Today we will talk about office snitches. I am sure many of you have encountered this phenomenon and, moreover, almost all of you, willy-nilly, have become informers. The atmosphere in the office is very conducive to this.

Why is the psychology of people such that they have little hope in their superiors, in the fact that they themselves will see and understand everything. Apparently, in most cases, the manager simply doesn’t give a damn about who is doing their best and how much, he monitors the indicators and results, not paying attention to the preponderance of work in favor of one or another employee. Or he turns him, but not into a workaholic, but into an imitator of activity.

In kindergarten we called informers “snitch”

It was a terrible insult. That is, it was as if we, three-year-old assholes, were on one side of the barricades, and the teachers were on the other. Do you think psychology has changed since you became an adult? Don't think. In the same way, we run to a more influential person and try to use his hands to punish an employee you dislike.

There are different types of office snitches

It very much depends on whether the knocker is a man or a woman. The specifics of snitching are simply fundamentally different.

So it knocks woman. Yes, a woman knocks constantly, this is in the nature of female psychology. “Random” phrases are dropped during a casual conversation with the boss, alternating flirting with denunciation. It is unlikely that a woman will write an official denunciation. No, most likely it will be just a replica, and turned at the sharpest angle.

A woman will not say that someone is not fulfilling their duties, she will say that someone said something bad about the boss himself. What does the female employee play? That’s right, on personal qualities, on a person’s psychology, on his weaknesses. It unmistakably hits the boss’s most painful spot - his conceit.

It is very difficult to prove that an employee is doing nonsense instead of working. Sometimes this is simply impossible. An experienced freeloader imitates hectic activity, piles papers on the table and constantly fusses in front of his superiors, picking up the phone or sending himself SMS and immediately running out.

Therefore, the tactic of female denunciation most often hits the target, and a couple more such snitches, and the boss subconsciously begins to treat the unwanted employee less loyally.

Men are divided into two types. Men always knock, but there are two fundamental differences. The first ones seem to be silent and most likely will make an apt remark in the smoking room. For example, this is how a silent man stands next to his boss, listens with an understanding look to what the boss says about his employees, and as soon as the conversation turns to the victim, the silent man exhales cigarette smoke, frowns in a characteristic way, and says, barely audible, “He doesn’t work at all.” ..”, puts out a cigarette butt in a bucket with saliva and leaves.

That's it, the snitch has done his job, the snitch can leave. This is less effective than the female denunciation tactic, but it also works well. It works more effectively the more authoritative the informer looks.

The second type of denunciation is self-affirmation in the eyes of the collective at the expense of the victim. This hidden form does not always work, especially if the informer has already earned the image of a quarrelsome and hysterical person in the eyes of the team. Such a brawler begins to shout, accuse and point to his own merits. Moreover, it is not the troublemaker’s health that suffers at all; on the contrary, he throws it all out and calmly feels how his nerves go away and life improves. The victim and the entire team suffer.

This form of denunciation seems to come from the heart and seems to be like, “Well, I can’t keep all this to myself anymore!” not very effective. A heart-to-heart conversation with your boss always gives the effect several times better.

How do we deal with all these informers?, if in fact we work normally and do our job better than an informer?

Well, there is no need to fight with women. Whether the attitude towards you is good or bad - in principle, it does not play a special role. This attitude can change several times a week. Most often, a woman is envious, so even if you simply achieve good results at work, you cannot count on her favor. A person who tries to play along with an “influential” lady in a team, instead of gaining experience and defending his line of behavior, looks truly pathetic.

Understand, this opinion is the same as the opinion of a grandmother from the entrance. She may mess up sometimes, but it's unlikely to be serious.

I am not considering options with a female boss. No matter what anyone says, a woman cannot (or simply cannot resist) be in a position of authority if she does not know how to think above her emotions. So we clearly separate these concepts and do not confuse the clerk Marina and the head of the sales department Olga Olegovna. The boss's chair leaves its mark, and it can no longer be erased.

So, in the case of a woman, just work and don't pay attention to her.

The case with a hysterical person - don’t be afraid to have a heart-to-heart talk with him and sort things out outside the office. Most often, the thought comes to mind that such an act is uncivilized, and it’s just too lazy to get involved...

