Do you have any “malcontent” employees? The ones who are always complaining? The ones who, no matter what, are never happy with their job, their colleagues, their managers, the company?
What about “vocal” employees? These are different from the malcontents, though "vocal" employees also have no fear about expressing their opinions on how the team, project or company could be better.
A good argument can be made for exiting the true malcontents (those who are thoroughly disengaged). But too often the “vocal” employees are lumped in with them.
How do you tell the difference between the malcontents and the vocals? Listen to the intent behind their words.
A vocal employee will convey an attitude of: “I’m engaged enough to be irked.”
Employees who are engaged enough to be irked still care. If they didn’t care about the success of the project/team/company, they wouldn’t invest effort to complain or even register emotional concern.
The challenge for managers of vocal employees is to listen constructively to what is being expressed and then respond appropriately in one of three ways:
1) Agree and take action. Acknowledge the employee is right in their assessment and then take action to implement changes.
2) Disagree and communicate. Hear the employee out, but if the anger is genuinely misdirected (usually due to lack of a complete picture of the situation) explain to the employee more fully why things are the way they are and how the employee can be more successful within those boundaries.
3) Agree and do nothing. Acknowledge the employee’s point of view but take no further action.
The first two responses are fair and honest. Either could be appropriate and the best reaction depending on the situation. The third response is a cop-out. Refusing to take action or redirect employee emotion more productively will result in a “vocal” employee becoming a true malcontent.
Why am I writing about this in a blog about compensation and recognition? To employees who care, and “vocal” employees certainly do, truly listening to them and taking action is a powerful form of recognition. Validating employee concerns shows you pay attention to what is valuable to them.
As we near the New Year, I’m adding to my New Year’s Resolutions: Listen to the employees who care enough to be irked.
Derek Irvine is Vice President of Client Strategy and Consulting for Globoforce, helping global companies set a higher ambition for global strategic employee recognition by leading workshops, strategy meetings and industry sessions around the world. Along with Globoforce CEO, Eric Mosley, Derek recently authored “Winning with a Culture of Recognition: Recognition Strategies at the World’s Most Admired Companies,” available through Amazon.com. Follow Derek on Twitter at @globoforce.
Good reminder that stating an opinion or expressing disagreement is NOT the same thing as a bad attitude - quite the opposite, in fact. I wish you a happy 2011 and many positive interactions with irked employees.
Posted by: Laura Schroeder | 12/29/2010 at 05:24 AM