In offices and companies, there are toxic, ineffective and team spirit-destroying employees. Discover with us the so-called zombie workers.
Written and verified by the psychologist GetPersonalGrowth.
Last update: 15 November 2021
Zombie workers can exist in any professional context. And, surely, you have seen some of them more than once. They always seem very busy, but in reality all they do is delegate responsibility to others. They are inefficient, unproductive, but they know how to gain the trust of leaders to create toxic and fruitless environments in which they survive perfectly.
Within the vast terminology that refers to the world of work, we must add the concept of working dead, in fact, zombie workers. Some of you may mistakenly think that we are referring to those poorly paid employees who work a large number of hours, doing anonymous, automated, poorly motivating and totally unrecognized work.
However, there is a clear difference between exploited workers and those who simply walk around the company pretending to do something: productivity. Some people think that low performance is mostly based on the low engagement of zombie workers. Conversely, those who have analyzed this behavior ask another question. Why do companies continue to accept these profiles in their facilities?
First of all, it must be said that we are not referring only to civil servants. We are also talking about all the zombie workers who settle in offices, companies, universities, factories and any type of company where they manage, despite everything, to survive. How? What strategies do they use? In this article, we will reveal everything you need to know about zombie workers.
The zombie worker is lazy and has few skills, but he can survive in any work environment because he knows how to win the trust of managers. He never particularly attracts attention, despite having the ability to poison the environment and destroy the team spirit within the company.
How to recognize zombie workers
In 2004, research was conducted by the American company Gallup to evaluate the commitment of various companies in the United States and Europe. The results revealed something that experts had already called a cultural and entrepreneurial crisis.
Nearly 64% of employees say they don't do their best in their work or to achieve the goals of the company they are employed to. The only goal is to make your working day and receive your salary. According to them, this is due to the low recognition of their worth and the bad relationship with middle or higher level executives.
Of the remaining 36%, 15% are so-called zombie workers. Companies know of their presence and, although many consider them "bad apples" (elements of the organization that convey low productivity), the general feeling is that their presence is almost inevitable.
Kevin Daum, a well-known writer, business specialist and Smart Business Magazine columnist, defines zombie workers as a dangerous phenomenon that should be addressed more. Companies do not realize that zombie workers are adversely affecting efficiency and productivity, compromising the work environment.
5 characteristics of zombie workers
- They always come out before the others. They always succeed, they have not yet finished the working day, but they turn off the PC and get ready to go out with peace and joy. Even more, they take pride in this attitude as if it were normal and acceptable behavior.
- They love gossip. This is perhaps one of their main reasons for going to work: learning about gossip, enlarging it and spreading it.
- They are harbingers of bad news. Zombie workers manage to get to the news first with a negative component: cuts, problems, sanctions ...
- They never respect timetables. They always have time problems, always arrive late, need longer breaks than usual and don't hesitate to leave early.
- They have no aspiration. While showing some minimal skill or proficiency, zombie workers have only one goal to pass the time. They delegate, refuse and create inconvenience to work colleagues, internally undermining the harmony of the office.
Why do companies accept these employees?
The presence of zombie workers affects any professional, public and private sector. What is the reason for this permissiveness towards a figure who, often, can also become a bad example for others? First of all, it should be noted that not all companies allow this attitude. In the long run, zombie workers can enormously damage the image and productivity of the office or society as a whole.
However, inexplicably, these profiles proliferate at all levels. The cause of this can be traced back to two main elements, which we present below:
Companies do not always have systems to evaluate and identify the job performance of every employee. And managers don't always ask for them or trust them. The skill of many zombie workers lies in being able to give a friendly, fun and cheerful image that can overshadow the real problems.
The second aspect is a little more troubling. It can happen that zombie workers resist inside an office simply because the manager is also one of them. Many people advocate functionality and not innovation; they prefer docile people who do not cause problems, who limit themselves to "being", who do not protest, who do not contribute ideas, who do not bring about changes.
Zombie workers will coexist with "live" ones until labor policies change and there is a real commitment to efficiency and a real appreciation of the skills of each professional.
In the meantime, the advice we can give you is to stay away from these workers: even without biting you, their behavior could end up infecting you.
