By Susan M. Heathfield
The typical workplace has its ups and downs in terms of employee negativity. Many workplaces are trying to be employee oriented. But, even the most employee-oriented workplace can shudder under the weight of negative thinking.
When employers understand the causes of employee negativity and put in place measures to prevent employee negativity, negativity fails to gain a foothold in the work environment.
I promise, preventing negativity from getting out of hand and permeating your workplace is a top priority for employers. So, keep your ear to the ground at all times.
I've written about how an employer can prevent negativity from occurring at work. I’ve also written about what to do about workplace negativity that already exists. The persistent question I receive from managers is: What really causes employee negativity?
Causes of Employee Negativity
A recent study answers the question about what causes employee negativity. The study, conducted by Towers Perrin and researchers Gang & Gang, surveyed a randomly selected group of 1,100 employees and 300 senior Human Resources executives working for mid-sized and large-sized companies in the United States and Canada.
Participants were asked to describe their feelings about their current work experience, They were also invited to describe an "ideal" work experience.
According to Employee Benefit News, the study “used a unique emotion-based research technique called Resonance, which captured participants' spontaneous emotional responses to the total work experience.”
The study determined that the reasons for most of the employee negativity included these that I call the big five:
An excessive workload
Concerns about management’s ability to lead the company forward successfully
Anxiety about the future, particular longer-term job, income and retirement security
Lack of challenge in their work, with boredom intensifying existing frustration about workload
Insufficient recognition for the level of contribution and effort provided, and concerns that pay isn't commensurate with performance.
The Employer’s Challenge in Addressing Employee Negativity
In my own experience, intensifying any of these factors causes employee negativity. Knowing about these causes of employee negativity enables you to take action to prevent or eliminate employee negativity. Based on this research, here are several examples of actions that you can take to minimize employee negativity in your workplace.
The longer they work in this kind of a scenario, whether because you can't find a qualified candidate, the budget is not approved for a replacement employee, or the company is restructuring and all positions are on hold, the more negative they will become. You can ask your employees to work harder for coverage, but only if they see a deadline.
Following a period of financial woes, management has to work hard to regain employee trust. During times of fear and concern about their company's viability, you will find that many employees are out job searching. They don't want to be blindsided if you downsize or close.
This is a snapshot of causes of employee negativity. If you can eliminate these five, you have gone a long way in the direction of building a positive, supportive work environment. You’ve minimized the potential for employee negativity.
And, you won't find yourself playing the role of a negative employee since you now know what to look for in a negative employee.