A new survey from Monster asked about helping colleagues if they weren't performing at work: "A colleague you are friends with has been seriously underperforming – would you report him or her?"
Would You Report Your Colleague Survey Results
- Yes, if it will help me get ahead: 4%
- Yes, if the team’s success is on the line: 27%
- No, if possible, I’d help my friend with work: 58%
- No, if the boss doesn’t notice, it’s not my concern: 11%
The results when broken out are interesting. US respondents are the most likely globally to report their friend to the boss and the least likely to to help. Over one in three (37%) would tell the boss if the team’s success was being jeopardised by their friend’s performance, while over 5% are ambitious enough to do so to get ahead.
This compares to one in four in Europe (25%) and Asia (24%) that would tell the boss if it was affecting the team, with under four percent of respondents in both regions doing so to get ahead in the company. In fact, in Europe or Asia, 70% would either help the friend or just leave it to the boss to notice.