No matter what anyone says, the method of force and threat is the most effective. People come up with new technologies, try to conquer at least a little space and mess with nanotechnology, but human psychology does not change. A child will never improve if a belt is not used, this is the truth of life. A person will never realize that he is doing something wrong until he comes across a limiter in the form of a fist.

Conversations, persuasion and attempts to listen to the voice of reason of the troublemaker are simply turning your attention to him. See how quickly a spoiled child rolling on the floor calms down if you just go into another room and don’t pay attention to him. Or you can take out the belt and do calming movements a couple of times.

Exactly the same here. Outside the office, try several times to turn the conversation into a fight - and you will see how this toilet becomes white the next day and even without germs. Do you think force is a method for stupid people? Drop these stereotypes.

What remains is the most influential and most difficult type of informer - authoritative, old, honored worker. Or he’s just silent, doing everything on time. I think that such informers are even useful in a rotten office environment, like the “Mashenka” chalk that drives out cockroaches.

This office orderly sees right through you and if he says that you don’t work for shit, then most likely you don’t work for shit. The method of struggle is work and asking for advice from such an authority. You won't be able to make friends, just believe me. But it definitely deserves attention.

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Work plays an important role in our lives - for each of us. For some it serves only as a means of making money, but for others it becomes a matter of their whole life. If you do what you really love, you are truly lucky! What could be better than an activity that helps you realize your potential and reveal all your talents? However, sometimes it happens that there is a fly in the ointment that can spoil the enjoyment of the work process. Society is an important part of life, and our mood often depends on the people around us. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to gather employees in one company, each of whom would have only positive qualities. This is especially true for large corporations with large staff. Management has to make a difficult choice between character and professionalism, and most often preference is given to the latter - while the manager can only turn a blind eye to the difficult character of a colleague. As a result, such colleagues take advantage of their position and do what they want. They are the ones who can really ruin our lives, causing daily bad mood and constant stress. How to teach a lesson to a work colleague who is annoying with his rudeness and impudence? There are several effective ways to help you put a nuisance employee to shame.

If a colleague is a “thorn”

1. Try inviting a picky colleague to lunch with you, and over a cup of coffee calmly discuss the situation, talking face to face regarding the issue that concerns you. Directness and frankness on your part, coupled with a trusting attitude, in most cases is a very effective technique.
2. Reduce tense situations and altercations with a colleague to a joke, or even “tease” him, showing that you are not at all offended by his attacks. Faced with your calmness and equanimity, he will understand that you are “too tough for him”, and he will quickly get bored with this matter.
3. If the bully begins, among other things, to speak negatively about the work, listen to him to the end. Then, if successful, you will be able to turn this information against him.
4. If your colleague is smart and experienced, and is nagging you about business, do not rush to bicker and argue. Take his opinion into account and think - maybe he only wishes good things for you, but due to his persistent or even harsh nature, did you mistake your colleague’s behavior for aggression? This also happens quite often. Watch him, maybe he just has a peculiar “cocky” manner of communication. In this case, you will have to get used to it. The main thing is not to create negativity on your part in the relationship. Be balanced and reasonable.

How to teach a scammer a lesson?

1. If your colleague is extremely hostile and tries to get you fired by denouncing your boss, he clearly sees you as a competitor. This kind of behavior needs to be nipped in the bud. To ensure that the spiteful critic does not have a chance to “wash your bones” again and again, keep communication with him to a minimum, or better yet, remain silent altogether. No wonder they say that silence is golden. Discuss all personal issues outside the office, and try to be as talkative as possible at work. Don't give the slightest reason for gossip.
2. A good way to put a scolder in his place or even get him demoted is the method of disinformation. Give the informer deliberately false information, and the more absurd it is, the better. When the bosses realize that they are trying to fool him, your ill-wisher will definitely be in trouble.
3. Don’t even think about repaying a mean colleague “in the same coin” by complaining about him to your manager. This will not lead to anything good; moreover, there is a high probability that both of you will get hit. A much more reasonable behavior towards the informer would be to ignore his antics.
4. Put the slanderer in an unfavorable light in front of the team - tell everyone about his behavior. They don't like informers, so perhaps this will discourage him from doing similar things in the future.
5. If you like to act decisively and boldly, use harsh, evil humor and irony. This way you will show the offender that he made a mistake in choosing the “victim”.

