If you’re hearing more moans and groans than Christmas cheer around the office this holiday season, you might have a larger problem on your hands than simply a case of employees who are already in vacation-mode.
Unhappy employees tend to be a little more vocal around Christmas and mid-summer when they’d rather be vacationing than spending time at their desks. In truth, most people tap-out once or twice a year, so this may be something you’re expecting, but it’s never a good idea to brush off grumbles as holiday humbugs. You may have a serious case of a disgruntled employee whose weariness is bubbling to the surface due to an overstretched tolerance for whatever it is that’s pushing them towards the door.
Everything from family pressure, illness, children, loss of a loved one, or relationship issues plays a factor in a person’s life. These situations are complex and come with their own set of deeper pitfalls that few can be blamed for falling into. We’re all human, and that humanity should be respected and supported.
If you have a good history with your employees (and you most certainly should), approach them and offer support. Be delicate and let them know you’ve noticed a change, and you’re sure it’s related to some personal burdens. Offer counseling or leave for personal time, where possible and appropriate, and show support for their struggle. It’s easy to forget other people have a whole world to contend with outside of their cubicle, and a great boss doesn’t downplay the importance of a balanced work-home relationship. You must facilitate a smooth integration of those two. If an employees’ work environment makes it difficult to balance their home life, or even contributes to its difficulty, then you’ve set yourself up to lose that person.
Sometimes the job itself can be the source of a disgruntled employees’ unhappiness. Admittedly, there are undeniably some jobs or job-related tasks that are less than enjoyable, but I’ve experienced that a proper attitude negates the worst part of any job. In my hospitality experience, there’s one task everyone knows needs to be done, but that no one ever looks forward to doing: cleaning for inspections. Everyone knows it’s coming, and we all know what ugly and neglected work needs to finally be faced (like scrubbing the floors under the grills, contorting to clean inside a muggy dishwasher, or spending frigid hours inside the refrigerator to scrub the corners that crumbs and lemons insist on making their new homes; they are surprisingly persistent about not staying in their crates). We made inspection times more fun by hosting “cleaning parties” with free pizza and incentives to participate.
Find out what’s grinding your employee's gears. If they’re being burdened with work they can’t handle, something that’s not theirs, or something they don’t know how or don’t want to do, find a solution that’s amicable for everyone involved.
Great employees and great jobs are killed all too easily by the work environment they find themselves in. My experience in managing an upscale chain restaurant is my biggest reminder of culture's power on the success or failure of any employee. Ruled by a knowledgeable yet dictatorial manager, staff were immediately mistrusting and spiteful of my presence in the restaurant. With a history of inconsistent and often abusive managing previous to my arrival, everyone was in a sad and destructive state. This caused drama that flared up at the earliest signs of tension, which caused unhappy moods and unhappy customers. Staff felt the restaurant's depressing mood, which caused a general distaste for the job and a despondent attitude towards management. The long-term result was high turnover, poor training, and revenue loss from an unpredictable customer-base that suffered from everyone’s negative attitude.
Your staff's environment is coming into every day could be the biggest reason why employees come-and-go, and why talented staff either under-preform or leave completely. Evaluate what’s triggering this easily disrupted workspace, and work to fix or amend it.
As is often said, teachers who are quick to say that their failing class of students are flunking because they can’t be bothered to learn should instead be saying, “I suck at my job. “A team, a class or staff will only do as well as their leaders. If staff are wry, unmotivated, and elsewhere focused, it’s perhaps not a flaw within them at all. Managers, especially those with much experience behind them, are reluctant to consider that their management style might be culprit. Some even outright dismiss the idea that their leadership is flawed at all. While your particular management style may not be the root cause of a very complex problem, it is most definitely a contributing factor.
Take a step back from the situation to watch yourself in moments of tension or drama. Chances are there’s something, large or small, that could be adjusted to result in a different outcome. Your staff looks to you for directive; if they’re given poor direction, they’ll either act on it, act out of it, react to it, or not act at all. If you want your employees to act and react in less volatile ways, or ideally in productive and cooperative ways, then it’s up to you to encourage that behavior with the right spark. In my next article, we’ll carve out a few of the worst management techniques that persist in toxic environments.
People spend more time at work than at home. It’s important that they are on your side and working towards a common collective, and are enjoying themselves as much as possible. If you’re determined to keep employees, keep them happy, focus on looking for the problem sources, and use your own determination to flip the situation around.
So what’s leading your staff towards the door?
