Advice can help neutralize effect of a negative worker
by Jimmie Wilkins

A wealth of current research tells us that the most critical factor in controlling undesirable turnover and increasing retention of talented people is the skills of managers. People join companies and leave managers. Satisfied employees are critical to the success of your business. If they're not happy on the job, customers are not happy being with them.

So what do you do when you have an employee who is not happy?

Every business can have a the-glass-is-half-empty person on the lookout for something to go wrong. You can recognize them; they spend the majority of the day in a negative slump and criticize almost everything, including projects and people.

The it-will-never-work attitude also can devastate your company morale. You might start to notice that other employees -- once happy, motivated people -- are starting to gossip and criticize. When it comes down to it, negativity is like the flu: it's contagious. It also is expensive. Negativity costs companies millions of dollars in terms of productivity and profitability.

So how do you deal with an employee whose negativity is beginning to rub off on others? Our first instinct might be that the person's behavior is just about his or her "bad attitude" and ignore it.

Not a great idea.

This actually can fuel the fire by setting a culture of negativity. In fact, if we do nothing about the negativity, we are condoning the behavior and, therefore, endorsing it. You need to take action.

Often at the heart of a "negaholic" attitude are fear and uncertainty. Change is the biggest single cause of workplace negativity. Even if that new billing system is for the better, people will automatically ask themselves, "What am I losing?" For employees, change automatically equals the loss of something comfortable, and they will resist it.

Here are simple steps for quelling the office critic, paraphrased from some great work by Chris Penttila, a freelance journalist.

1. Understand change from the employee's perspective. Employees can put up with change as long as they can talk openly about it. Remember that most negative people don't know that they are negative because no one ever tells them.

2. Find the fear, then focus on solutions. Teach negative employees to focus on offering solutions, not just criticism. Turning the griper into a solution provider gives him or her a genuine way to contribute.

3. Do some coaching. Work with the negative person on improving his or her attitude. Chances are, these people are complaining because they think they have good ideas that haven't been heard.

Ultimately, employers can work too long and hard with some negative people when it's better just to cut their losses, recognizing a bad fit. If there's no improvement after three to six months, maybe it's time to let them go (legally, documented, etc., of course).

After you let a negative person go, talk with employees about the future of their workplace. It can be the perfect opportunity to take the pulse of your company culture.

Copyright 2008 - Jimmie Wilkins