A new study has revealed that half of workers in large companies do not like their colleagues. Figures from office space provider Regus show 49 percent of people in companies with more than 250 staff don't like their co-workers, News.com.au reported.

It's significantly more than the 16 per cent of people in companies with less than 49 staff who admitted to disliking their colleagues. Employees also didn't like colleagues when they were perceived as being too precious to work hard (11 percent) while small business workers detested colleagues who were difficult to manage. When people didn't like a co-worker the most common response was performance management, with 53 percent of people saying this was their first port of call, according to the research. More than one third said they would work harder to understand a colleague better while six per cent said they would fire them.

Researchers established that reasons for disliking co-workers includes poor work ethic, overpowering, controlling, lack skills and lack of performance management. Paul Migliorini, Regus Australia and New Zealand CEO said that in today's busy workplace, the value of building relationships through collaboration seems like a tough job but for employers it is important to structure the workplace to create a positive environment for employees, he added. He further suggested that having flexible working time and discussing issues with managers can help improve collaboration.

DST: 1549 HRS, JUNE-19, 2014