How to deal with boors

1. Mockery and a condescending smile are the best options for dealing with boors. If you hear rudeness, judgment, or even name-calling, deliberately confirm the words of the offender and repeat them to yourself, only in an exaggerated form. The opponent will immediately feel wounded and powerless, and will “go out” in an instant.
2. Treat your impudent colleague with emphatic affection and kindness, as if you were dealing with a patient in a psychiatric clinic. Agree with him on everything and speak in a deliberately sweet voice. Such a psychological “straitjacket” will instantly put a violent colleague under siege.
3. Make an effort and try to overtake your colleague on the career ladder by achieving a promotion. Then his rudeness will seem like baby talk to you, and you can simply “crush” him like a bug.

People are not born informers, they are made. But still, in order to report, you need to have a special character. Only in cheap detective stories does a smart detective catch someone doing something illegal and offer an alternative: either you work for me or you go to jail. And that’s it, information flowed to the opera. This is nonsense, after a while the incriminating evidence will become outdated. Besides, a decent person will choose the second option - prison. Well, if the detainee agreed to “help” the authorities, then he was ready to become an informant. He was simply pushed to do this.

The opera, by the way, offers cooperation to almost all those arrested, but not everyone agrees. As a rule, blackmail is only appropriate if the person is constantly under control. It happens that in pre-trial detention centers, operatives recruit child rapists. We, they say, will hide your article from your cellmates, put you with inexperienced first movers, and you will report: who is saying what, and who has what prohibited items in their cell. And since the rapist, in case of refusal, expects unpleasant (for some) manipulations with the sphincter of the rectum, he accepts the offer. Basically, people themselves make contact with the administration. Some - to have smoke and tea, others - for meetings with relatives, others - because they are embittered at the whole world and, by their rotten nature, cannot help but knock. Those sold to operas for a pack of smokes and a mess of tea are the most primitive and can easily buy out a gay man. Usually these are prisoners who have been convicted several times. They are assigned to inexperienced first-timers. And repeat offenders, taking advantage of the cheap authority of newcomers, act as an adviser. Not only will they ask about the crimes of the cellmate, but they will also recommend that you write a confession, promising that you will be released on your own recognizance.

The opera in prison is imprisoned according to the regime. First movers, planers and special officers separately. So, if everyone in the cell is on trial for the first time, and with them sits a “jailed” prisoner with outstanding criminal records, you should be wary. The sex workers described above continue to knock with great enthusiasm even after their release. And since, due to limited mental abilities, they cannot commit a major crime, they deal in small things. When such a specimen comes across, the operator, remembering his past merits, can “smear” his man.

The situation is more complicated with the so-called volunteers. They knock because they despise the gray mass. They consider themselves superior to others. They are consumed by envy. Their heads are a mess of a sense of false justice and personal meanness. Such people, just to get the opportunity to do something bad to someone, report with inspiration. This category is literally on fire at work, just to get information out of a specific person. At the request of the operator, they can easily sit in a punishment cell with an object of interest to the administration. It happens that their intelligence is more powerful and it is quite difficult to calculate them. This is in a pre-trial detention center.

In the correct (“black”) zone, identifying an informant is not so difficult. Although his contact with the operative, of course, occurs without witnesses. And the sext will always answer, saying that they called for a registered letter. 11O after all, everyone knows about the “nepotists”, but they don’t get involved with them. It happens, of course, if someone is “burnt” because of his denunciation or drunkenness, the informants are severely beaten, “let down”, killed, but infrequently. Who wants to get an extra sentence?

On the other hand, law-abiding citizens only benefit from informers. But they are hated by the people. Status plays an important role here. If you are a policeman and infiltrated a gang, then you are a hero intelligence officer. And if without shoulder straps, then - ugh, informer!

However, in Russia every second person is a sexot. There are more than a million prisoners in zones and prisons, but they didn’t surrender themselves. In the “red” colonies, people knock on the door and race to the headquarters. Look at how enthusiastically our people responded to the authorities’ call after terrorist attacks to report suspicious neighbors. True, the authorities themselves were not happy afterwards. They were not told anything specific; one district police officer had to take a hundred calls a day: neighbor looked askance at neighbor and immediately fell into the category of suspicious.

In kindergarten we called informers snitches, and it was a terrible insult. But since we became adults, this phenomenon has not been eradicated. Some people still run in the same way to a more influential person and try to use his hands to punish a colleague they dislike.

