LITTLE ROCK — Within days of being asked by two different readers how to deal with office negativity, I came across a Wall Street Journal article that summed up this workplace predicament and offered some practical solutions.
According to an annual Gallup poll of more than 31,000 employees, nearly 20 percent of U.S. employees are actively disengaged, negative and likely to complain about their employers. What’s a positive person to do?
Chances are, these days most of us are already dealing with stress. An extra layer of negativity in the workplace does more than ruin your mood — it can affect your work.
The article, “What to Do With a Workplace Whiner,” noted that the very stress complainers try to vent by gossiping or grumbling is actually increased by the act of complaining. The more you dwell on the negative, the worse you feel, and the more negativity you notice. Complainers who vent in strongly emotional ways have an even bigger negative impact on workplace productivity, because those feelings can be contagious.
Trying to stay positive and just do your job can be precarious. If you’re perceived as being close to the complainers, even by sitting next to them at work, observers can assume you’re part of the pack. Yet objecting to their remarks puts you at risk of alienating or angering the gossips, and you may be their next target. The result is employees who spend so much time tiptoeing around negativity that their work and commitment are affected.
Negativity has a distinctly bad impact on our brains, according to author and Stanford University professor of neurology Robert Sapolsky. The brain can process only so much stimuli before it loses some ability to concentrate and remember. Exposure to nonstop negativity can disrupt learning, memory, attention and judgment, Sapolsky said. In other words, our brains are al- ready challenged to process everything we have to handle in the workplace. This is even harder when complaints are whizzing through the air like missiles.
Employers need to discern the difference between employees who are chronic complainers and those who are trying to air legitimate workplace issues. Before labeling someone as a complainer, listen with respect. Remember that employees are usually your best source of ideas for improving process and productivity, and those ideas can be hard to hear.
Don’t always expect the person expressing frustration to have a solution. And be open to the possibility that you, other management, or unrealistic or outdated policies or requirements may be part of the problem.
With that mindset, discerning employers will recognize when an employee truly wants the situation to improve. Supporting the process of finding solutions demonstrates that you’re listening, and sometimes that’s what frustrated employees want the most.
Chronic complainers, however, aren’t focused on solutions. By challenging them to help you find solutions, you may be able to direct their energy into something positive. Meanwhile, actively recognize those who set examples of positivity, and over time, as the environment improves, people will align with that positive energy.
And what about co-workers who have to endure a truly negative colleague? What if you can’t avoid the grumblers by staying busy or dodge the gossip by moving your desk? Will Bowen, who founded the nonprofit A Complaint Free World, suggests having some responses ready and sticking to them.
For example, try telling someone who complains about another person, “It sounds like you and he have something to talk about.” Or ask someone who’s always negative to tell you what’s going well for them. He also suggests asking the complainer directly, “What are you thinking of doing about that?”
Bowen admits that the complainer or gossiper will probably look at you as if you’re crazy, but that’s OK. Your goal is to become a less attractive sounding board. And if you stay focused on solutions, eventually you’ll be the last person someone who just wants to complain wants to talk to.
Write to Jennifer Hansen at Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, P.O. Box 7, Springdale, Ark. 72765. Email her at:
Family, Pages 36 on 10/10/2012