it can have some serious impacts on workplace culture. When you’re passive aggressive, you don’t communicate directly with others in your workplace. This can lead to confusion and frustration for everyone involved. For example, if you feel like a coworker isn’t pulling their weight at work but don’t say anything directly—instead of saying “you need to be working harder” or “can you help me out with this project?”—you might take them off the task list or stop inviting them to meetings.
If you have employees who engage in passive aggressive behavior, it can have a negative impact on your workplace culture:
- Increased Tension
- Decreased Productivity
- Less Trust
Increased Tension
One of the most noticeable impacts that passive aggressive behavior has on workplace culture is the increased tension. When employees and colleagues are not communicating directly with one another, they feel less trust and more hostility. This can have a huge impact on your company’s ability to move forward as a whole and make progress towards common goals.
If people aren’t able to speak up when they have problems with something, then they may end up venting their frustration in other ways. For example, they may become more irritable and less pleasant to be around. They might also be more likely to lash out when they’re feeling frustrated, which can cause even more tension in the office.
Decreased Productivity
The impact of passive aggressive behavior on workplace culture is largely negative. The most significant consequence of this behavior is the decrease in productivity, which can be costly for an organization.
- People who are constantly being attacked by their colleagues may spend more time defending themselves than working on projects. They may also be less motivated to do their work, because they feel undervalued or unappreciated by their teammates.
- When employees feel threatened by relationships with other people at work, they will likely experience high levels of stress and anxiety from trying to navigate these situations appropriately - in the long run, this can lead to mental health issues such as depression and anxiety disorders that require medical attention beyond what is provided through short-term sick leave or short-term disability insurance policies offered by employers.
Less Trust
When people are afraid to speak up, they're also less likely to trust each other. Trust is a cornerstone of any workplace, and it's needed for effective communication. Without trust, co-workers can't rely on each other because they don't know what information is reliable. If your boss starts making offhand comments about how you don't work hard enough or how you weren't able to solve a problem correctly, you might think twice before asking them for help on future projects. This lack of trust will impact everything from office morale to productivity levels in an organization as large as yours.
What Can You Do?
1. Deal with it by communicating directly and honestly:
- Don't be afraid to confront the issue. If someone is being passive-aggressive, don't let them get away with it—and don't make the mistake of thinking that it's not worth bringing up. It's better to address the issue than let it fester and explode later.
- Do ask for help if you're dealing with someone who is being passive-aggressive toward you or your team. The best way to deal with this behavior is by communicating directly and honestly with one another, rather than trying to ignore or avoid it altogether—this will only make things worse in the long run!
2. Get in front of it by testing your team or entire organization:
- Measure and predict passive aggressive behavior using scientifically validated personality assessments.
- Utilize self-service platforms for putting personality assessment data to work for you or hire a qualified consultant to help.
- You don't have to wait until something breaks to get in front of passive aggressive behavior. Use a good personality assessment - they also provide vital insight into your people's motivations, communication and work styles, and even predict individual and group aptitude.
The takeaway here is simple: passive aggressive behavior in the workplace can have a negative impact on your team’s culture, but it doesn’t have to be that way. If people are willing to communicate directly and honestly with one another, then there will be more trust and fewer misunderstandings which will lead to better work. Life's too short.
Ready to get in front of passive aggressive and other non-productive workplace behavior?
