Need advice on handling a workplace problem? Don't ask a colleague! A new survey by The Creative Group shows that 60 percent of respondents have received bad advice from coworkers, almost twice the number who have received bum steers from spouses or even good old Mom and Dad. Even bosses faired better in the poll!

The national survey of randomly selected marketing, advertising, and creative professionals, who work on collaborative projects, asked “Have you ever received bad career advice from any of the following.” Co-workers came in first at 58%, bosses were next at 54%, followed by parents/relatives 35%, spouses/significant others 30%, and mentors 25%. Interestingly, one-quarter of respondents said they have never received bad career advice.

The types of poor advice varied 180 degrees. Many were told to “play it safe,” “keep quiet,” “stick with it,” and “stay put”--often accompanied with warnings about the current economy. Others were told to make overly risky moves such as “walk into the CEO's office and say ‘we need to talk about my salary today'” or jump to a start-up, which closed 6 months later.

Then there was the bad advice that came with ulterior motives. One colleague told a respondent to quit so she could take her job. Another respondent's boss advised against quitting to go with a successful competitor only because he had made a bet with another manager that the respondent wouldn't leave.

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“As with any advice, consider the source,” says Donna Farrugia, executive director of The Creative Group. “Although many managers and colleagues have your best interests at heart, the fact that your actions may affect them may color their judgment.”

What is the worst career advice you've gotten and from whom did it come? Let us know http://hr.blr.com/about/strange_submit.cfm. If we get enough good responses, we'll include them in a future column.

Source: The Creative Group

A strip club in Atlanta was losing business to a competitor. Employees met to discuss their options for regaining the edge. They settled on burning down the rival, prosecutors say.

In January 2007, the Atlanta Fire Department and agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) responded to a fire at Club Onyx, an adult entertainment club. No one was hurt during the fire, but the owners of Club Onyx spent nearly $1 million to rebuild the facility and had to keep the club shuttered for over six months.

Investigators say that while they had concluded that it was arson, and surveillance video indicated a man had set the fire, they were initially unable to develop any leads on the identity of the alleged arsonist. In the summer, though, a lead eventually led investigators to a man who was employed at rival strip club Platinum 21. By the end the investigation, prosecutors were alleging that the man had conspired with two other Platinum 21 employees.

Prosecutors say that at the time of the blaze, Club Onyx had recently begun to compete with Platinum 21 for business and dancers. After revenue and profits began to fall, three Platinum 21 employees--a corporate manager, a manager, and the head of security--met and decided that they had to shut down the rival, discussing a variety of less extreme options before settling on the arson plan, prosecutors allege.

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“Setting afire a rival business to gain a competitive edge is not only a threat to free enterprise; it is a crime of violence,” said Gregory Gant of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in Atlanta. “Every time a arsonist strikes a match, the loss of human life is a distinct possibility. ATF's arson enforcement efforts are directed toward preventing arson, providing effective post-incident response, and safeguarding our community from the impact of arson.”

The head of security and the corporate manager have since pleaded guilty to their involvement and received prison sentences of 5 years and 3 years, respectively. They also testified against the third indiviual, who was sentenced to 5 years in prison after a jury found him guilty.

Source: Justice Department

Careerbuilder.com recently conducted a survey that found that 39 percent of workers say they feel that they don't fit in with their colleagues. And if the workers' descriptions of their co-workers' oddest antics are any guide, there's no wonder.

The survey asked respondents to describe the craziest things their co-workers have done on the job. Here are some of the oddest responses.

• Co-worker ate the cheese off the pizza box at a company meeting
• Co-worker talks openly about flatulence.
• Co-worker in the cubicle next to me wears 3-D glasses with the lenses removed.
• Co-worker repeatedly bangs a mallet on the table for no apparent reason.
• Co-worker whistles 8 hours a day.
• Co-worker chews tobacco and spits it into empty soda bottles.
• Former boss brought a baby sippy cup to a meeting and started drinking out of it.
• Co-worker cleaned fingernails using a counterpart's business card while sitting in their office.

The question is, what should co-workers do if their co-worker's behavior bothers them?

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"Today's workplace is made up of many different types of people and sometimes, behavior can come across as being crazy or inappropriate for the office," said Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources for CareerBuilder. "Communication is key to dealing with co-workers' behavior that may be impacting your ability to produce good work – for whatever reason. It is important to identify why their behavior is bothering you. Often, having a professional conversation with your co-worker will solve the problem and allow everyone to work in harmony."

If a professional conversation would be too mature/uncomfortable for some workers, SoAnnoying.com has created “Annoy-a-Grams,” which allow workers to tell a co-worker about a bothersome behavior while staying anonymous. As an HR manager, you are probably running through scenarios in which an employee puts the organization at risk by sending something that is offensive to a co-worker, especially since it can be done anonymously. The website's terms of service do state that users are prohibited from sending anything that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, bullying, or harassing, And the Annoy-A-Gram application itself reminds users “Don't be mean; the purpose of the gram is to alert others of irritating behaviors that you would ordinarily feel awkward about addressing in person.” Do those rules put your mind at ease?

Sources: CareerBuilder.com and SoAnnoying.com