Whittle Away Workplace Whining: A Manager’s Guide

Want to whittle away workplace whining…or just say the first half of this sentence 10 times fast?

Well, we can’t help you with the tongue twister, but we can recommend a great blog post about how to deal with employees who complain and moan a lot. It’s over at Julie Kay’s Developing Leaders Online, and both the article and the conversation in the comment section are enlightening. Kay suggests that managers take the “coaching approach” instead of jumping in to resolve every issue for their employees. This may be more time consuming on the front end, but instead of developing a workplace culture where whenever there’s a mild conflict your staff instinctively runs to you to solve it, they will instead use their own conflict resolution skills to take care of the issues themselves. Our favorite tip:

Ask quality questions rather than providing suggestions and solutions. This will show them you are listening, help them to think things through, and keep responsibility with them.

“Listening and leading your workers towards finding their own solutions pays off in the long run in productivity, workplace satisfaction and reduced stress for everyone,” says Tina Hamilton, PHR, hireVision’s president and CEO. “Besides all that, there’s a self-satisfaction one gets from taking responsibility for his or her own problems and tackling them in a positive way, and learning that skill will go a long way for your employees both professionally and personally. Guiding people through that learning process is really a sign of a good manager.”

Of course, when big problems or issues arise, it’s a manager’s job to handle the crisis. But for the smaller problems that tend to be more interpersonal in nature, having a workplace culture than expects employees to resolve issues in a positive, productive way themselves is a huge plus for everyone.

Want to create a workplace environment that promotes productivity and growth at you company? hireVision’s HR Partnering Services provide the assistance and support your company needs to achieve these goals. Contact us today for an honest discussion about your HR needs.