What motivates an informer?

“How do you get a snitch to quit? She has no more strength, she sits in the same office with us, warms her ears, makes “mines”, then goes knocking on the boss about what she heard or imagined, besides, she regularly spreads gossip and weaves intrigues, spoils the whole atmosphere in the team, now she’s also trying to recruit new make friends with employees. It’s impossible to work like this anymore, there’s no reason for management to fire her, she’s not going anywhere herself either, she’s happy with everything. The atmosphere is clearly unhealthy, and working with such a rotten person is not at all a joy...” – complains one of the forum users on the Internet.

This situation is probably known to many. According to various surveys, 84 percent of people have informers at work. 86 percent know who is engaged in denunciations, the majority condemns such “informants”, but at the same time every fourth considers this to be normal practice. And the informers themselves, as an explanation for their behavior, give the following arguments: “I can’t live without this, it’s part of my character,” “I hope for a promotion,” “I suck up to management,” “I fight for justice,” “This is revenge, I do this out of harmfulness." But whatever the reasons for the informer, his presence in the team creates an alarming and unpleasant atmosphere.

There are different types of office snitches. In addition to those who like to write official slander, there are so-called psychologists. They are unlikely to write a denunciation, but during a casual conversation with their boss they will drop “random” phrases, remarks turned at the sharpest angle. This is mainly a female tactic. The employee will not directly say that engineer Ivanov is not fulfilling his duties, but rather will say that Ivanov said something bad about the boss himself. And it will unmistakably hit the boss where it hurts most – his conceit. A couple more such well-timed phrases, and the boss subconsciously begins to treat Ivanov less loyally.

The second type is the silent ones. They will express their apt remark not in the management’s office, but as if by chance. For example, like this - a silent man stands in the smoking room next to the boss, listens with an understanding look to what he says about the employees, and as soon as the conversation turns to the victim, the silent man exhales cigarette smoke, characteristically winces, says, barely audible, “He doesn’t work at all.” ...”, puts out the cigarette butt and leaves. This denunciation tactic also works well, and the more effective the more authoritative the informer looks.

Another type of denunciation is self-affirmation in the eyes of the collective at the expense of the victim. Such a brawler in front of his superiors begins to shout at his colleague, blame him and point out his own merits. It turns out as if from the heart: “Well, I can’t keep all this inside myself anymore!”, and the troublemaker himself, in the eyes of management, looks like an honest employee who sincerely cares about the quality of the work and is ready to lay down his soul for it.

Fighting methods

How to deal with office snitches? You can try to survive the informer from the company. “We had one like that - she snitched on the bosses, and made things up, and did nasty things, and threw open accusations at people in the face for things that they didn’t even do,” one employee says on the forum. – The four of us sat in the office, and as a result, the three of us did not communicate with her. For example, she will ask something not related to work, everyone is silent... she will ask something else - silence again. She starts talking about herself (she loved her very much) - no one reacts. After six months, she quit herself.”

You can also try to get ahead of the informer. If you see that the informer is preparing to go to the director with another slander, visit the “carpet” earlier and openly report that Marfa Ivanovna initiates conflict situations during working hours, which will certainly lead to a decrease in labor productivity and an unhealthy atmosphere in your friendly team. And that, despite all this, you understand that she is a valuable employee, and you want the situation to be resolved in an amicable way. This will not be sneaking on your part, because the director will hear polar opinions on one issue.

In fact, only the manager can guarantee that an informer will be eliminated. To do this, it is enough just to punish the subordinate for slander and not take his words into account. Unfortunately, such a policy does not occur often - few people admit it, but usually management wants to know what is happening in the organization, so behind the scenes, gossip is encouraged.

Informers, informers, sneaks - these are all somehow not typical representatives of our soil. While in the West such behavior is treated absolutely normally, our attitude towards informers has always been and is sharply negative. But if in one case this needs to be done in the name of people’s safety (in Switzerland, if a person drank and got behind the wheel, then the owner of the bar where he was drinking will immediately report this to the police), then as for encouraging internal corporate denunciations, this can provoke an atmosphere of mistrust between employees and completely destroy team spirit. In addition, most often those who “look closely” at the work of others are those who are not confident in the quality of their own work and are looking for someone to whom they can shift responsibility for their own mistakes.

Prepared by Alexandra Bilyarchik,
based on materials