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WINTER 2015 | MARINE TECHNICIANTODAY
7
W
e’ve all experienced a negative
worker in the workplace. They
are the half empty glass type
of person. They always seem to look at
things from a doom and gloom perspective.
Negativity is what it is. And this can be a
company killer if you allow it to fester.
Not only do these individuals affect the attitude
of their co-workers, but this leads directly to a
loss in productivity in their department, or even
throughout the company. Once productivity
suffers, efficiency follows in close pursuit. So
what do you dowith theworker who consistently
looks on the dark side and talks about it a lot?
Human resource consultants call this a
“toxic” employee. He or she drags down
morale, hampers other teammates from
doing their job properly, and increases the
stress level within the company. If you look
back on why these people were hired in the
first place, you will see that many of them are
good at what they do. Often a toxic worker
who is good at what they do is overlooked
because they are effective producers. Their
talents appear to outweigh their negative
outlook on things. At least for the time being.
Many times management may be concerned
with potential legal issues if this worker is
let go. Could this negative employee make
a claim against the company for sex, race or
other protected class discrimination? Let’s
face it; we certainly live in a litigious society.
So what do you do? Some companies wait
and hope the discontented worker will leave
on their own, so they sit and wait.
A recent poll of 500 workers conducted by
Fierce Inc. leadership training and Development
Company showed that 41% of the respondents
ranked negativity as the most detrimental
workplace behavior. This was the largest
share, and 99% of the workers surveyed
said a negative employee was extremely or
somewhat debilitating to morale. However
only 4 in 10 thought excessive negativity was
cause for firing. And three-fourths of them said
their companies were extremely or somewhat
tolerant of toxic employees.
But according to Fierce founder Susan Scott,
keeping the overly negative employee on
board is unhealthy, both to co-workers and
the organization. “There are always going
to be individuals who can’t move past their
issues for one reason or another, or can’t get
out of the victim mindset,” Scott said.
“When this occurs, set your organization free
and terminate the relationship. It may seem
hard at first if their work is solid; however,
in most cases the havoc they are having on
the organization as a whole isn’t worth the
individual’s contribution.”
Scott says workplaces should carefully
analyze if they’re doing enough to recognize
and reward employees. Feeling undervalued
is a big cause of negativity.
Managers should also monitor conflicts
between co-workers. Don’t assume things
will work themselves out on their own.
Managers need to help resolve such issues
before they develop into something much
worse. Otherwise it is very possible to take
a hard working, glass half full employee and
turn them into a negative, glass empty one.
If you’ve addressed all the possible issues
that may be causing an employee to be
negative, and you feel there is not much else
the company can do to improve their attitude,
then it’s time to realize that this employee
will always lean toward the negative side of
things and you should consider letting this
employee go. Even if you feel their work
is good. In the long run, losing this type of
employee will improve the overall balance
with your other workers and that will make
up for any loss this employee may create.
MANAGEMENT TIPS
Negativity of workers can affect your
bottom line... is the glass ½ empty?
By Joe DeMarco
What do you do with them?
Toxic
Workers: