Asking for work adjustments or initiating behavioural changes - what makes a 'problematic co-worker' score Brownie points? An experimental study on the reactions towards colleagues with a XXXX .

@entity1 @entity1314 @entity146
UNASSIGNED: @entity1 with @entity146 , especially @entity1314 , often face low acceptance at work. This is particularly problematic when returning to work after sick leave, because it impedes reintegration into the former workplace. This study explores colleagues' reactions towards a problematic worker dependent on the returning @entity1 's reintegration strategy: The returning @entity1 undertaking changes in their behaviour is compared with the @entity1 requesting adjustments of the workplace. In an experimental study, 188 employed @entity1 read one of four vignettes that described a return-to-work-situation of a problematic co-worker. Across all vignettes, the co-worker was depicted as having previously caused problems in the work team. In the first vignette, the co-worker did not change anything (control condition) when she returned to work; in the second, she asked for workplace adjustments; in the third vignette she initiated efforts to change her own behaviour; and the fourth vignette combined both workplace adjustments and behavioural change. Study @entity1 were asked for their reactions towards the problematic co-worker. Vignettes that included a behavioural change evoked more positive reactions towards the co-worker than vignettes without any behavioural change. Asking for workplace adjustments alone did not yield more positive reactions compared to not initiating any change. When preparing employees with interactional problems for their return to work, it is not effective to only instruct them on their statutory entitlement for workplace adjustments. Instead, it is advisable to encourage them to proactively strive for behaviour changes.
