Workplace Negativity Nothing affects employee morale more adversely than persistent workplace negativity. It saps (消耗) the energy of your organization and diverts critical attention from work and performance. Negativity occurs in the attitude, outlook, and talk of one department member, or in a crescendo (高潮) of voices responding to a workplace decision or event. Learn About Workplace Negativity As a manager or human resources professional, you are closely in touch with employees throughout the company. This allows you to keep your fingers on the pulse of the organization to sense workplace negativity. It enables you to establish and heed early warning signals that all is not well. You receive employee complaints, do exit interviews with employees who leave, and know the reputation of your organization in your community. You watch the discussions on employee Intranets, manage the appraisal and 360-degree feedback process, and coach managers in appropriate staff treatment. This information will help you learn to identify the symptoms of negativity before its morale-busting consequences damage your workplace. It will also assist you in preventing and curing workplace negativity. Diagnose Workplace Negativity Negativity is an increasing problem in the workplace, according to Gary S. Topchik, the author of Managing Workplace Negativity. He states, in a Management Review article, that negativity is often the result of a loss of confidence, control, or community. Knowing what people are negative about is the first step in solving the problem. In my experience, when rumblings (抱怨) and negativity are beginning in your organization, talking with employees will help you understand the exact problems and the degree to which the problems are impacting your workplace. You will want to identify the exact employee groups who are experiencing the negativity, and the nature of the issues that sparked their unhappiness. Perhaps the organization made a decision that adversely affected staff. Perhaps the executive manager held a staff meeting and was perceived to threaten or ignore people asking legitimate questions. Maybe staff members feel insecure because concern exists over losing a product line. Perhaps underground rumors are circulating about an impending layoff. People may feel that they give the organization more than they receive in return. They may feel that a coworker is mistreated or denied a deserved promotion. When You Are Not in Control of the Negativity Negativity often occurs when people are impacted by decisions and issues that are out of their control. Examples of these include: corporation downsizing; understaffing that requires people to work mandatory overtime; budget reductions; and upper-management decisions that adversely impact members of your staff. Under these circumstances, as a human resources professional, try some of the following ideas. --Identify any aspects of the situation that you can impact, including providing feedback in your organization about the negative impact that is occurring. (Sometimes decisions are made and no one understands or predicts their outcome. Sometimes you can influence an issue or a decision if you practice personal, professional courage and speak your mind.) --Listen, listen, listen. Often people just need a sounding board. Be visible and available to staff. Proactively (积极地) schedule group discussion sessions, town meetings, "lunches with the manager" or one-on-one blocks of time. --Challenge pessimistic thinking and negative beliefs about people, the company, and the work area. Don’’t let negative, false statements go unchallenged. If the statements are true, provide the rationale, the corporate thinking, and the events that are responsible for the negative circumstances. Share everything you know about a situation to build trust with the workforce. --Ask open-ended questions to determine the cause, and the scope of the negative feelings or reaction. Maybe it’’s not as bad as people think; maybe their interpretation of events is faulty. Helping people identify exactly what they feel negatively about is the first step in solving the problem. You can’’t solve a fog of unhappiness. Help people create options, feel included, and feel part of the communication and problem-solving. (Do all of the items mentioned in the section "Minimize Workplace Negativity".) Recognize Your Potential Part in the Negativity Cycle --Recognize that you are human and occasionally experience situations in which you must uphold decisions you don’’t entirely support. You don’’t want to contribute to the negativity by your words, actions, non-verbal behavior, or voice. Yet, you want to act authentically so you are trustworthy and credible. --Know yourself well enough to recognize internally when you are becoming negative. --Become aware of work situations in which you typically find yourself becoming defensive or negative. Because you are aware of them, try to recognize when you are reacting and avoid your typical negative reaction. (Some people figure out exactly how to get you going and push your "hot buttons" deliberately, so to speak.) --Take a time-out or walk away by yourself when you have dealt with a stressful situation. --Spend some time alone thinking every day about the positive aspects of your work and life. You don’’t want to spend all of your time on negative thinking. If there is nothing positive to think about, examine the life you are choosing to create. --Treat yourself with care. Don’’t beat yourself up or second-guess yourself over decisions or mistakes. You are human. You learn; you grow. Focus on the big picture; don’’t get bogged down (陷入) in the day-to-day. Recognize that the only thing you are truly in charge of is how you choose to react in any situation. I trust that these ideas will help you in addressing the negativity in your workplace. As always, your thoughts and additional ideas are always welcome. Please share them in the HR Forum so a broader group of people can benefit from your thinking. Minimize Workplace Negativity The best way to combat workplace negativity is to keep it from occurring in the first place. These tips will help you minimize workplace negativity. --Provide opportunities for people to make decisions about and control and/or influence their own job. The single most frequent cause of workplace negativity I encounter is traceable to a manager or the organization making a decision about a person’’s work without her input. Almost any decision that excludes the input of the person doing the work is perceived as negative. --Make opportunities available for people to express their opinion about workplace policies and procedures. Recognize the impact of changes in such areas as work hours, pay, benefits, and assignment of overtime hours, comp pay, dress codes, office location, job requirements, and working conditions. These factors are closest to the mind, heart and physical presence of each individual. Changes to these can cause serious negative responses. Provide timely, proactive responses to questions and concerns. --Treat people as adults with fairness and consistency. Develop and publicize workplace policies and procedures that organize work effectively. Apply them consistently. As an example, each employee has the opportunity to apply for leave time. In granting his request, apply the same factors to his application as you would to any other individual’’s. --Afford people the opportunity to grow and develop. Training, perceived opportunities for promotions, lateral moves for development, and cross-training are visible signs of an organization’’s commitment to staff. --Do not create "rules" for all employees, when just a few people are violating the norms. You want to minimize the number of rules directing the behavior of adult people at work. Treat people as adults; they will usually live up to your expectations, and their own expectations. --Help people feel like members of the in-crowd; each person wants to have the same information as quickly as everyone else. Provide the context for decisions, and communicate effectively and constantly. If several avenues or directions are under consideration, communicate all that you know, as soon as you know it. Reserve the right to change your mind later, without consequence, when additional factors affect the direction of ultimate decisions. --Provide appropriate leadership and a strategic framework, including mission, vision, values, and goals. People want to feel as if they are part of something bigger than themselves. If they understand the direction, and their part in making the desired outcomes happen, they can effectively contribute more.
A．YB．NC．NG
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