Passive-aggressive behavior can hurt company culture and sometimes lead to harassment claims in Canada. This behavior is challenging for HR to investigate and stop.
All team members should practice healthy communication, said Cheryl Cran, founder and CEO of Next Mapping, a future-of-work consultancy in Vancouver, British Columbia (B.C.).
Passive-aggressive behavior can manifest in various ways in the workplace, experts say, such as:
- Not returning an email, text or a direct message in a respectful time frame.
- Procrastinating from work tasks, ignoring requests or intentionally failing to follow up.
- Not acknowledging colleagues by giving the silent treatment, dodging eye contact or avoiding confrontation.
