The Good and Bad Employee Types Found in Every Office

It is widely known that what makes a company great are its employees. They are the engine that keeps the wheels turning, so to speak. Without the right people, there wouldn’t be any progress or quality work done. Unfortunately, there isn’t such a thing as the perfect employee. But, this doesn’t stop you from looking for the closest thing to it.

Moreover, in order to get the most out of your workers, and have them produce great work, you need to hire a few types of employees. What you need is a team with a wide variety of qualities. For example, you will need both old and young people, doers and thinkers, active and passive workers. Sadly, not all of them are good for business. Nevertheless, you can always solve that problem by replacing the bad ones, and keeping the good.

With that said, you might be wondering what the criteria for distinguishing between the two types is. Well, we will give an overview of several types, and why they are positive or negative. Take a look below to find out more about each type of employee and how they can affect your company.

The good:

1.    The passionate one

This type of employee is maybe the best you could find. A passionate person is serious about their job. Moreover, they love what they do. Showing up to work is not a game to them, nor are they doing it just for the money. A passionate worker is someone who tries really hard and gives their all to succeed and get the job done.

Also, you can always rely on them for advice, alternative approaches to projects, and so on. Even better, they will initiate a few things themselves. Because they are passionate, this will be a standard part of their job description – initiating new ideas and projects without the need to be guided or taught.

Passion is not something you teach yourself; it is inborn. This person didn’t apply for that specific job just because they needed the money. They did it because they love the profession and want to do exactly that. And, if someone is like this, you will be able to see it during the interview. Finding one is hard though, so if you do come across a passionate person, hire them. Give them a chance to do what they live for.

2.    The team player

What is better than to have someone who always has your back and would never push you under the bus? These are the characteristics of a team player. This employee cares about his or her own performance, but they also care about the work of the whole team. The work and progress of the company depend on the team, so the team player will do his absolute best to help out and push all his peers forward.

For example, during a project, if there was someone else who didn’t really understand what is supposed to be done, the team player would step up and help them. Moreover, he wouldn’t judge or go complain to the boss, which is important for the benefit of the company and its employees.

3.    The positive one

Being in a good mood is essential for staying on top of things, as well as getting through the day successfully. Furthermore, your mood could easily rub off on someone else. So, if you are negative, there is a good chance that this negativity will transfer to everyone around you, and this would not end well.

With constant negativity, you can diminish the chances of success, plus kill your own confidence levels. Therefore, an employer should only look for positive people. A positive employee will only see the good in every situation. They will not over-react to bad news or a project failing. What they would do is look carefully at the situation, learn from it and move on to the next project.

They do not fixate on bad things. Additionally, just like the passionate person, the positive one will enjoy their work. Not every job is easy, but this doesn’t stop them from giving it all and going forward. And lastly, this positivity will be good for the work environment. If you are positive, it means you are confident. And, this is all you need to succeed both in your professional and your social life.

The bad:

1.    The slacker

This destructive type will wreak chaos in your office. The slacker is the opposite of what a proper worker is supposed to look like, and behave. They come into the office late, if they actually show up for work at all, as they are more likely to be absent than present. This is one of their main characteristics. The slacker will do anything in his or her power to skip work or avoid finding full-time employment. What they prefer is a low-demanding. but high-paying job.

This type of employee is, simply said, toxic. Their lack of energy and motivation can be a bad influence on other employees. Plus, they have no regards for deadlines and the importance of being punctual with work, and they simply can’t be trusted to get things done. If someone else took their workload, they would be more than happy, as there will be nothing left for them to do. The less effort, the better is their motto.

Furthermore, they have horrible time management, and knowing how to organize your time is crucial for being a good worker. They would rather spend their office hours browsing through YouTube videos and social media than doing anything valuable.

2.    The drama queen

If you want to kill the silence and monotony in your workplace, then hire a drama queen. However, if you want to have a calm, bearable atmosphere, then keep this type of employee away from your team. The drama queen will only bring you bad energy and dampen the mood, and he or she will make the rest of the employees feel uneasy and irritated.

You can spot a drama queen without difficulty, as they are often in the spotlight. Whether it’s just pure hunger for attention, or overreacting without a reason, they will make sure to be noticed and have their voice heard. Instead of calmly talking about an issue, they will choose the other option, and that is to make a mountain out of a molehill.
Because of their nature, they are hard to deal with; often impossible. Only a patient and experienced manager could handle them. As far as their peers go, no one likes to be in their vicinity. Drama queens tend to drain the energy of those around them. Also, they tend to deal with irrelevant things like gossip. This is all unacceptable for a company that takes itself seriously and prides itself on having great employees.

3.    Rebels or change resisters

Rebels are constantly in refusal mode. They simply resist any change, whether it is good or bad. Moreover, they protest any and all advice and communication. This makes them highly unbearable and impossible to work with.

Anything you throw their way, like a proposal to do a project a certain way, they will disregard it as a stupid idea, even if it is a great solution. They will even go as far as opposing the manager. It seems as though they are so blinded by their ego, that they lose track of boundaries. They often fail to see what is acceptable behaviour, and what isn’t.

In addition to this, they refuse any other innovation introduced by the company. For example, some technological changes like the use of tablets for keeping notes during meetings, or sharing documents in the cloud instead of using actual paper.

They fear this because, in their eyes, it is seen as a big change that could lead to some other changes in the future. It is like saying a food tastes awful before even trying it. And, when they realise that they were wrong the whole time, they will not admit it. Instead, they will wait for it to pass unnoticed and never mention it again. For them, ignorance is bliss.

Judging from these points, it is clear that the pool of possible employee contains many different characters, each one with their own unique perks and quirks. When looking to hire someone new, and when reviewing old employees, you should definitely look at their personalities, too. It might sound weird, but ultimately, people are what they are because of their personalities.

Their actions and words are heavily influenced by it. So, do not let yourself hire someone bad, like a slacker; they will only hold your other employees back and slow down your business. You should always be on the lookout, keeping track of your employees’ performances, so you’d know who is a good and who is a bad employee, and how to weed the bad ones out.