It’s amazing how quickly a bitter employee can ruin a work group or the life of a supervisor. Often times, because the signs of morale are subtle, a manager may supervise a disgruntled employee and not realize it until it is too late. As a manager, your goal is to recognize a situation that has the seeds of sabotage and to act before problems grow.
Your first clue of employee dissatisfaction is unusual behavior. For example, if an employee who speaks to you frequently begins to avoid you, or if a normally politically astute employee begins to make inappropriate comments, turn on your radar.
A second sign is “quitting” behavior. An employee who starts arriving late, leaves early, takes long lunch hours, or calls regularly to report ill has a severe case of spring fever or low morale.
Once you’ve recognized that something is going on, your next job is to figure out what it is. Job discontent is usually due to one of five causes.
First, the job itself may no longer hold the interest of the employee. Most of the employees are happy with their work during the initial honeymoon phase. Once the novelty at work has worn off, dissatisfaction increases unless other factors continue to hold the employee’s interest.
Once the novelty at work has worn off, dissatisfaction increases, unless other factors continue to hold the employee’s interest.
Second, if an employee believes that the job would be more prestigious or exciting than it is, they may have a disappointed employee. This problem is compounded when the employee does not meet basic expectations and therefore does not receive advanced responsibility causing disappointment. If this employee feels trapped at work by the job market, the employee becomes increasingly resentful and the situation further disintegrates.
Third, if an employee does not receive the recognition they want, it often results in dissatisfaction. Often times, top managers don’t realize how much positive reinforcement their employees need or deserve. At senior management levels, the opportunity for decision-making and the challenge of the position supersede recognition. As a result, these managers overlook the need to provide frequent supportive feedback to mid-level supervisors or support staff. Positive feedback is a job motivator; its absence, a demotivator.
Fourth, other working conditions, such as the nature of the supervision provided or the type of customer base, can slowly discourage the employee. Few employees can deal with incessant stress without showing signs of stress and burnout.
Finally, the employee may have personal problems: an unstable marriage, mounting financial pressures, or health problems that leave him without his normal emotional balance.
Once you’ve recognized the problem and determined the cause, your next step is action.
Begin by expressing your concerns. Limit yourself to the tangible aspects of poor job performance. For example, you might say, “I’ve begun to notice that you are late and are leaving early.”
Avoid turning the discussion into a monologue by asking your employee a question that does not suggest an answer. Good clues for these types of questions are “what” and “how.” For example, you might ask, “Could you tell me what’s going on?” Avoid questions that create a defensive attitude or probe personal feelings such as, “Why don’t you like your job?” or “Why don’t you like me?”
Since the employee knows what is happening and you want to learn, listen carefully. It is important not to react emotionally; the situation may already be very charged. A good listening technique is to paraphrase or occasionally clarify what you have heard.
Once you and the employee start discussing the problem and the cause, the two of you can start to do something about it. At the very least, the problems that are resolved are less likely to spread to other employees.
