How To Deal With Negative Employees

 



The most successful organizations are often those that foster genuine community and camaraderie among employees [M Rexroth, A Michel, C Bosch - Zeitschrift für Arbeits-, 2017]. Working with peers who encourage and support you can lead to improved performances. Nurturing these positive relationships at work is an important part of creating an uplifting, gratifying workplace that employees enjoy being a part of. In this article, we discuss why it's important to deal with negative employees, how to deal with negative employees and tips for maintaining a positive workplace.

Why is it important to deal with negative employees?


Negative employees can drag down the morale of the whole team, impacting productivity and team spirit, and even leading to increased absenteeism and low retention rates.

This makes it important to take early action with negative employees to turn their attitude around and maintain a strong sense of optimism before their negativity spreads across the broader team. 

How to deal with negative employees




Here are the steps for how to handle negative employees: [https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/people-managers/pages/negative-workers-.aspx]

1. Listen

If an employee comes to you with a concern about a negative co-worker, listen before responding. What one person deems as negativity may just be a misunderstanding or a difference in personality types or communication styles. Take careful notes about the complaint, and thank the employee for their honesty. Try to avoid promising certain actions or consequences.

2. Research the situation

Before speaking with a negative employee, learn more about the situation. Request multiple perspectives from other colleagues who work with the employee [Alshehre R A M 2017]. You want honest answers from employees, so try to present open-ended questions that allow the employees to offer their own opinions.

3. Address the issue directly

If you do observe instances of negativity from an employee, schedule a meeting with them. Be prepared to explain your observations using specific examples from your experience and other employees, though you may want to keep those names anonymous. You should discuss how long the issues have been a problem and how they affect other employees and the company.

4. Avoid accusations

Try to avoid directly accusing an employee of negative traits, like being selfish or rude. Instead, you might ask the employee why they think these behaviors are causing problems for others. It's important to use active listening to hear what the employee's perception is. With further analysis, the employee may understand how their comments or actions are inappropriate.

5. Provide alternate courses of action

Using examples of negative behavior, you can provide specific feedback for how the employee might respond in similar situations in the future. Explain the company's core values and demonstrate how the employee's actions can promote or discourage those values.

6. Offer positive statements

Rather than spend your entire meeting addressing an employee's challenging behavior, offer praise for areas where they succeed [Aryee, S, Sun L Y, Chen Z X G and Debrah Y A 2008 ]. For example, the employee may have strong budgeting skills, consistently turn in work before deadlines or design an engaging company newsletter.


Conclusion


It's important to address negative employees to maintain a positive work environment for all employees. Employee negativity can cause distractions in the workplace that lead to reduced productivity and diminished employee morale.


Reference 

https://www.thebalancecareers.com/how-to-manage-a-negative-employee-1918785 [Accessed 15 March 2022]

https://www.insperity.com/blog/negative-employees-how-to-keep-one-from-spoiling-the-whole-bunch/ [Accessed 15 March 2022]

https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/people-managers/pages/negative-workers-.aspx [Accessed 15 March 2022]

International journal of productivity and performance management 63 308

Alshehre R A M 2017 Positive Effects of Gossiping at Work Open Journal of Medical Psychology 6 126 [Accessed 15 March 2022]

 Aryee, S, Sun L Y, Chen Z X G and Debrah Y A 2008 Abusive supervision and contextual performance: The mediating role of emotional exhaustion and the moderating role of work unit structure Management and Organization Review 4 393-411 [Accessed 15 March 2022]

Comments

  1. Venushka BandaranayakeMarch 25, 2022 at 10:14 PM

    Every employee is equally important in an organization but we have to pay more attention on negative employees since they can damage the image of organization as well as the moral of other employees. Really good article.. All the best..

    ReplyDelete
  2. ChathuraDMarch 27, 2022 at 9:03 AM

    Negative employees are the most negative of an organization have. Dealing with them is very difficult. You have clearly mentioned what is the importance of dealing with negative employees and how to it. Well written Blog.

    ReplyDelete
  3. premakumaraMBAApril 3, 2022 at 8:41 AM

    Nicely Describe what's the steps of action taken for Negative employees. and you have selected a very common but usual topic for us. people facing this type of cases & i got to learn how they handle without breaking their hearts. Many thanks Dilini for your letter.

    Dimunge Wasantha

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anuradha WickramasiriApril 5, 2022 at 6:36 AM

    Employees can be categorized basically in to two types ,positive minded and negative minded.Though the positive minded employees are an asset to the employer ,negative minded employees can change the morale of the entire team.It will badly effect to entire organization,with low productivity and performance.

    You have clearly described the steps should be taken towards the changing negative mind set of such employees.
    An interesting topic.Well done Dilini..

    ReplyDelete
  5. ZamanApril 28, 2022 at 11:01 PM

    You have explained well about negative employees and how to treat them. It is important to change the perception and behavior of the negative employees because they can influence the whole team and it can lead to adverse performance outputs.
    Good article !

    ReplyDelete
  6. Suranga Senarathne - MBA May 3, 2022 at 7:09 AM

    "Negative employees can drag down the morale of the whole team".
    Personally, I had an experience when I was in sales. Perfectly done Dilini. I like this writing.
    Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Nishantha RathnayakeMay 4, 2022 at 10:01 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Amila KarunarathnaMay 5, 2022 at 9:48 AM

    Understanding how to manage negative employees will help make the experience as painless as possible, not only for ourself, but for our team. The key thing is to address the employee immediately before negativity spreads. Well done

    ReplyDelete
  9. Achala BandaraMay 6, 2022 at 3:57 AM

    Explain the steps taken to deal with negative employees in a clear and concise manner. You've chosen a topic that is both common and familiar to us. I got to learn how people deal with these types of situations without breaking their hearts. I appreciate your letter, Dilini.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Amila PereraMay 6, 2022 at 9:37 AM

    A negative employee can affect to whole work group or the team very quickly if necessary and immediate action are not taken. As you mentioned it is very important to mange them accordingly prior to spreading it to other employees. It will be a great cost to an organization. Well written article. Good luck.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Asela ThennakoonMay 6, 2022 at 10:57 PM

    Success of any organization is depended on the motivated employees who are having positive think and willingness to dedicate and working with them is very easy. How ever all the employees are not having positive thinking is dealing with them and directing them towards the organization goals is very difficult. This article has listed out several methods to deal with negative employees which are very important in actual scenario.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Darshana UndugodageMay 7, 2022 at 5:31 AM

    This article clearly explained how to handle the negative employees in the organization and change them to positive one and get their best to betterment of the organization.
    Well done.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Suresh HerathMay 7, 2022 at 7:35 AM

    If necessary, a negative employee can swiftly affect the entire work group or team if appropriate action is not taken. As you indicated, it's critical to manage them well before extending them to other staff. It will be quite expensive for a company.

    ReplyDelete

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